Current Situation Reminds Me of the Public Climate During Serge's Era: Suren Sahakyan

Member of the "Citizen's Decision" party Suren Sahakyan wrote on his Facebook page: "The current state of society reminds me of the public climate during the last years of Serge's era. I had the impression that society was in a 'pre-state' condition described by Thomas Hobbes. He termed this state as 'a war of all against all.' This means that in a given area, people live who are not connected to each other by any terms and are fighting for their share of the territory without rules against all other claimants.

According to Hobbes, this is the natural state of society. The logical conclusion of such a state is to agree on the rules of the game, enshrine them in a constitution, and create a surviving state based on those rules of the game. Our constitutions (the rules of the game) have always been falsified. We have not succeeded in reaching any agreement on the rules of living together. Each member of our collective 'us' has taken as much space under the sun from the others as their upbringing, physical strength, connections, and intellectual abilities allowed.

Resources have been distributed extremely unevenly. Those who have not shunned the use of weapons, deceit, flattery, and theft have become owners of greater resources. Ultimately, this has led to the last phase of the 'pre-state' condition—when logically the society should have come to an agreement on certain conditions, created a real state, lived, created, and developed.

We had such a chance in recent decades with the 'velvet, non-violent, popular revolution.' But the declared leaders of the revolution did not see the need for a constitution that would enshrine new public relations. It doesn’t really matter how this lack of desire is explained. What is essential is that without such agreements, the 'pre-state' condition of society will continue, which means the 'war of all against all.'

Today we see many examples of this. This will lead to a situation where, as before, no one’s word will have value. Anyone who says something publicly will be attacked from a hundred directions by those holding different views. Under these conditions, over time, the state apparatus will return to the philosophy of 'if you have nails, scratch your head,' as there will be no alternative for interaction. This is not due to the governing force being good or bad. I am not making this prediction out of a gift for prophecy. This is a normal, natural process, and the biggest victims will be the very governing force and the participants in the state apparatus.

This situation will continue until society sees the need for such conditions and demands a process directed towards that to begin and end. Only then will we have fair elections, a predictable future, investments, and development.

The governing force announces that a commission for constitutional changes will be created from February 2020. The composition of this commission and the goals set before it create no prerequisites for solving the issues facing our society with a new constitution. Everyone must be involved in the process. Ways must be found for that. Moreover, the new constitution must include all minimum provisions that everyone agrees upon. That is the essence of a 'social contract.' Without such agreed-upon and proclaimed rules of the game, we will continue to devour each other, and that is inevitable—regardless of who is in charge of the state."