Although I’m taking a leaf out of Garo (AKA Christian Garbis) at Notes from Hairenik’s book by using the term “vochinch“, it’s still amazing for me to consider just how apathetic and passive society in Armenia is. Of course, some say that getting involved in the process of nation building wouldn’t change anything, but let’s face it. They don’t even try.

I have taken surveys amongst various youth during the last three years or so and an overwhelming majority feels that there is little to no way to change the system in which they live, and no job opportunities exist for them. Yet some of them make no strides in finding ways in which to overturn their misfortune or seek opportunities that are not obvious to them.

To be honest, another frightening reality is more that most Armenians care only about themselves and their families, and whether they can party and feast during the time they almost pointlessly spend awake. Garo also wrote an article based on his original post dealing with this disturbing tendency, especially among young Armenians.

And it has to be said, all most youth in Armenia can do is dance and spend time at cafes rather than do anything constructive at all. Much better that than anything which might secure not only their own future, but also that of their children and grandchildren.

An epidemic has erupted throughout Armenia and has also begun to take a strong hold of the Armenian nation as a whole. It can be described as the “vochinch” syndrome, and it is severely threatening the way Armenians think and function as responsible, progressive-minded citizens.

In Armenia, there is a strong tendency for the youth, especially in Yerevan, to adopt a policy of indifference regarding circumstances circulating in their own environment, whether political, social, or cultural, and even regarding their own lives. Their mentalities mainly are comprised of complacency and apathy, but these sentiments are also predominant amongst their own parents, some of whom continue to dwell on their own Soviet-lived pasts rather than proactively adapt to their changing environment, commensurate to their resources and abilities. This phenomenon is paralyzing the socio-economic as well as socio-political movement of the Armenian republic, and it is also starting to affect how Armenians worldwide think about the viability of their own nation.

There is no sense of belonging in this country and certainly no comprehension of the role the citizen has to play in developing the State. Even in the area of spiralling crime and contract killings since the 2003 presidential and parliamentary elections, nobody seems to care — as the Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) points out.

Officials say serious crime is lower than in other CIS countries, but recently revealed that figures for the first half of 2006 show a 100 per cent increase over same period last year - and that 60 per cent of cases involved firearms.

[…]

On June 22, in another brazen daylight shooting, the son of a former parliamentary deputy, Vahan Zatikian Sedrak, 26, was shot dead in broad daylight in a crowded street in the Malatia district of Yerevan.

Twenty-four spent cartridges were found at the murder scene. One of the bullets killed passer-by Karine Sargsian, 37, hitting her in the heart.

Karine Sargsian, who had been shopping, had bags of bread and cabbage in her hands, when she was shot. She left behind three young daughters. Several days after the murder, her husband Garush Antonian published an article in the Azg newspaper, in which he said that Armenian society was living by the law of the jungle.

Nikol Pashinian, editor-in-chief of the Yerevan opposition newspaper Haikakan Zhamanak, wrote, “What was Karine Sargsian’s and her family’s fault? Can an average citizen in this country feel he is a person with rights, or is he just waiting to fall victim to criminals score settling?”

[…]

Contract killings are common in Armenia, but they get surprisingly little coverage on television and radio, which is mostly government controlled.

Gegham Manukyan, an adviser at the popular Yerkir Media TV Company and a parliamentary deputy, disagrees that serious crime is overlooked but admits that producers face problems airing such stories: getting timely information from the police and the reluctance of victims’ relatives to be interviewed.

Well-known Armenian actor Sos Sarkisian said it was time the public woke up to threat of violent crime. “ The people must stand up to protest. Our people have become inured to such murders,” he said.

Psychologist Karine Nalchajian said the public are concerned about gangsterism, but feel there’s nothing they can do.

“A family, people in a certain circle, may talk among themselves, express their outrage at what is going on, but our society at large is not responsive, it does not believe that it can achieve things by speaking out. The discussion of these matters generally does not go beyond the family circle or a group of friends,” he said.

Vochinch, as Garo would lament. IWPR’s article is here.