Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Changing Armenia: the 12-cent dilemma

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Changing Armenia: the 12-cent dilemma

    Changing Armenia: the 12-cent dilemma

    by Mihran Aroian

    http://www.reporter.am/go/article/2013-09-22-changing-armenia-the-12-cent-dilemma
    Published: Sunday September 22, 2013

    Activists agitate against the fare increase. Mihran Aroian

    Related Articles

    In Armenia, more - and higher paid - jobs is the answer

    We have all heard stories of corruption in Armenia. We read stories of
    election irregularities and how humanitarian aid ends up in the wrong
    pockets. My involvement with the Armenian government is limited. Aside
    from obtaining a travel visa, I have no real experience. It was what
    the government did not do that impressed me this summer.

    The government allowed people to protest. I saw people protesting in
    Armenia who I would not have expected to see. I did not see these
    protests last summer. It was all quite civil, but people were
    protesting for what they believed were injustices. Retired pilots,
    veterans of the Karabagh war, and average citizens were protesting the
    rise in bus fares. They were all-out protesting to bring about change.
    When a government allows its citizens to criticize what they see as
    wrong in society, that is a very positive step in the right direction.

    It would have been very easy for the government to close down these
    protests or not allow them to happen in the first place, but they did
    allow them and they continued. They allowed the average citizen to
    voice their discontent. This shows both a restraint by the government
    with an attitude toward change. And, one of the protests actually did
    bring about change!

    The summer of 2013 was my second summer working in Armenia. In my
    business ethics class, students asked if it was ethical for them to
    pay the recent 50% increase in the local bus fare. The price had
    changed from 100 dram to 150 dram-an increase of 12 cents. Although I
    did not think of this as an ethical issue, my students were very vocal
    in their disagreement. I told them that if the price for the fare was
    posted on the bus and that they were informed of the new price, that
    it was unethical to not pay the higher price. They had a choice, pay
    the higher fee or don't take the bus.

    The bigger question was did the bus operators have the right to add a
    50% increase? In a free enterprise system, the answer is yes. But to
    some degree, this was seen as a tax on the poor. If you depend on the
    bus to go to work and earn $250 per month, is it ethical to add yet
    another "tax" onto the citizens?

    Over the course of the next few days, the population in Yerevan
    protested. Natural gas prices had just increased by 20%, as had the
    cost of electricity. For the month of June, I spent under $10 for
    electricity, gas, and water. For the month of July, these same
    services tripled in cost-and I spent few waking hours in the apartment
    each day. How were those cost increases absorbed for families with
    limited incomes?

    The increase in bus fare was simply the last straw for Yerevan
    residents. The youth took to the streets. At major bus stops, they
    told the riders to pay only the old fare to the bus drivers. If
    everyone held firm, their thinking was that they would succeed.

    If you kept up with this summer's news, you already know that the fare
    increase was reversed. Could this be the start of a new way for people
    to gain some level of control? Could true democracy be just around the
    corner?

    I am impressed that Armenian citizens were allowed to protest. Sure,
    police were often found at these protest sites, but they were there to
    ensure that nobody was hurt. They were not interfering. Why would the
    government allow people to protest? Perhaps the government knows that
    Armenia must change if it is to survive. Perhaps the government
    recognizes that the people want change.

    Every Friday from 10am until noon, a group of retired airplane pilots
    are allowed to hold a protest in front of the Presidential Palace.
    Technically, they protest across the street but still in front of the
    Palace. For two hours, they hold up their signs and talk to passers-by
    to tell them their stories. The police who watch over them generally
    mind their own business, but one particular week things got a little
    testy, and the police argued with the protesting pilots. Perhaps
    having an American present changes the dynamics of the situation. I
    don't know.

    I was told by a policeman that entry-level police officers in Armenia
    do not receive a salary until they reach a certain rank. One cannot
    help but wonder if this lack of salary encourages unethical behavior
    in young policemen. Does this have an impact on their professional
    behavior as they move up in rank? I reminded these policemen that if
    things do not change, they could find themselves on the same protest
    line in 30 years, asking the government why they, too, have not
    received the retirement benefits they were promised.

    The Yerevan Opera House was a favorite protest site for Karabagh
    freedom fighters. These brave veterans also were promised benefits.
    The signs they held expressed a jarring though interesting message
    that set the tone for their protest. With high unemployment, high
    taxes, increasing energy costs, and increasing concerns for the
    future, Armenians clearly want change. How much more will the people
    endure before they demand change? Actually, quite a lot of endurance.
    As Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence "...and
    accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed
    to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by
    abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed." On the path of
    least resistance, we will endure a lot of hardship before we demand
    change.

    The Karabagh veterans held protest signs saying, "Turkey removed 1.5
    million Armenians, but the Armenian Government has removed 2 million
    Armenians." With a poor economy and high corruption, the general
    belief is that some 2 million Armenians have left Armenia. The "brain
    drain" of Armenia has been going on for decades. Unless Armenia grows
    strong, will there be anyone left in Armenia a decade from now?

    Still, I am impressed that the Armenian Government lets this sort of
    protest proceed. It is important for the citizens of Armenia to voice
    their concerns. It is also just as important for Armenians in the
    diaspora to support the committed citizens of Armenia.




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X