Social media platforms in Armenia actually reflect the miserable atmosphere of mutual hatred that reigns in the country today. The last values, which can still somehow promote the spiritual existence of the society and the preservation of more or less tolerable interpersonal relations, have reached the brink of collapse. How are the values, coexistence rules and norms, which lead to the formation of nations, societies and, eventually, states created?

There can be no sustainable society without state propaganda and without a unifying idea. The term "propaganda" has acquired a notorious connotation, evoking negative feelings for the generation that experienced Soviet propaganda on its own skin. It is an example of negative propaganda where the right to free speech and thought were not exercised. For the current generation another negative example is the current reality, implying permissiveness, again, the distortion of values, which in this case occur as a result of the lack of state propaganda. That is, any manifestation of extremism is fraught with negative consequences, which, however, does not imply that the phenomenon is wrong.

“Propaganda” comes from the Latin word, ablative singular feminine of the gerundive form of propagare, meaning 'to spread' or 'to propagate'. It turns out that propaganda is the purposeful dissemination of values, ideas, behavior and norms in the society. As we see, without propaganda, that is, the spread of certain norms, behavior, rules, and values, there can be no sustainable society, including a viable state.

If since 1988 our society was unified due to the idea of ​​Artsakh and was ready to suffer martyrdom and win, then since the 2000s we have been moving towards the distortion of ideas and other values, and the state no longer pursued propaganda policy, it has even lacked a common goal or idea to be able to unite the society. Propaganda has certain rules. It is supposed to have a key thesis and be accessible to the public and, most importantly, be as invulnerable as possible.

For example, in the United States the key thesis has been the cherished idea of ​​freedom, in the Soviet Union it was equality and justice, in our neighboring Iran - Islam, in France the motto Liberty, Equality, Fraternity ("Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité"), in Israel, surrounded by enemies - the idea of ​​self-salvation, and so on. They may change or be replaced by other theses over time, they may develop and transform, but without the idea of ​​unifying society, we have what we see in Armenia today. One can approach this or that idea in different ways, criticize, comment, object, etc., but value systems are built on them, which allow uniting societies, sowing feelings of brotherhood, kinship and building sustainable states.

The current situation in our country is largely due to the lack of a unifying idea and the increasing distortion of value system.