Sycophancy begins with the word “leader”. Earlier, they said, “Leader of Union for National Self-Determination”, leader of “National Unity”, later, “Leader of the Armenian National Congress”, leader of the opposition, leader of the Rule of Law party, Prosperous Armenia Party leader, leader of the Republican Party. However, the Armenian word for “leader” seems to mean “sachem” rather than “leader”. And of course it is connected with our recent past when there was a leader of the revolution (whose mummy is in the mausoleum), but there were also a number of other leaders whose vast images were placed, for example, at the entrance to Komitas Market Park. In the pictures the leaders were quite vigorous, but in real life, on television, they were old, tired people, who were unable to pronounce a few coherent sentences without any prior written text.
In my mind, “leaders” appear not only in the form of the Soviet Politburo. I imagine the “sachems” of wild tribes decorated with different paints and feathers, around whom various shamans, as well as the rest of the tribe are dancing while preparing to cook and eat someone. Perhaps, there is this archaic spirit in sycophancy, which originates from the primordial age of mankind.
When people praise your merits, it is nice to listen to them. But it has value only when the assessors are not your dependants. When they are your subordinates, when their welfare or business depends on your favor, all kinds of pleasant words do not worth a penny. And those who observe sycophants from aside, wonder why those people are doing those strange unnatural movements, are they going to cook someone in a boiler with spices.
No one, regardless of the virtues they possess, deserves worship. And vice versa, all people, regardless of the presence or absence of virtues, deserve love. These are somewhat contradictory phenomena. If you love, you do not simulate. And the worship of a mortal is a false, abnormal feeling.
