ashkhadankuh kheghestzgahnoum eh marhtuh – hard work makes a person beautiful

This proverb was part of the work ethic wisdom made popular by communism. The government wanted to encourage the people to work hard. It glorified the factory or farm worker that toiled to make the communist state a shining success.

The Armenian penchant for banter and irony soon responded to the communist ethic with the following.

yeteh ashkhadankuh mahrtoun guh kheghetzguhneh, ourehmuhn ehs-sehkuh ahmenen kheghehtzeekn eh vohrovhedehv pohlor ohruh ehsou bes guh kohrdzeh – if hard work makes you beautiful, then the donkey must be the most beautiful being because it works hard all day like an ass.

The sarcasm of unequal remuneration is also echoed in another Armenian proverb.

hahst ou pahrag noueen kin, vahyee anor vohr pahrag guh puhrteh

(if they pay) the same wage for gross (mediocre) work and fine detailed work, then too bad for the worker that produces fine detailed work.

Due to the lack of incentives such as accumulation of personal proprietorship and entrepreneurship in the communist state, the workers eventually maintained a low level of productivity. This was further complicated by corruption and pilfering of state assets and a black economy. No wonder the Soviet Union collapsed economically after nearly eighty years.