as i see it

[arabaliozian]

AS WE REFUSE TO SEE IT
*************************************
Not all Armenians are good
and not all Turks are bad.
If so far we have failed to build on that
it’s because we are at the mercy
of so-called leaders
whose sole medium is deception.
*
Homeland and freedom have at no time
been central concerns for us.
We call homeland anywhere
we are allowed to work for a living.
*
Our million-and-a-half were as much victims
of bloodthirsty extremists as they were
of our own propaganda.
*
Armenians of the world unite.
You have nothing to lose but your image as losers.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: as i see it

MEMO TO MY CRITICS
************************************
First and foremost I want to thank you
for reading me, and having read me,
for taking the trouble
to express your disagreement with what I say.
*
Most Armenians
(a conservative estimate would be 99.9%)
don’t care enough to find out
what a minor and negligible scribbler says or thinks,
and having found out,
to put into words their opposition.
In that sense I feel privileged indeed
to have all two or three of you.
*
I feel even more privileged
when I compare myself
to a literary giant like Baruir Massikian
beside whom I am as nothing.
*
Who has ever read Massikian?
Or for that matter,
who has ever heard of him?
Because he died of natural causes in a hospital,
no one gives a damn about him.
*
It is by now an established fact that
the best career move an Armenian writer can make
is to be slaughtered by the likes of Talaat and Stalin.
And because Massikian wasn’t smart enough
to arrange such an exit,
his status remains that of a nobdy.
Which is shy I say and repeat,
thanks to you, I never had it so good!
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: as i see it

DOUBLE-SPEAK
***********************************
When empires speak of peace, they mean war;
when they speak of god, they mean the devil;
and when they speak of progress
they mean in the direction of barbarism.
*
MEGALOMANIA
****************************
Once upon a time I had a mission in life:
to save mankind.
Mankind had a mission too:
to refuse to acknowledge my existence.
You may now guess who won.
*
GENTLEMEN
**********************
Armenia is a klepto-state,
and Armenians are (to paraphrase Shaw) “gentlemen:
they steal from the poor and give to the rich.”
*
SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW?
*********************************
When no one is interested in destroying us,
we handle the job ourselves.
We are better at it.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: as i see it

EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED
TO EVERYTHING ELSE
**************************************
There are connections between
infantile illusions and adult fallacies.
In case you didn’t know,
size does not matter.
According to students of anatomy,
inside a dead zone
size becomes irrelevant.
*
“Mine is bigger than yours”
is an empty boast.
*
There is no such thing
as a harmless or isolated lie.
*
Leaders of all organized religions
make themselves ridiculous
when they assert their god to be
the only true god and all others
only pretenders to the throne.
*
This phony claim of monopoly
may be said to be at the root
of countless misconceptions
and abuses of power --
beginning with the treatment of women
as second-class citizens
and ending with wars, massacres,
and genocides.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: as i see it

THE PROMISE
**********************************
When I went into this business
(Armenian literature)
I made a solemn promise to myself
to be rude to no one,
and for a number of years I kept my promise.
*
I kept my promise until I realized that
in our environment a writer,
especially one that is not yet dead --
preferably butchered by a foreign tyrant --
is seen as a harmless drudge
who will say anything and
flatter any ego for less than minimum wage.
*
There was another serious flaw in my promise
that I became aware of only much later.
A morally superior stance
towards individuals who consider
their own moral superiority
as an undeniable fact
may easily be misinterpreted
as cowardice or subservience.
*
To put it more bluntly,
moral superiority does not work
with politically ambitious bullies
who pretend to know better
what’s good for the nation.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: as i see it

LIVE & LEARN
************************************
Every movement produces its share of fascists.
Why should political correctness be immune?
*
If you speak the truth
you will be rewarded in heaven.
If you recycle propaganda
you will be rewarded on earth.
*
In defense of their source of income,
they portray themselves as defenders of the faith.
*
Everyone is right
until he is cross-examined by an expert.
*
Fantasy and fiction play a more decisive role
in human affairs than truth and reality.
*
It took me a while to realize
“romantic” in today’s parlance means sexual.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: as i see it

THIS & THAT
*****************************
Patriotism is a drug like opium.
*
The 99% will never have enough power
to send the 1% to war.
*
An Armenian nationalist
and a Turkish nationalist
might as well be
interchangeable units.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: as i see it

FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
*************************************
“Men and women;
women and men.
It will never work!”
*
Armenians and Turks,
Turks and Armenians…
and yet, it worked for 600 years.
Figure that one out if you can.
*
As long as we treated them as our role models,
we were left alone.
Troubles began when we assumed a critical stance.
Reminds me of our bosses, bishops, and benefactors.
*
Be more positive, I am told.
Why?
Because they want to continue
implementing negative policies
with a clear conscience.
*
Democratic elections separate
not the good from the bad,
but the bad from the worse.
In totalitarian regimes
they stick with the worst.
*
After collecting dozens of rejections
from publishers I decided to achieve
fame and fortune posthumously.
*
When reality becomes a nightmare,
we take refuge in daydreams.
*
You may criticize bad actions
but bad habits? That’s different.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: as i see it

MEMO TO ALL WRITERS
***************************************
One of the most important gifts
God has bestowed on men
is the ability to see his own insignificance.
Don’t be afraid to make yourself ridiculous
in the eyes of the world.
That’s one way to let everyone know
that you don’t respect them enough
to give a xxxx of what they think.
*
Remember, Diogenes masturbated in public.
Socrates bragged about his ignorance and poverty.
In his Melian Dialogue
Thucydides comes very close to justifying
the massacre of defenseless women and children.
And Rembrandt painted a urinating woman.
*
In his eighties Tolstoy ran away from home
and died in the middle of nowhere.
According to Churchill,
Gandhi’s wardrobe was that of a “naked fakir.”
Thomas Mann called Hitler “a brother.”
And at no time does Nabokov attempt
to cover up the fact that LOLITA
is rooted in autobiography.
*
Only the depraved declare moral superiority.
#