notes and comments

[arabaliozian]

Re: quotations

ON POPULARITY
*****************************
Democracy does not solve problems;
it only enhanced our awareness of them
and the inadequacy of all politically motivated solutions.
*
Popularity and prostitution share much more than their first letter.
*
To cling to infantile illusions is more rewarding
than to confront the Unknown and the Unknowable.
Hence the popularity of organized religions.
*
No regime can survive without majority support
provided we keep in mind that
there are two kinds of supporters:
those who support a regime out of ignorance and fear,
and those who kiss its ass
because it promises to be good to them.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: crime

COLLABORATION
********************************
At one time or another
we (or rather, our ablest men)
have supported a large variety of sultans and czars.
we have even supported Talaat, Stalin and Hitler.
We have consistently voted
for American presidential candidates
who have promised to recognize the Genocide.
Why should we be surprised if
there are Armenians today
who support the oligarchs
and equate dissent with treason?
*
The word “genocide” evokes in me
less their crimes against humanity
and more our status as
perennial dupes and losers.
*
You want to change
the way Turks and Yanks think?
Begin with yourself!
#

[lampron]

Re: crime

COLLABORATION
********************************
At one time or another
we (or rather, our ablest men)
have supported a large variety of sultans and czars.
we have even supported Talaat, Stalin and Hitler.
We have consistently voted
for American presidential candidates
who have promised to recognize the Genocide.
#

American presidents have presided over genocide against native Americans and have presided over the deaths of millions of Vietnamese!

You want to change
the way Turks and Yanks think?
Begin with yourself!

#
Good point. It is reported that Armenian informers helped the Ottomans in arresting leading Armenians in Constantinople on April 24

[arabaliozian]

Re: crime

ELEMENTARY
*********************************
You can tell a man is not favorably disposed
towards you when he accuses you of crimes
you could not even imagine capable of committing.
*
CONFESSION
**************************
I have worked for all kinds of individuals
and I loathed all of them.
Sensing this they fired me.
I have been fired more often
than anyone I know in my circle
of friends, relatives, and acquaintances.
For a long time my only ambition in life
was to have a steady job
and to make minimum wage.
Call me a megalomaniac.
*
ON BEING A MINOR SCRIBBLER
*****************************************
One of the advantages is that
no one will ever bother writing
his reminisces of you
and expose to the world
the kind of xxxx you were.
*
ON BEING ARMENIAN
**********************************
Is it an asset or a liability?
A blessing or a curse?
The jury is out on that one.
To those who say
“I am proud to be an Armenian,”
I say: “Enjoy it while it lasts.”
*
A GOOD DEATH
***********************
I can’t say I had a good life,
but I plan to have a good death.
I say this with the full awareness
that when man plans,
God has a good laugh!
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: crime

it was an armenian by the name of Manoogian.
*
Raffi: "Treason and betrayal are in our blood!"

[arabaliozian]

Re: crime

THE CHARITY OF SWINE
*************************************
Gulbenkian left only 7% of his fortune
(the largest in the world, it has been said)
to Armenians.
How much to Zulus?
My guess, more than 7%.
*
Has anyone ever dared to question
Gulbenkian’s patriotism?
With power comes majority support,
and with majority support
comes infallibility.
“Mussolini ha sempre ragione!”
*
Let’s assume for the sake of argument
that Gulbenkian had left 100% of his fortune
to Armenians: How much of it
would have reached the people?
My guess?
Less than 7%
*
Consider our oligarchs::
They preferred to witness another genocide
(the exodus of 1,500,000 Armenians)
than to share the loot.
*
Why am I saying these things?
Nobody is paying me.
So I might as well speak the truth
for the same money.
#

[arabaliozian]

Re: crime

My ideas are as original as the ideas
(if that’s what you want to call them)
of our leadership.
I am not in the business of being
original or creative.
Everything I say has been said before
by far better men than myself.
Only to readers who have consistently refused
to read Plato and the Bible
do I sound unpatriotic or anti-Armenian.
*
I share a great deal with my fellow men
regardless of race, color and creed;
I share nothing with readers
whose secret ambition in life
is to be alpha males
like our bosses, bishops, and benefactors.
*
You could even say I don’t write for Armenians.
I write for human beings who are works in progress.
#

[lampron]

Re: crime

THE CHARITY OF SWINE
*************************************
Why am I saying these things?
Nobody is paying me.
So I might as well speak the truth
for the same money.
#

Most Armenians are programmed to think that, if you do selfless work, or if you believe in what you do but don't ask for money, you must be a fool!

Could that be a legacy of being ottoman (and later russian) subjects?

[arabaliozian]

Re: crime

good question!

[arabaliozian]

Re: crime

FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
************************************
Americans refuse to recognize the Genocide
because victimizers speak a language
that is incomprehensible to victims.
*
To be pragmatic means
to allow self-interest to rule our faculties.
*
Even if I had a single reader
I would continue to write on the grounds
that single reader may have a friend.
*
Reality is unpredictable because
it is like a millipede every one of whose legs
has a mind of its own.
*
The difference between propaganda
and counter-propaganda is that
propaganda works because it is repeated
more often than counter-propaganda.
*
I am predictable?
So is our propaganda.
I am negative and depressing?
What’s so cheerful and positive
about Turks and massacres?
#