notes / comments

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Sunday, December 02, 2007
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ON OUR PROBLEMS
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In a recent widely circulated commentary I read a list of our problems so long that it reminded me of the celebrated Stanislaw Lec aphorism “No snowflake in the avalanche ever feels responsible.”
If, instead of making long lists of problems we concentrate on those who create them, we may end up with Avedik Issahakian’s triad: “earthquakes, bloodthirsty neighbors, and brainless leaders.”
Problems like corruption, divisions that make no sense and serve no purpose, intolerance, xenophobia, Turcocentrism, incompetence, exodus from the Homeland, assimilation in the Diaspora, cultural decline, an appalling rate of unemployment, poverty, absence of solidarity, among others, have a single source: the undemocratic character of our institutions or the absence of accountability in our leadership.
In an authoritarian environment (and I say authoritarian to avoid saying Ottoman) problems will be explained and justified by saying they are extensions of political conditions and environmental factors beyond our control.
A partisan press will at no time shoulder responsibility so long as it can blame it on the opposition. Those who divide us will even go as far as saying that they divide us for our own good, to save us from the evil plans of their adversaries.
Where there is no free press, problems will proliferate until they become an avalanche, which will be explained as an act of god, and those responsible will emerge as innocent as a snowflake.
Now, suppose a small group of pundits come together and issue a number of recommendations, who will listen to them? Who will even acknowledge their existence?
Brainless leaders? Rather, brainy enough to make number one their number one concern and make it look like they are dedicated to the challenging task of saving the nation.
*
Speaking of our problems: you will find a pretty good list in Khorenatsi’s “Lamentation” written fifteen centuries ago. Which may suggest that it is not unawareness of our problems that makes them hard to solve but irresponsible leaders who might as well be deaf, dumb, dim, dull, and dense.
#

[Virgil]

Re: notes / comments

With regards to your idea that "Armenians should unite", no, this is another lie, Armenians don't need to "unite", they have a state that is "united", they need to move back to the state instead of treating the state as their personal caged pet.

One more thing, when I mean "go back", don't go empty handed (i.e. hinting at reverse imperialism, the 2 trillion GDPs of various European states were not earned overnight, years of colonization, imperialism, and industrialization lead to the vast sums of wealth, the micro actions of the citizens). Unfortunitly, the reality in this modern age is that everything boils down to real terms, cash and assets, with enough money and determination you can succeed, it takes hard work and this is "nation building" process, but having assets with no determination to succeed (i.e. having vast sums of wealth but no people to command the wealth) is useless. Likewise, having the will to shape the state, but no resources to shape the state with also leads to a deadend.

This 'ideology or 'goal' should be the base of any "solution". The problem is that for most Armenians they either talk about a solution or highlight a problem, but any solution and or problem stems from action, you have to get the ball rolling first, once the ball is rolling IT WILL build momentum. If it takes 10 years, 20 years, or 100 years, hard work and sacrifices will payoff, then their exist no question on where I stand and where my future stands, the question you have to ask yourselves is, do I want to build a nation? Don't get retracted by anyone or any entity, decide for yourself and do it.

Understand the idea should not be a devoition to one specific "goal", this limits and demotivates a individual within a state, no American wakes up with a constant drive to "make the state better", but they opt to live their lives in the United States, contributing to this way of life, essentially, automatically developing the state. By just living in the state they are contributing to the expansion of the state, every man, women, and child unknowingly and indirectly contributes to the state and the legitamacy of the state. You shouldn't do anything if you are uncomfertable with it, but you should live your life with the idea that your life and lifetime shapes the future of a people and state, the summing of a lifetimes determines the future of a nation and people, its the micro moments, the marginal moments, and the infinitesimal sum that add up to the "big picture". In laymen's terms, you can't make a omelette witout breaking a few eggs, but certainly, if you do break enough eggs, you will make a omelette, the question that you have to ask yourselves, do I want to break a few eggs?

Understand, individual actions shape the destiny of a people, the individual ideas taken to the infinite power shape a people, the micro ideas shared by individuals is the driving force, this is a important point. When a people allow degenerate ideas to spread they eventually start fighting these ideas, it becomes a two front war. Degenerate ideas will destroy our state, they are as dangerous as any invading army, you must oppose them, by opposing them you are stiching these micro ideas and interests together. If enough people band together, change will occur and certainly, if enough positive minded people with a willingness to devote themselves to a idea, a cause, positive change will occur that fosters state building.

Understanding, by ignoring me you are accepting your fate, your destiny, you are destroying the idea of state, you CAN NOT adapt, adapting means you are accepting the injustice towards you and your people, don't adapt. But again, what good are these words? The media has a monopoly on human emotion, hopefully it reaches someone, but understand nothing is more worth while than owning yourself. Attachment to things, this is entrapment, attachments to primative needs, this is enslavement, its a vicious cycle of the "western state" that Armenians find themselves in. Again, with all my ideas and opinions, there exist the face value, then underneath it all it is the emotion it creates in people, this is the driving force, emotions, you have to create some kind of fire in people, consider primative mechanics, cars move via combustion and humans do as well, take care.

[Virgil]

Re: notes / comments

Wouldn't it be better to be up front with your thoughts in the first place? "Reading in between the lines" is not only an inefficient way of facilitating diolauge, but it also gets stale after a while - especialy when what you are trying to say is less than obvious.

I agree, Ara half the time I don't understand your objective? What is the message? By the way, under nationalism and capitalism, there exists no world citizens, states are always in a perpetual state of war.

With regards to your idea that "Armenians should unite", no, this is another lie, Armenians don't need to "unite", they have a state that is "united", they need to move back to the state instead of treating the state as their personal caged pet.

Let me reiterate, the idea of "uniting" is a redundacy, what the hell are you uniting under? Furthermore, not all Armenians have the same viewpoints and in my opinion, this idea of "uniting" fails here. I would never support any liberally minded Armenian, I mistrust liberal Armenians more than Turks, they are the reason we are in such a state of depression, they are naive, weak, and useless to the state. I personally am a moderate, but I would pick any diehard conservative Armenian over a liberally minded Armenian.

[crusader1492]

Re: notes / comments

Wouldn't it be better to be up front with your thoughts in the first place? "Reading in between the lines" is not only an inefficient way of facilitating diolauge, but it also gets stale after a while - especialy when what you are trying to say is less than obvious.

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Your comment makes no sense to me because the guy being quoted was a reporter - not a diplomat.

Again, in your attempts to be cheeky, you missed the point...or, perhaps you're avoiding meaningful dialogue as it doesn't suit your agenda.

my point is that we have been and continue to be deficient in understanding the meaning of words in a diplomatic context. yours seem to be that i have an agenda. it is a mistake to read between the lines at the expense of the lines. / ara

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Saturday, December 01, 2007
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A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD
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Aznavour in a recent interview published in PARIS MATCH on his “Benetton family”:
“We are of all colors and creeds. My daughter’s husband is Muslim, I am Gregorian, my wife is Protestant. With such a family one is in a better position to understand other people’s problems. To have many cultures is great!”
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On Reading:
“For an illiterate I am an avid reader. I have a huge library – all of Guitry and Simenon. At the moment I am rereading Proust for the third time. First time he was a pain…second time hard going…third time magnificent.”
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On Politics:
“My wife threatens to divorce me if I ever run for office in Armenia.”
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On Old Age:
“My age [83] is an interesting one. It doesn’t bother me one bit. But it seems to matter to others.”
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On an Armenian Idiosyncrasy:
“In Armenia they all speak foreign languages. My mother spoke Greek and Turkish. My dad spoke Armenian and Russian. Though not xxxish, he understood Yiddish. All his life he spoke French with an accent so thick you could cut it with a knife.”
#

[crusader1492]

Re: notes / comments

there are some things a diplomat will never say.

Your comment makes no sense to me because the guy being quoted was a reporter - not a diplomat.

Again, in your attempts to be cheeky, you missed the point...or, perhaps you're avoiding meaningful dialogue as it doesn't suit your agenda.

[zourna]

Re: notes / comments

For the sake of all reason, stop blaming leaders of men for what we are! Who planted them in the first place?!
"Besides, no one can save a nation that has condemned itself to the death of a thousand self-inflicted cuts." That's how I read it.

[Virgil]

Re: notes / comments

we were victimized because we were divided by our own leadership. and we continue to be divided today in the name of dogmas that are lies...and a house divided against itself cannot stand. let's put the blame where it belongs. / ara

Dogmas? What are these "dogmas" that divide us? I am confused can you explain what "dogmas" these are? Are they religious dogmas? No, are they racial dogmas? No, are they ethnic dogmas? No, can you please explain to me what these "dogmas" are and how are they "dividing us"?

And I do blame the leaders, I have always blamed the leaders, but the leader is no good if he has no followers. The problem is just this, Armenians are not motivated to follow anyone, they beleive the individual is greater than the state.

Also, my point is that you have a people that were and are oppressed to a point that they refuse to fight, they have no fire in them anymore, this is the truth, they will just stagnate and go into decline if somone fails to lite the fire within them.

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

No, some of us are not diplomats, but most Armenians make it seem like we should be when in fact the only way to address a problem is to "address a problem", there is no "right way" to let people know that you are offended, but I know from experience the best way is to be honest.

Nowadays, all Armenians advocate is to lay down and just die, we should just allow people to walk all over us and you know why this policy is advocated? Because it goes back to my earlier point, Armenians are not assimilating they are just adapting, it is more convinient to adapt and accept a cowards death, this is the convinient choice, but understand, it is not the right choice.

Essentially, the empires that oppressed Armenians may have taken away their properties and rights, but the most important blow to the Armenian people by these entities was the damage they did to the Armenian psyche. They extinguished our struggle for self determination, they tamed us. We are not able to build a state because state building requires self sacrifice, economic depression, war, famine, any downturn must be embraced for the "greater good of the state".

we were victimized because we were divided by our own leadership. and we continue to be divided today in the name of dogmas that are lies...and a house divided against itself cannot stand. let's put the blame where it belongs. / ara