notes / comments

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Just what you mean by "ours"? Armenians? and is it self sacrifice or an inflicted one?
The "ultimate" sacrifice: Self sacrifice for a cause. But would that cause be a rightful one because a man dies for it? And is it really selfless?

Assessments rely on countless variants (Socio-Economics, cultural, military...). It wouldn't be fair nor objective to assess a nation judging by its cultural decadence or whatever single variant in that sense.
How would you assess the current US for instance?
A subjective assessment would read either a decadent decaying nation or a thriving one. It is very much dependent on preconceived ideas.
An objective one would take shape in years to come. Analyzing different aspects... But even then, is it trustful? Ralph Waldo Emerson: "All history becomes subjective; in other words there is properly no history, only biography."

speaking of history:
some of the most influential and admirable men in the history of mankind -- Socrates, Jesus, Gandhi -- were selfless; and some of the worst criminals-- Nero, Hitler, Stalin, Talaat -- were the opposite.
selfishness is not something that should be encouraged because we are all naturally selfish. / ara

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Tuesday, August 21, 2007
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ELEMENTARY, MY DEAR WATSON
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Moderates have a far better chance to develop a consensus than their counterparts. If consensus has so far eluded us it’s because we have been at the mercy of tribal bottom-feeders and incurable dunderheads who, even as they speechify on survival, plot our downfall. This much said, I don’t expect our bottom-feeding dunderheads to acknowledge this fundamental and self-evident fact.
*
Cui bono? – Who benefits? The old question asked by Roman lawyers is as good today as it was two thousand years ago. If the speaker is the beneficiary of what he says, the chances are excellent that he is either a liar or a dupe.
*
War is hell? So is peace. You want proof? Visit an Armenian discussion forum on the Internet.
#

[zourna]

Re: notes / comments

Just what you mean by "ours"? Armenians? and is it self sacrifice or an inflicted one?
The "ultimate" sacrifice: Self sacrifice for a cause. But would that cause be a rightful one because a man dies for it? And is it really selfless?

Assessments rely on countless variants (Socio-Economics, cultural, military...). It wouldn't be fair nor objective to assess a nation judging by its cultural decadence or whatever single variant in that sense.
How would you assess the current US for instance?
A subjective assessment would read either a decadent decaying nation or a thriving one. It is very much dependent on preconceived ideas.
An objective one would take shape in years to come. Analyzing different aspects... But even then, is it trustful? Ralph Waldo Emerson: "All history becomes subjective; in other words there is properly no history, only biography."

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

True, But let's just not generalize. Different tribes have different needs, different strategies for survival. Some would choose to fight along side with the invader to secure their properties in real estate, human lives... They are labeled traitors, but I call them survivors. Not that I am supportive of such an act...

how do you assess a nation whose best and the brightest did not survive?
and if they did not survive, what are the chances that the balance will survive? what if ours is the death of a thousand cuts, most of them self-inflicted?

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Monday, August 20, 2007
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MEMO: FOR THE SUGGESTION BOX
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We do the right thing when we mourn our victims. But we do the wrong thing when we mourn only our victims. We should mourn for all victims, including Turkish victims.
Mourn for the enemy? No other civilized nation does that, why should we?
That’s no excuse. Let’s be as daring and progressive as we were in the 4th century. We did not wait then for the rest of the world to civilize itself. We showed them the way. It was the rest of the world that followed our example by converting to Christianity, a religion that speaks of God as our Father. Which means we, all of mankind, including infidels, are brothers and sisters. There are no infidels in the eyes of the Lord, only prodigal sons who sooner or later are destined to return to the fold.
#

[zourna]

Re: notes / comments

True, But let's just not generalize. Different tribes have different needs, different strategies for survival. Some would choose to fight along side with the invader to secure their properties in real estate, human lives... They are labeled traitors, but I call them survivors. Not that I am supportive of such an act...

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

I agree. However,
I believe we sapiens are socialized primates, superior animals as some say. Characterized by our faculty of abstract thinking.
We all carry traits from our parents, just like we all carry traits from our ancestors... Our gene pool is strikingly similar to those of the animals namely of the apes. around 90% of our genes are common.

Survival is our basic instinct, our driving force... without it we are hopeless we'll be extinct. Not much has been changed since the dawn of life, the rules are the same. We're players; the game: survival of the fit. Don't be fooled by the new more "civilized" customs, new polite accommodations. you just have to scratch the surface to reveal the true intentions...

we all know that united we stand (or survive), divided we fall. and yet we have allowed ourselves to be divided by our tribal leaders. how does that fit into your instinct for survival?

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Sunday, August 19, 2007
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OREOS
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Some of my readers think if a writer does not parrot their views, his license to use a pen should be revoked. The only reason it isn’t, there is no agency authorized to do so. To which I say, thank god for that! Let them miss the good old days under Stalin when to express a dissenting view meant a bullet in the neck. And to think that these readers classify themselves as good Armenians. They may think like fascist butchers but they assess themselves as dedicated patriots. The other day I was accused of calling one of my readers a racist. Did I? I am not sure. One should never call a fool a racist. I know what I am saying because I had an Armenian education and I was brought up as a fool and a racist. I even wrote a racist book – my opus one – and when a Canadian critic called me a racist in his review I was so taken aback that I dismissed the charge as perverse. Can a victim of racism be a racist? As the offspring of perennial victims, is it not my human right to despise and even hate victimizers? But if I hate my victimizers, in what way am I different from them? If I think of Turks the way Turks thought of us, am I not like some of my readers who would gladly see me silenced permanently if possible? If the only reason I don’t exterminate Turks today is that I don’t have the power to do so, am I not an oreo – Armenian on the outside, Turk on the inside?
#

[zourna]

Re: notes / comments

a german under Hitler who was not an opportunist but a man of principle, condemned himself to extinction. the instinct for survival is more an animal than a human attribute.

I agree. However,
I believe we sapiens are socialized primates, superior animals as some say. Characterized by our faculty of abstract thinking.
We all carry traits from our parents, just like we all carry traits from our ancestors... Our gene pool is strikingly similar to those of the animals namely of the apes. around 90% of our genes are common.

Survival is our basic instinct, our driving force... without it we are hopeless we'll be extinct. Not much has been changed since the dawn of life, the rules are the same. We're players; the game: survival of the fit. Don't be fooled by the new more "civilized" customs, new polite accommodations. you just have to scratch the surface to reveal the true intentions...

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

No!
Again, am not speaking of regimes or "entities" as you mentioned.
I'm rather generalizing the human-society relation.

There is no such thing as good person, be it Armenian, German... We are all survivals, and in that sense, we are constantly (subconsciously) calculating the odds of every move we make.
So a member in the Nazi party would rather be an opportunist than a good or bad German.

a german under Hitler who was not an opportunist but a man of principle, condemned himself to extinction. the instinct for survival is more an animal than a human attribute.