notes / comments

[jgk3]

Re: notes / comments

haha, I should look up that book. I don't know much about Frederick the Great though, just what I've seen in history books.

Oh, and it's easy to write against one's former self... time makes our past blunders clear to us, and if we want to bury it, we'd clearly see which vices we must opt to use, and so if we wish to abstain from those vices, perhaps writing helps. But Ara, is your life at this point one of resignation?

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

what if the power structure behind a prejudice is in the form of an individual? Does this exist in objective reality?

Your words on Frederick the Great remind me of what Machiavelli said in The Prince about how the Prince's only interest should be in the art of war, or something along those lines. A Prince who pursues anything else is wasting his time and ability to maintain hold on his kingdom. A ruler is only enlightened if he believes personal triumph is the only virtue.

And Ara, you've said yourself that you are after all an Armenian when you point at all your negative traits. So does this apply to your third statement? Do you feel smarter or better informed the us cannibals?

i share my understanding.
i have traveled on the same road.
i write against my younger brainwashed self.

and if i am not mistaken, Frederick the Great wrote a book titled ANTI-MACHIAVEL in which he refutes everything Machiavelli says.

[jgk3]

Re: notes / comments

what if the power structure behind a prejudice is in the form of an individual? Does this exist in objective reality?

Your words on Frederick the Great remind me of what Machiavelli said in The Prince about how the Prince's only interest should be in the art of war, or something along those lines. A Prince who pursues anything else is wasting his time and ability to maintain hold on his kingdom. A ruler is only enlightened if he believes personal triumph is the only virtue.

And Ara, you've said yourself that you are after all an Armenian when you point at all your negative traits. So does this apply to your third statement? Do you feel smarter or better informed the us cannibals?

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Saturday, March 01, 2008
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AGHBER (ii)
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Where there is prejudice there will also be a power structure that either legitimizes it or ignores it.
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I don’t write to entertain. I write to understand and explain reality, especially when reality is against us.
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Nothing astonishes me more than the ease with which an Armenian thinks he is smarter or better informed than his fellow Armenian.
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If you think you are smart, you will be disposed to think of others as less smart even when they are smarter than you.
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Most Armenians respect bosses, bishops, and benefactors much more than intellectuals, poets, and academics. As for our academics, writers, vodanavorjis and ghazetajis: they do their utmost to deserve their contempt.
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Frederick the Great once described a nation as “a beast with many tongues and many eyes,” and he is generally recognized as an enlightened king. He counted among his friends J.S. Bach and Voltaire, who, as far as I know, neither knew nor cared about each other. As for Frederick the Great: he loved music and literature, but he loved war and conquest even more.
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Whenever I am told Armenians were the first nation to convert to Christianity, I am reminded of the saying, “A converted cannibal is one who, on Friday, eats only fishermen” (Emily Lotney).
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To those who complain that I repeat myself, I have a suggestion. Read me only once a week, or even better, once a month. And if that doesn’t work, make it once a year. If you still catch me repeating myself, let me know and your money will be cheerfully refunded.
#

[jgk3]

Re: notes / comments

Friday, February 29, 2008
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ON A FAMILIAR MISCONCEPTION
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Sometimes we forget that as products of authoritarian -- sometimes even brutally despotic – regimes, we are predisposed to view all criticism as negative, unnecessary, and dangerous. Hence the frequently leveled charge against me that I am too tough on my fellow Armenians, which of course is not just a lie but also a Big Lie. If I am tough, it’s not against my fellow Armenians but only against our non-representative leaders and their dupes, which happen to be a minority for the simple reason that the overwhelming majority of Armenians are non-partisan, anti-partisan, alienated, and either assimilated or on their way there. Not to be critical would amount to adding hypocrisy to our previous list of failings by pretending to be we are in good hands and perhaps even we never had it so good.
If you still think I am unfair to Armenians, I suggest you read Tolstoy on Russians, Mann on Germans, Sartre on his fellow Frenchmen, Raffi, Odian, Zarian, and Massikian on Armenians, and Naregatsi on himself. Here is another explanation as to why I am perceived as negative to the point of being anti-Armenian: We are all brought up to believe our leaders are our masters. But that is a misconception that our leaders have done their utmost to perpetuate. It is therefore up to us to remind them that far from being our masters they are our servants and they are there not to be feared or respected but to serve our interests. If we cannot do that, then we deserve to behave like sheep, and like sheep to be occasionally butchered.
#

fair enough. I'm not particularily paranoid of your pessimism. I like to take it with a grain of salt... I look for holes and contradictions between the ideas of men, it's the only way to gain true insight on what is the most probable reality of a given situation. However, I have my prejudices on who is making a better case, based on which sources they use and what I make of their intentions by telling their message.

[garod]

Re: notes / comments

Bozoian

Quality of a nationalist.How creative word knowledge.

[arabaliozian]

Re: notes / comments

Friday, February 29, 2008
*****************************************
ON A FAMILIAR MISCONCEPTION
**************************************************
Sometimes we forget that as products of authoritarian -- sometimes even brutally despotic – regimes, we are predisposed to view all criticism as negative, unnecessary, and dangerous. Hence the frequently leveled charge against me that I am too tough on my fellow Armenians, which of course is not just a lie but also a Big Lie. If I am tough, it’s not against my fellow Armenians but only against our non-representative leaders and their dupes, which happen to be a minority for the simple reason that the overwhelming majority of Armenians are non-partisan, anti-partisan, alienated, and either assimilated or on their way there. Not to be critical would amount to adding hypocrisy to our previous list of failings by pretending to be we are in good hands and perhaps even we never had it so good.
If you still think I am unfair to Armenians, I suggest you read Tolstoy on Russians, Mann on Germans, Sartre on his fellow Frenchmen, Raffi, Odian, Zarian, and Massikian on Armenians, and Naregatsi on himself. Here is another explanation as to why I am perceived as negative to the point of being anti-Armenian: We are all brought up to believe our leaders are our masters. But that is a misconception that our leaders have done their utmost to perpetuate. It is therefore up to us to remind them that far from being our masters they are our servants and they are there not to be feared or respected but to serve our interests. If we cannot do that, then we deserve to behave like sheep, and like sheep to be occasionally butchered.
#

[Armenian]

Re: notes / comments

This coming from a man that makes lude generalizations, lacks any level of commonsense, and claims to be "educated", but can not grasp and apply basic economic and political theory, can be taken with a grain of salt. The reality is that you ignore how your opinions hurt others, but get offended when others step on your feelings, maybe it is time you start taking your own advice and realize that your statements insult some members on the message board. You can post opinions in a more schalorly and educated manner versus "all Armenians are this and all Armenians are that", chow.

The senile fool in question is an intellectual midget, so I wouldn't expect much depth from him. Once you realize that this Ara Bozoian character is essentially an offspring of Ottoman whores, his written garbage would make perfect sense. More you push his buttons the worst he gets. His life long resentments and hate towards anything Armenian just pours out of him like a volcano. Keep pushing him, I want the readers here to see what this garbageman is really made of...

[Armenian]

Re: notes / comments

Let's not give this Ara Baliozian character the satisfaction of thinking that he is one of our writers and/or intellectuals. As far as a writer is concerned, Ara is only worthy of being considered a mediocre writer, at best. As far as his intellect is concerned, Ara is an intellectual midget. And as far as him being an Armenian is concerned, Ara is not an Armenian. The aforementioned characteristics of Ara are the fundamental reasons why he has been rejected from Armenian society. While Armenians adore, even worship, their poets and writers - Kaputikyan, Sevag, Charents, Isahakian, Tumanyan, Ishkhan, Varujan, Raffi, Emin - just to name a few, this "Ara Baliozian" character remains virtually nameless. And this is the essential reason why we see his anger, his disgruntlement and his self-hate.

In Ara's twisted mind, had he been an American, a Canadian, or simply a westerner, he would have gained fame... However, since Ara writes for "Ottomanized Armenians" and "Gazetajis" he has gotten no where...

Nevertheless, this thread called "notes / comments" is essentially a depository of Ara's self-hate, egomania, delusion, hysteria and disgruntlement. As any self-respecting Armenian can see from his written crap, the depth of Ara's emotional/intellectual problems are bottomless. I personally read Ara's rants just to observe firsthand the kind of psychological damage diasporan Armenians suffer from. In short: Ara's written crap is nothing but the 'brain-farts' of a self-hating egomaniac living in the twilights of his life.

There are Armenians who assimilate and disappear without a trace. And then there are assimilated ones like Ara... The problem with his kind, however, is that once they 'assimilate' they continue sticking around to give us 'advise.'

If I was to describe Ara's literary work with one word it would undoubtedly be - GARBAGE

[Armanen]

Re: notes / comments

You can learn a thing or two from him though about western culture in the arts

We don't need to listen to an old fart in order to learn about western culture in the arts. A simple book is more entertaining and less troublesome.

So he doesn't like corruption and deceit and doesn't have an appreciation for Armenian geopolitics, and doesn't care to call himself an Armenian based on his understanding of what that word signifies.

I highly doubt any members (except turks) here support corruption or deceit, and while many here do not see eye to eye, only one constantly posts anti Armenian articles, and defames our langauge, people, culture, and history. And if he doesn't consider himself Armenian, what is he doing here?