Re: notes / comments
Monday, December 04, 2006
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ON PRIDE
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“I am proud to be the offspring of a persecuted nation,” writes a reader, thus proving that one can be or pretend to be proud of anything, including degradation. Speaking for myself, I can’t say I am proud of anything, and I have every reason to suspect no one who has ever been persecuted, really persecuted, can be proud of it.
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We were persecuted because we were defeated. We were defeated not because God made our enemies strong and us weak but because they were united and we were divided. We were divided because our wheeler-dealers parading as representatives of God on earth and leaders of men failed to unite us. To say we are proud of being the offspring of a persecuted nation amounts to bragging about being divided, defeated, persecuted, massacred and scattered to the four corners of the world like unwanted, uninvited, and useless autumn leaves. I have heard of people bragging about their success. Leave it to Armenians to brag about their failures.
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“I am glad we never had an Ataturk,” I read elsewhere. As a matter of fact we had several potential Ataturks, among them General Antranik and Nejdeh, but we also had many more mini-sultans and crypto-commissars who excel in only one endeavor – obstructing the path of all those who attempt to achieve solidarity. This minor detail is not stressed in our textbooks because that would amount to admitting incompetence. I say these things not to gloat over our failures but to point out the simple fact that only after we admit failure we may aim at success. To be satisfied with our incompetence and failures also means to perpetuate them.
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Monday, December 04, 2006
*****************************************
ON PRIDE
*************************
“I am proud to be the offspring of a persecuted nation,” writes a reader, thus proving that one can be or pretend to be proud of anything, including degradation. Speaking for myself, I can’t say I am proud of anything, and I have every reason to suspect no one who has ever been persecuted, really persecuted, can be proud of it.
*
We were persecuted because we were defeated. We were defeated not because God made our enemies strong and us weak but because they were united and we were divided. We were divided because our wheeler-dealers parading as representatives of God on earth and leaders of men failed to unite us. To say we are proud of being the offspring of a persecuted nation amounts to bragging about being divided, defeated, persecuted, massacred and scattered to the four corners of the world like unwanted, uninvited, and useless autumn leaves. I have heard of people bragging about their success. Leave it to Armenians to brag about their failures.
*
“I am glad we never had an Ataturk,” I read elsewhere. As a matter of fact we had several potential Ataturks, among them General Antranik and Nejdeh, but we also had many more mini-sultans and crypto-commissars who excel in only one endeavor – obstructing the path of all those who attempt to achieve solidarity. This minor detail is not stressed in our textbooks because that would amount to admitting incompetence. I say these things not to gloat over our failures but to point out the simple fact that only after we admit failure we may aim at success. To be satisfied with our incompetence and failures also means to perpetuate them.
#
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