reflections

Thursday. June 26, 2008
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IT COMES WITH THE TERRITORY
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To write for Armenians means to share your thoughts and experiences with readers who are better and smarter than you. But since their superiority is self-conferred, it cannot be objective, or honest, or real. It may even be pure fiction and fantasy, and more precisely, a shameless lie.
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It is not at all unusual for an Armenian to think that, if he identified himself as a patriot or uses patriotism as a shield, he becomes invulnerable to charges of fascism and hooliganism. He may even utter all kinds of nonsense and get away with it. To such an Armenian I say, if you view patriotism as a noble sentiment, why this need to make an ass of yourself?
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The sad truth is, there are no safe ideas, ideals, and ideologies. Consider what happened to the ideals of the French Revolution in the Terror, or to Marxism in Stalin's USSR, and to the Word of God in the sermons of American televangelists and Armenian bishops.
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It is not enough to voice lofty principles. One must earn the right. For myself, I shall always be grateful to Judas for not writing an ode to loyalty. But as an Armenian, I am used to reading editorials on tolerance by fanatics and listening to sermons on chastity by fornicators. As they say, it comes with the territory.
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Friday, June 27, 2008
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MANY QUESTIONS, ONE ANSWER
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We all want the same thing: to improve matters.
We all agree we have problems.
We are unanimous in admitting we need reforms.
It's amazing the number of things we agree on.
It's the solutions we don't agree on.
It's when we start discussing solutions that the crap hits the fan.
Our Turcocentric ghazetajis want to begin by reforming the Turks, which is easier said than done.
Others want to democratize our mafias in the Homeland. Ditto.
Still others want to deliver sermons to our bishops to show them the path leading to church unity.
All these projects boil down to a single word: honesty.
How do you introduce honesty in a dishonest environment?
How do you convince a brainwashed dupe that he is not as smart as he thinks he is? How do you convince a crook that in the long run and for all concerned (including himself, especially himself) honesty is better than dishonesty?
How do you convince a bishop that “a house divided against itself cannot stand”? How do you convince a boss that an ideology that divides the nation does more harm than good?
How do you convince a benefactor that by supporting institutions that legitimize divisions he may not be doing us a favor?
Finally, how do you reform a reformer?
Let me rephrase the question:
How do you teach the value of humility to a megalomaniac with messianic ambitions?
How do you convince a sanctimonious prick that uttering pious platitudes does not make him an admirable specimen of humanity, and that patriotism means love of country as well as fellow countrymen?
To say my solution is better than yours is to imply you have a better chance to succeed where far better men than yourself failed.
What is the answer?
Is there one?
Isn't there anything I can do?
Do I give up?
Hell no!
You begin by reforming yourself.
And that, my friend, is a project that may keep you busy for the rest of your life.
I speak from experience.
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Saturday, June 28, 2008
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OF APES AND MEN
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The most effective way to moronize a nation is (a) by brainwashing the people to think they are smart; (b) by introducing nationalism in a multicultural or bastardized environment, and (c) by dividing them into mutually hostile groups or tribes.
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For biological as well as cultural reasons, the offspring of mixed marriages (which I was brought up to think as bastards) are smarter, healthier, and more tolerant, if only because they are products of two or more worldviews, traditions, and values. But they are also more vulnerable to charges of disloyalty and treason. This may explain why, once upon a time people of the Middle East were the smartest and the most progressive in the world. But gradually and as a result of tribal and religious divisions and power struggles, they allowed themselves to be bullied, brainwashed, and intimidated by power hungry megalomaniacs with the horizons, moral compass, and IQ of apes.
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We will never have any peace as long as we think we are better than Turks and vice versa. The same applies to all our internecine tribal, ideological, and denomination divisions.
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The more underdeveloped the brain, the more easily it is brainwashed.
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I can't imagine anything more cowardly than verbally abusing someone anonymously and from a safe distance. It is no wonder that in Russia Armenians are known as “cowardly.” And I agree with Gandhi when he said, “A coward has no right to identify himself as a member of the human race.”
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Speaking of cowardly Armenians, you may be interested to know that in Greece Armenians are known as “Turkish gypsies,” and in France as “filthy.” I am now beginning to suspect these offensive labels have as much merit as our own self-assessment of ourselves as smart, progressive, and civilized.
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If you don't like what I write, stop reading me. I assure you, that's the most effective and civilized way of silencing a writer. To verbally abuse him or trying to silence him because he dares to say things that you don't like reading is to prove him right.
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