q/a

Sunday, August 9, 2009
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BORODAKHOSSOUTIUN
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In his biography of John Cheever, Blake Bailey mentions “an Armenian named Harout,” who introduces himself as an “architect” but is identified as an “unemployed waiter, a bore,” and a freeloader. See CHEEVER: A LIFE (New York, 2009, page 439).
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Speaking of this kind of borodakhos Armenian, one of our elder statesmen once said to me: “They walk past an elementary school and they claim to have a university degree.”
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There was a time when I would feel painfully embarrassed whenever I read about an Armenian like Harout. No more. I no longer feel responsible for their conduct probably because I no longer harbor tribal loyalties. I am a human being and all good men, regardless of race, color, and creed, are my brothers. As for Armenians like Harout: all I can do is to let them know that, if they think they are smart enough to fool all the people all the time, they are dead wrong. They may however succeed in fooling a handful of idiots like themselves.
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We are told history is the propaganda of the victor. What if our own history is not just the consolation of the defeated but the borodakhossoutiun of our panchoonies? I am not making dogmatic assertions, just asking a question.
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To those of my readers who get all worked up over what I write, I say: “Relax! No one gives a damn about what I think or, for that matter, whether I live or die. Take it easy, stop reading me, and enjoy your life. But if you insist in carrying on as you have been, let me warn you that I find all disagreement stimulating, especially disagreement with a touch of arsenic in it, because that's when I feel I have hit paydirt.”
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Monday, August 10, 2009
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WHITE TRASH
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Speaking of a small town in Mississippi, where he acted in Elia Kazan's BABY DOLL, Karl Malden writes in his memoirs: “The people were, for the most part, small-minded bigots, who had elevated poor white trash to a fine art.”
About Archie Lee, his character in the film, he writes: “Archie Lee was poor white trash and the only thing that fed his feeble ego was the fact that no matter what, he could always believe that he (through no accomplishment of his own other than the color of his skin) held a higher status than the blacks.”
Immediately I recognized my former self, after I had been “educated” by my “betters.”
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They brainwash children and they call it education. This is true of all nations. American history contains as many lies as, say, Turkish or Armenian history. All historians know this. They also know they are at the mercy of bureaucrats who are hired and fired by politicians whose central concern is to keep and whenever possible to increase their power.
After one of our eminent historians agreed to be interviewed, he refused to answer my questions.
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Patriots are all alike in so far as they are willing to kill and die in defense of the Homeland and to hate anyone who says patriotism is a fraud perpetrated by politicians (white trash) on dupes (themselves).
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I define a fanatic as anyone who hates someone simply because he doesn't share his hatred of whatever it is that he hates.
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Just because I say 2 plus 2 makes 4, or I call a spade a spade, I am immediately surrounded by a mob of civilized, progressive, and smart Armenians, descendants of the first nation that converted to Christianity, that would love to see me torn to shreds.
If we are as patriotic as we claim to be, we should at least allow a fraction of our love for our homeland to spill over on our fellow countrymen even when they speak like misguided fools.
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Portrait of a patriotic Armenian: A damaged ego with an unsettled score in search of a victim.
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Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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QUESTIONS / ANSWERS
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“Who hates the Jew more than a Jew?” (Jewish saying).
My answer: The Armenian who hates an Armenian.
(Finally, I have hit on a field of human endeavor in which we can assert superiority over Jews.)
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Q: All nations have their nationalist historians, why shouldn't we?
A: All nations also have dissidents who question their honesty.
Q: Why is nationalism wrong?
A: If its aim is to assert moral superiority, it is not just wrong but simple-minded. I do not believe in the moral superiority of any nation, including our own. We are as good or bad as any nation, including Turks and Azeris, with whom we have coexisted for centuries.
Q: What makes you think you are right and your critics wrong?
A: I know they are wrong when they voice views that I held thirty years ago when I could not yet think for myself. I also know they are wrong when they go down into the gutter and shout at the top of their lungs. The gutter is no place for civilized discourse, and emotion is incompatible with reason.
Q: Are we really as bad as Turks? Do you really believe that? And if you do, do you really expect us to believe it?
A: Why not? I will go further and say, we may be worse.
Q: Have we ever massacred our minorities?
A: Do we have them? Did we ever have them? According to the most recent statistics I have read, the non-Armenian population living in Armenia today number less than 4%, and as far as I know none of them has ever risen against the state or engaged in acts of terrorism. When we say we are better than Turks or Azeris we confuse military inferiority with moral superiority. As for our claim that we have never been guilty of genocide: Are not violations of human rights crimes against humanity? What are assassinations if not isolated or interrupted massacres? What are mass exodus from the Homeland and the high rate of assimilation in the Diaspora if not “spitak chart” (white massacres)? And let us not forget that the Turks did what they did for a very pragmatic reason: they believed or they were led to believe they were defending the integrity of their Homeland in time of war when their very survival was at stake. Whereas we do what we do for no discernible reason. The smart, civilized, Christian Armenian is not just a myth or a lie but an absurdity.
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
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QUESTIONS/ ANSWERS (#2)
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Q: Do you ever ask yourself what an odar may think of us after they read you?
A: That not all Armenians are idiots?...Joking aside, odars have more important things to do than waste their time reading or thinking about us. How much time do you waste thinking about Patagonians? What about Romanians and Aramaeans? -- because most odars I talk to confuse us with them. As for politicians: they already know all they need to know. I can imagine the following conversation between an American presidential candidate and one of his young advisers:
“What do we know about Armenians?”
“A hundred years ago they were massacred by Turks.”
“What's the Turkish side of the story?”
“They did to the Armenians what we did to our Indians.”
“So what do I say to the Armenians?”
“You will recognize the Genocide.”
“Why genocide and not massacres?”
“They need to hear the word, sir.”
“Is that all? I will recognize the Genocide?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I love the Armenians. What about the Turks? What do I say to them?”
“Nothing, sir! They know the rules of the game.”
“They ought to. They ran an empire for how many centuries?”
“Six, sir."
“Do you think we will last that long?”
“Hope so, sir.”
“I do too. Maybe I should read a book about them to see what they did right.”
“I'll see what I can do, sir. I could read one for you, if you like, and underline the relevant passages.”
“Even better. You sure I don't have to say anything to the Turks?”
“Positive, sir."
“I love those Turks.”
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