semiramis

Thursday, January 13, 2011
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ON SUBSERVIENCE
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Once, a few years ago, when i pointed out to some children what they were doing was dangerous, I heard one of them saying, “You can't tell me what to do, you are not my father.”
What a difference, I thought, between their ways and ours.
I was brought up to respect my elders even when I did not respect them, even when I sensed they were throwing their weight around -- perhaps because I didn't know – I was never taught to see the line that separates respect from subservience.
Respect is earned.
Subservience is imposed by the powerful over the weak, or by bullies over cowards.
*
In the early chapters of memoirs by Jewish celebrities in America mention is invariably made of bullies who insulted, humiliated, and beat them up on the grounds that they were the offspring of Christ-killers.
I spent my childhood in an Armenian ghetto in Greece and I too was beaten up by bullies – not Greek bullies but Armenian bullies.
When I grew up I dismissed and forgot these painful early experiences because I was taught to believe Armenians were civilized, compassionate, and innocent victims of bloodthirsty barbarians. I even wrote a dozen books recycling this propaganda line.
*
I know now that we are not what we pretend to be.
I also know now why Zarian said, “Our political parties have been of no political use to us, their greatest enemy is free speech.”
Free speech is our enemy because it threatens to expose our “betters” as bullies and ourselves as cowards.
The truth is, we have been abused and intimidated into subservience for such a long time by alien bullies that we assume intimidation and subservience to be an integral part of the human condition.
If I have said this before, it bears repeating.
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Friday, January 14, 2011
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SEMIRAMIS
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There was a time when I wrote nothing but fiction.
That's when I worked in factories, department stores,
and insurance companies and came into contact
with a rich variety of characters.
It was at the head office of a large insurance company
that I met and worked with a foul-mouthed young divorcee
who was fond of delivering lines like
“Let me sit in your lap and we'll talk about the first thing that comes up.”
She inspired me to write a novella titled SEMIRAMIS
which was accepted for publication in an American periodical
but never saw the light of day
because the periodical went out of business.
When I sent it to a literary agent in New York,
I received a letter that said in effect:
“The story you have submitted is better suited
for university periodicals with which we don't deal.”
Later when I submitted it to ARARAT,
a literary quarterly published in New York,
the editor rejected it with a single line that stated
“We don't publish pornography.”
All this happened decades ago
and I lost track of my real-life Semiramis.
As for the editor, he died three years ago,
may the Good lord have mercy on his soul.
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Saturday, January 15, 2011
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FROM MY NOTEBOOKS
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A headline in this morning's paper reads:
“Tunisian president flees amid rioting.”
That will never happen in Armenia for two reasons:
old men, women, and children don't riot;
like Turks, the Russians will exterminate the people
before they even consider submitting to their will.
*
A writer conducts a war on three fronts:
against the prejudices of the ignorant and brainwashed masses;
against the diabolical cunning of the competition;
and against the ruthless intolerance of those in power.
*
Any day now I expect a new translation of the Old Testament
to have a footnote identifying the Serpent in the Garden in GENESIS
as a Mossad agent.
*
One of the worst mistakes an Armenian can make
is to confuse Turkish venom with Armenian voki.
*
Men of reason may compromise and reach a consensus.
Reason has at no time played a central role in Armenian affairs.
*
Prejudices are stonewalls erected to obstruct the path of reason.
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