Sunday, February 17, 2013 ***************************************** US/THEM **************************** As a child I was told many things that as an adult I rejected. As a Catholic I was brought up to believe the only reason Martin Luther had divided the Church was to fornicate with a nun. * More often than not the hidden aim of all categories, differences, and labels is to assert some kind of phony superiority. * Shaw once said that the reason why he was successful in creating believable female characters is that he did not think of women as different from men. When the French say “Vive la difference!” I have every reason to suspect they have in mind only anatomical differences. * An old lady from Kharpert once told me they viewed women from Izmir (Smyrna) as sluts because they (Izmirtsis) used make-up; and a woman from Izmir once told me they view Kharpertsis as Kurds. For every label there will be a counter-label. * Native-born Armenians versus Diasporans (or aghber = white trash). As a non-native Armenian I suspect native-born Armenians to be former Bolsheviks, even Stalinists. * We are all brought up to look down on our fellow men for reasons that on closer inspection reveal themselves to be based on ignorance, prejudice, fear, and fallacies. I feel therefore justified to formulate the following categories of my own: human beings who view their fellow men and women as equals and dupes who suffer from a psychological aberration known as infantilism which consists in clinging to illusions, lies, and prejudices instilled in them when they could not yet think for themselves and whose hidden aim is to make them feel superior or privileged. # Monday, February 18, 2013 ******************************************* FROM MY NOTEBOOKS ******************************* Why is it that people who view abortion as murder don’t see war as murder? * The Enlightenment did not put an end to the Dark Ages; neither did Christianity expose false gods. * Whenever a reader calls me pro-Turkish I know he has run out of arguments. If memory serves, it was Goebbels who said: “Making noise is an effective means of opposition.” * As a pessimist I hate to be right. * Because I make Armenianism (its cheap, loathsome variant) look hateful, I am accused of hating myself. * Be a dupe, join a group. * The contempt of idiots and fanatics is as valuable an asset as the affection of good men. * When Jesus said “The Kingdom of God is within you,” the rabbis thought, there goes my bread and butter. * Among us success is harder to survive than failure. * In real life all stories have an unhappy ending if only because at the end everyone dies. # Tuesday, February 19, 2013 ***************************************** ON PATRIOTISM ************************************* The most patriotic Armenian is neither the devout church-goer nor the dedicated partisan but an honest man. * If you can’t think of me as a critic (someone who exposes contradictions) think of me as the devil’s advocate. As far as I know no one has ever identified a devil’s advocate with the devil. * Where there is money there will be prostitution in one form or another; and where there is patriotism, there will be treason, and more often than not it will the real traitors who will accuse the real patriots of treason. * Armenians who criticize no one and nothing (except perhaps Turks and Kurds) will criticize critics and their favorite mode of criticism will be slinging mud in the hope that some of it may stick. * Our critics – and we have had our share of them – have made no difference in our collective existence probably because our idiots outnumber the rest 99 to 1. I may be wrong in this. The correct ratio may well be 98 to 2. # Wednesday, February 20, 2013 ****************************************** WHAT I HAVE BEEN SAYING ************************************** “In their place I would have done a better job.” That’s not what I have been saying. What I have been saying is having committed blunders I would not spend the rest of my life trying to cover them up in an effort to project a positive image. Neither would I declare myself to have been a proud member of the Communist Party (as Sylva Kaputikian is said to have done). or any other party, for that matter. Or having divided the community I would not portray myself as a statesman of vision whose number one concern is the welfare of the nation. Neither would I judge a regime or a power structure by the number of privileges and powers it bestows on me and to hell with everyone else. As for brainwashing children into believing we never had it so good because we are in the best of hands: I would consider that adding insult to injury and raising another generation of brainwashed idiots. Now then, go ahead and accuse me of making too many demands on our “betters” who may not be perfect but are doing their best under difficult conditions: and if you believe that you will believe anything! #