SAS Posted May 19, 2008 Report Share Posted May 19, 2008 Մի կողմից զարմանալի է, մյուսից՝ ոչ, որ SAS-ը շարունակում է իրեն էշի տեղ դնել: Ցանկալի կլիներ շարունակել նույն ոճով: Էշը շատ համբերատար, համառ, տոկուն, դիմացկուն, ժուժկալ, աշխատող, կամակոր ու օգտակար չորքոտանի է: Ունի նաև երկար ականջներ՝ ունկնդրելու համար, նաև... ինչ-որ բան(հիշեցի մի կատակ՝ քո հորըն է ինչ-որ բան, իսկ էշինը՝ ինչ որ պետք է)... gserj-ի պատասխանից կարելի է ենթադրել, որ նա ոչ մի պատկերացում չունի «ախպարի» մասին:Նույնիսկ հայերեն գրերն է ընկալում որպես հայհոյանք: Ուստի, շարունակեմ ինձ էշի տեղ դնել և նույն հարցը քեզ ուղղել. ի՞նչ ես հասկանում «ախպար» ասելով, ի՞նչ իմաստ ես դնում այդ բառի տակ:Մի հարց ևս. «շարունակում է իրեն էշի տեղ դնել»՝ նշանակում է, որ ես ուրիշ շարաններում էլ եմ էշ-էշ հարցեր տվել: Մինչ ի մահ քեզ պարտական կլինեմ, եթե նշես թե էլ որտե՞ղ եմ ինձ էշավարի պահել... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted May 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2008 Sunday, May 18, 2008 ******************************************** A BROTHER *************************** He is that most repellent of all creatures – an ignorant, loudmouth, self-satisfied, smart-ass know-it-all, in short, myself when young. He makes me think of the octogenarian born-again Armenian friend who once told me he hates Turks not because they tried to exterminate us but because they failed to do so. Instead of analyzing our catastrophic blunders, he brags, speechifies, and sermonizes in the name of God and Country—a God he knows nothing about and a Country that he pretends to value more than his fellow countrymen. * In a letter from an Armenian poet: "After writing for Armenians all my life, I am beginning to hate the Turks less." * Ruben Ter-Minassian: "Our cultural achievements and intellectual abilities may be superior to those of our neighbors, but without solidarity we are bound to be defeated, victimized, and exterminated." * Stanislaw Lec: "Only the dead can be resurrected. It’s more difficult with the living." * Search for the truth not in order to find it but in order to uncover ten thousand lies. # Monday, May 19, 2008 ************************************** FROM MY DIARY ***************************************** Successful crooks appear more honest than truly honest men. * Politicians who profess family values see nothing morally inconsistent in screwing the nation. * Jean Rostand: “The persistence of an opinion proves nothing in its favor. Astrologers still exist.” * It is a waste of time talking to someone from whom you can learn nothing and to whom you can teach even less. * If a little knowledge is dangerous, we all live on borrowed time. * Kant [on the difference between ignorance and stupidity]: “There is no cure for stupidity.” * For our bosses and bishops, literature has only one purpose: to cover up their lies, and to misrepresent their blunders as triumphs of statesmanship. # Tuesday, May 20, 2008 ************************************* ABOUT KEMALISM ********************************* Idols are the surest symptoms of a society’s backwardness. Stalin in Russia, Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy, Mao in China, Fidel in Cuba, and Ataturk in Turkey: of these only Ataturk has lost none of his initial hold on the masses. The average Turk continues to be brought up (i.e. brainwashed) to believe Kemal is the Father of the Nation because he saved Turkey from the brink of annihilation. That may or may not be true, but it is equally true that most of Turkey’s problems today – among them the introduction of nationalism in an essentially multicultural and cosmopolitan environment, the forceful rejection of traditional values, the festering Armenian question, the irredentism of the Kurds, the fiasco surrounding the application for membership in the EU, a junta’s shadowy presence and quasi-veto powers, the rise of fundamentalism, laws that curtail free speech, among other violations of fundamental human rights – may be traced to Kemalist dogmas. Turkey will be born again as a truly civilized, progressive, and democratic nation on the day it discards Kemalism to the dustbin of history the way Russia, Germany, China, and Italy rejected their fascist idols. * Why I write the way I do? Am I foolish and arrogant enough to think that I can change anyone’s mind? Certainly not. I write by way of wondering why is it that, that which is clearly visible to me should remain shrouded in impenetrable darkness to others who may well be smarter than I am. * It happens in life all the time. A solution that worked in stage one becomes a recipe for failure in stage two. * Power corrupts and ideologies decline because they fall into the hands of opportunists who care more about their privileges than the welfare of the people. If Kemal were alive today, would he declare himself a Kemalist? # Wednesday, May 21, 2008 ********************************************* DIARY ************************** There are three kinds of men: those who think before they speak, those who think as they speak, and those who think after they have spoken. But they all belong to a minority. The majority of men don’t think. * Who says we cannot agree on anything? For more than a thousand years now we have consistently agreed to remain divided. * In a democracy, truth is not a source of terror because it can be easily buried beneath an avalanche of harmless half-truths and pleasant lies. * We will mature as a nation only when we take ideas as seriously as money. * Anonymous: "You can always count on a rich man’s head to be as empty as an honest man’s pocket." * Galileo Galilei: “I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” # Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rudolpf Posted May 23, 2008 Report Share Posted May 23, 2008 * One reason we are a failure as a nation is that we refuse to discuss our failings, and when someone dares to mention them, we make him feel as though he were insulting Mount Ararat, shish-kebab, and pilaf. # Why don't you discuss them,i think it would be very interesting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted May 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2008 Thursday, May 22, 2008 ******************************************* MORE SHOP TALK ************************************ After the Genocide, the greatest calamity that has befallen Armenians is the Turcocentric ghazetaji who can think of Armenians only as victims of Turks. In my view, however, long before Armenians were victimized by Turks, they were victimized by their fellow Armenians, and they continue to be to this day. * To allow only one side of the story to be told and repeated again and again for a century is another way of moronizing a nation. * You want to play it safe? Be a dupe among dupes and a fool among fools. * The real challenge for a writer is not to be deep or original but to deserve and earn his readers’ trust. As for depth and originality: the Bible and Plato have exhausted these branches of literary endeavor. * T.S. Eliot: “For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.” # Friday, May 23, 2008 ********************************************** FROM MY NOTEBOOKS **************************************** Forgiveness is not something that one gives and the other takes. Forgiveness is a gift that enhances our understanding of our fellow men and our own evil impulses. * To question the validity of an assertion is not the same as asserting its contradiction. * In everything we write, we confess. In everything that we analyze, we analyze ourselves. * One advantage in having a strange name is that telemarketers have trouble pronouncing it so that you feel justified in saying “Nobody by that name here.” * Genocide, even the death of a single innocent human being, is too important to be contaminated by propaganda. This may well explain my instinctive hostility towards our Turcocentric ghazetajis. * Bertrand Russell: “Life is nothing but a competition to be the criminal rather than the victim.” * William Goldman: “Life isn’t fair. It’s just fairer than death, that’s all. # Saturday, May 24, 2008 ******************************************** HISTORIANS ***************************** Nationalism and historiography might as well be mutually exclusive concepts. What’s uppermost in the mind of a nationalist historian is the welfare of the nation even if it means the total destruction and ruin of its enemies. Nationalism reveals more about the mindset of a nationalist and less about the past. Don’t get me wrong. We can learn a great deal from nationalist historians -- a great deal except the truth. Great historians like Gibbon, Spengler, and Toynbee, who write about civilizations rather than nations, are invariably critical of their own. * How do you go about civilizing a nation? You don’t civilize it by repeating over and over again "the first nation to accept Christianity" or "the first nation to experience genocide in the 20th century." You civilize it by detribalizing its political parties, making its institutions more responsive and accountable to the public, and its media more tolerant of criticism and dissent. That’s how you civilize a nation. (Who says I speak of problems but not of solutions?) * "You repeat yourself," I am told once in a while by critics. I suspect if I were to write a thousand times "We are the first nation to convert to Christianity," or "the first nation to experience genocide in the 20th century," nobody would complain. And why? Probably because both lines appear to be saying something positive about us, though I fail to see what’s positive about being massacred in the 20th or any other century for that matter. # Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gserj Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 After the Genocide, the greatest calamity that has befallen Armenians is the Turcocentric ghazetaji who can think of Armenians only as victims of Turks. In my view, however, long before Armenians were victimized by Turks, they were victimized by their fellow Armenians, and they continue to be to this day.Все так плохо Мы все умрем Или расстаем Под огненным дождем! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gserj Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 (edited) <br />Why<b> don't you discuss them,i think it would be very interesting.</b><br />He ain't talk to u brada. 'Cause he's a hastla Edited May 25, 2008 by gserj Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gserj Posted May 25, 2008 Report Share Posted May 25, 2008 <br />Էշը շատ համբերատար, համառ, տոկուն, դիմացկուն, ժուժկալ, աշխատող, կամակոր ու օգտակար չորքոտանի է: Ունի նաև երկար ականջներ՝ ունկնդրելու համար, նաև... ինչ-որ բան(հիշեցի մի կատակ՝ քո հորըն է ինչ-որ բան, իսկ էշինը՝ ինչ որ պետք է)... gserj-ի պատասխանից կարելի է ենթադրել, որ նա ոչ մի պատկերացում չունի «ախպարի» մասին:Նույնիսկ հայերեն գրերն է ընկալում որպես հայհոյանք: <br /><br />Ուստի, շարունակեմ ինձ էշի տեղ դնել և նույն հարցը քեզ ուղղել. ի՞նչ ես հասկանում «ախպար» ասելով, ի՞նչ իմաստ ես դնում այդ բառի տակ:Մի հարց ևս. «շարունակում է իրեն էշի տեղ դնել»՝ նշանակում է, որ ես ուրիշ շարաններում էլ եմ էշ-էշ հարցեր տվել: Մինչ ի մահ քեզ պարտական կլինեմ, եթե նշես թե էլ որտե՞ղ եմ ինձ էշավարի պահել...<br />Cам такой. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kars Posted May 26, 2008 Report Share Posted May 26, 2008 Էշը շատ համբերատար, համառ, տոկուն, դիմացկուն, ժուժկալ, աշխատող, կամակոր ու օգտակար չորքոտանի է: Ունի նաև երկար ականջներ՝ ունկնդրելու համար, նաև... ինչ-որ բան(հիշեցի մի կատակ՝ քո հորըն է ինչ-որ բան, իսկ էշինը՝ ինչ որ պետք է)... gserj-ի պատասխանից կարելի է ենթադրել, որ նա ոչ մի պատկերացում չունի «ախպարի» մասին:Նույնիսկ հայերեն գրերն է ընկալում որպես հայհոյանք: Ուստի, շարունակեմ ինձ էշի տեղ դնել և նույն հարցը քեզ ուղղել. ի՞նչ ես հասկանում «ախպար» ասելով, ի՞նչ իմաստ ես դնում այդ բառի տակ:Մի հարց ևս. «շարունակում է իրեն էշի տեղ դնել»՝ նշանակում է, որ ես ուրիշ շարաններում էլ եմ էշ-էշ հարցեր տվել: Մինչ ի մահ քեզ պարտական կլինեմ, եթե նշես թե էլ որտե՞ղ եմ ինձ էշավարի պահել... Ոչ մի տեղ չեմ նկատել, որ քեզ էշավարի պահած լինես, ընդհակառակը «Էշավարի պահելու» ու ինքն իրեն «էշի տեղ դնելու» միջև մեծ տարբերություն կա, և դու դա շատ լավ պետք է իմանաս, որպես հայոց լեզվին քաջատեղյակ անձ: Ինչ որ է, անցանք առաջ: Դու հարցնում ես. «ի՞նչ ես հասկանում «ախպար» ասելով»: «Ախպար» ասելով հասկանում եմ հենց այն, ինչ հասկանում են բոլորը: Ինչպես դու էլ երևի գիտես, այդ մականունը տարածվեց Հայաստանում՝ 40-ականներից սկսած Հայաստան հայրենադարձված հայերի վրա, տեղացի ժողովրդի կողմից: Սկզբից դա չուներ որևէ վիրավորական իմաստ, բայց ժամանակի ընթացքում սկսեց ստանալ ինչ-որ անարգական երանգավորում: Բայց ոչ միշտ ու ամենուրեք: Իմ ծանոթ ախպարներից շատերը հպարտությամբ իրենց «ախպար» են անվանում՝ շեշտելու համար իրենց «առավելությունը» իմ՝ «տեղացուս» նկատմամբ (հիմնականում՝ կատակով, իհարկե, բայց՝ ոչ միշտ): Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted May 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2008 Sunday, May 25, 2008 ********** PATRIOTISM & RELATED ATROCITIES ********** Some of the nastiest human beings I have had the misfortune to deal with are or pretend to be dedicated Armenian patriots. I am also personally acquainted with Turks who are more tolerant and civilized that some Armenians. Sooner or later we shall have to come to terms with the fact that collectively we are not as good as we think we are to the same degree that Turks are not as bad as we have been led to believe. Very much like Turks, Armenians are first and foremost individuals and to generalize is to simplify the complexities of reality. Nations and by extension national identity are artificial labels created by ambitious politicians whose central concern is power. Therefore to speak of Turks and Armenians is misleading. We should speak instead of human beings who as a result of factors beyond their control or motivated by the instinct of self-preservation, identify themselves with a group in whose midst they find themselves. This may explain why some of the most patriotic and nationalist Armenian leaders are either the offspring of mixed marriages or see nothing objectionable in intermarriage. # Monday, May 26, 2008 ****************************************** STORIES WITHOUT A MORAL ************************************************* Earthquakes in China, cyclones in Myanmar, tornadoes in America, and thousands of innocent victims: a story without a moral. Perhaps that’s what life is: a story without a moral. What is morality if not the wishful thinking of the powerless? As losers, we use morality to chastise our enemies, but from a position to strength we cover up our own immorality. Whom do we fool? Ourselves and no one else. When it comes to deception, we are our own most consistent, dependable, and faithful dupes. * You cannot argue with a man who has somehow convinced himself that (a) he is smarter; (b) he knows better; © he is better. *** Some of my readers are critics because they cannot be executioners. * When a reader calls me names and resorts to insults, I cannot help suspecting that what he is attempting to do is drag me down to a place where he will have the upper hand. If I don’t reply in kind it’s not because I am a good Christian willing to turn the other cheek but because I don’t feel at home in the gutter. # Tuesday, May 27, 2008 ***************************************** THE REST IS PROPAGANDA *********************************************** Combine a passive or apathetic nation with an incompetent leadership and the result will be Armenian history. * An incompetent politician may be defined as a lawmaker who has no respect for the law, or a judge who has no taste for justice. * When the going gets tough, the smart Armenian emigrates. * Buddhist saying: “Foolish friends are worse than wise enemies.” Likewise, incompetent leaders are worse than ruthless and bloodthirsty oppressors. * Balzac: “Nature makes only dull animals. We owe the fool to society.” * Kant [on the difference between ignorance and stupidity]: “There is no cure for stupidity.” * Albert Camus: “Hell is a special favor reserved for those who have asked for it insistently.” # Wednesday, May 28, 2008 ********************************************* DEATH WISH ******************************* Emigration, alienation, assimilation -- to our “betters” and assorted riffraff they mean only one thing: one less malcontent, dissident, or critic. Zarian was wrong when he said our politicians are useless. The situation is worse. Much worse. Our politicians are megalomaniacal mental midgets driven by death wish. They preach survival but practice suicide. Preaching one thing and practicing another – so what else is new, you may well ask. You need a license to drive a truck. No such requirement to lead a nation. Once upon a time no one saw anything remotely questionable in barbers practicing medicine. When it comes to political leadership, we continue to be at the mercy of executioners parading as barbers, who cannot even give you a shave without administering the death of a thousand cuts. # Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rudolpf Posted May 29, 2008 Report Share Posted May 29, 2008 (edited) THE REST IS PROPAGANDA *********************************************** Combine a passive or apathetic nation with an incompetent leadership and the result will be Armenian history. * Dear Ara,things you write are very interesting I guess you really are a well-educated person,but many readers of this forum(and me also) dont know English well enough,maybe you should think of translating your works into Russian or Armenian,it undoubtly will add you a significant number of readers,with best regards,Rudolpf. Edited May 29, 2008 by Rudolpf Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Thursday, May 29, 2008 ******************************************** THE POWER AND THE GLORY ************************************************** If you think I am being too tough on our politicians, I say, no one can be tough enough on them. If I am wrong, sooner or later I will be exposed just as another ignoramus, one among many. But if I am right (and they are wrong) the result may be countless innocent victims. * The blunders of politicians are like cities set on a hill: they cannot be hidden. One reason politicians get involved in education is to rewrite history and to misrepresent their defeats as moral victories. * Politicians have been persecuting and victimizing intellectuals ever since the trial and execution of Socrates 2500 years ago. Now then, name a single intellectual who has victimized a politician. * Since they cannot recreate the world in their own image, politicians try to reshape our perception of reality. And they succeed, but only up to a point. That's because they cannot fool all the people all the time. They may have the power, but they don't have the glory, and that is what makes them intolerant of dissent. # Friday, May 30, 2008 ********************************************* RANDOM THOUGHTS **************************************** If your income is ten times that of another, the temptation to think you may be ten times smarter than he can be overwhelming. My advice: resist it. You may be ten times more ruthless, greedy, lucky, or even dishonest (Plato is wonderful on this point) –none of which has anything to do with your or his IQ. * If killing in the name of patriotism is right, what about lying? Why should my patriotism be good and my enemy's bad? If love makes us blind to the point of self-deception, what about hate? * What doesn't kill you may make you paranoid. * If you believe God to be almighty and all-knowing and if He tells you to kill your only son who has harmed no one, would you do it? (For an answer, see GENESIS 22:1). * Until very recently, and to some extent even today, many white Americans think of blacks as inferior, and neither the word of God (all men are brothers) nor that of their Constitution (all men are created equal) can convince them otherwise. All of which may suggest that, in a democracy, power may be on the side of the majority, but not truth. # May 31, 2008 *************************************** FROM MY NOTEBOOKS ****************************************** “I am a better writer than you,” an anonymous readers informs me. Anyone can be a better writer than me, provided of course he first learns how to read. * If you say anything in your favor, even if you speak the truth, most people will suspect you are lying. * To say, “I don't believe in criticism” is criticism. No doubt those who condemned Socrates to death did not think of themselves as critics, * The aim of propaganda is to raise a wall between reality and our perception of it. Even when politicians speak the truth, they don't speak the whole truth for the simple reason that the whole truth exists only in the mind of God. * A fool preaching patriotism: does he thereby cease being a fool? * No one is infallible but some love to wallow in their own fallibility. # Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Dear Ara,things you write are very interesting I guess you really are a well-educated person,but many readers of this forum(and me also) dont know English well enough,maybe you should think of translating your works into Russian or Armenian,it undoubtly will add you a significant number of readers,with best regards,Rudolpf. ....thanks for your suggestion. as long as i have readers like you, i have got it made. / ara Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Երեքշաբթի, Մայիս 15, 2008 Որպես գրող իմ դժվարություններն առաջանում են նրանից, որ ի տարբերություն մեր թուրքոցենտրիկ գազեթաչիների, որոնք ջարդերից, արնախում ասիացի բարբարոսներից, կոտորածներից ու մարդկության դեմ կատարած հանցագործություններից բացի ուրիշ ոչ մի բանի մասին չեն գրում, ես՝ հետաքրքրված եմ կյանքի մութ կողմով։ Ես մատնանշում եմ մարդու բնության բացասական կողմերը, բացարձակապես արհամարհելով դրականը։ Հայ մի բանաստեղծուհի զանգահարում է ինձ հայտնելու, որ իր հաջորդ գրքից եկած եկամուտը նվիրելու է Էջմիածնին։ Սիրտս թույլ չի տալիս ասել, որ ես այս բիզնեսում եմ արդեն քառորդ դար ու չեմ լսել երբևէ, որ հայ գրողը երկու ցենտ եկամուտ ունենա իր աշխատանքից։ Մի ընկերոջ նամակից. -եթե իսկապես կարծում ես, որ հայ գրականությունը փակուղի է, ինչու՞ չես դադարում գրելը։ Գրում եմ բացարձակ ոչ գրական երկու նպատակով։ Կռվում եմ ձանձրույթի դեմ ու գտնում եմ ընկերներ։ Ամեն հրատարակված գրքիս հետ գտնում եմ մի ընկեր, երբեմն անգամ երկու, երբեմն անգամ քսաներկու…, թշնամի։ Արա Բալիոզյան __._,_.___ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted May 31, 2008 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2008 Իշխանությունն ու հմայքը Եթե կարծում եք, որ չափից ավելի կոշտ եմ գաղաքական գործիչների մասին գրելուց, կասեմ, որ ոչ ոք չի կարող բավարար կոշտ լինել նրանց նկատմամբ։ Եթե սխալվում եմ, հոգ չէ։ Վաղ թե ուշ կմերկացվեմ որպես ևս մեկ ամբարտավան, մեկը բազումի մեջ, բայց եթե ճիշտ եմ (իսկ նրանք սխալ), հետևանքը կարող է լինել անհաշիվ զոհ։ Քաղաքական գործիչների սխալները նման են ժայռերի վրա կառուցած բնակավայրերին. չես կարող թաքցնել։ Կրթական հարցերին քաղաքական գործիչները խառնվում են միայն մեկ պատճառով. պատմությունը նենգափոխելու ու սեփական պարտությունները բարոյական հաղթանակ որպես ներկայացնելու։ Քաղաքական գործիչները տանջել ու ոչնչացրել են մտավորականներին Սոկրատեսի դատավարության ու մահապատժի ժամանակներից, մոտ 2500 տարի։ Ասեք ինձ մի մտավորականի անուն, որը տանջել ու ոչնչացրել է որևէ քաղաքական գործչի։ Քանի որ չեն կարողանում փոխել աշխարհն այնպես ինչես ուզում են, քաղաքական գործիչները փոխում են մեր ընկալումն աշխարհի մասին և հաջողվում են մասսամբ։ Մասսամբ, որովհետև չեն կարող հիմարացնել բոլոր մարդկանց, բոլոր ժամանակներում։ Նրանք կարող են ունենալ իշխանությունը, բայց ոչ հմայքը, և հատկապես դա է դարձնում նրանց անհանդուրժող այլախոհության նկատմամբ։ Արա Բալիոզյան Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted June 7, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Thursday,June 5, 2008 ***************************************** WHAT I KNOW ABOUT FASCISTS ********************************************** In his memoirs, Elia Kazan writes that ordinary Turkish citizens don't just shake the hand of a political leader, they go down on their knees and kiss it. Our political leaders are different. They prefer to have another part of their anatomy kissed. * I have yet to meet an Armenian with political ambitions was not a fascist. * As a long-time observer of the Armenian scene, I can recognize a fascist by the fact that he doesn't just criticize, analyze, attack, or insult anyone who dares to disagree with him, he goes further. He adopts the role of commissar and issues guidelines. * Hitler was proud of German culture. So are we of ours. Even Armenians who know little or nothing and care even less about culture, like to brag about it. * The best argument for an Armeno-Turkish alliance is that most Turks are not Turks, neither are most Armenians Armenians. The only thing that separates them is an incompatible educational system – that is to say, two different sets of brainwashers. * An Armenian who hates Turks and a Turk who hates Armenians: take away the direction of their hatred and they might as well be two interchangeable units. I speak from experience. I have received hate-mail from both and I see no difference between them. * Fascists excel in solving problems, even if in the process they create many more. # June 6, 2008 ************************************ A QUESTION OF EMPHASIS *************************************************** I should like to read an autobiography in which the emphasis is on prejudices, blind spots, and defects. I should also like to read a nationalist historian who stresses not military victories but moral failures. Sartre's autobiography comes close to my ideal. So does Spengler's treatment of the West in his DECLINE OF THE WEST, and Toynbee's treatment of British history in his STUDY OF HISTORY. * What propels us to greater knowledge is awareness of ignorance. Some of the most asinine opinions I have been exposed to issued from the mouths of individuals who believed they knew everything they needed to know. * To emphasize the negative: that is to me the true meaning of patriotism. All our pseudo-patriots want flattery – first nation this, first nation that – and the more they brag, the more of their backside they expose, and they lack the decency and common sense to see this. # Saturday, June 7, 2008 *************************************** LITERATURE ************************************************ When our bishops, bosses, and benefactors (or rather, their flunkies) get involved in literature, they do so not to promote it, but to control it. A bishop once asked me to prepare an anthology of Armenian literature. “We have the money,” he said, using the royal pronoun. When I asked if I would have complete freedom of selection, I never heard from him again. In his obituary I read that he had subsidized the publication of over fifty books. “They” had the money, all right. * Whenever I am verbally abused by one of our ubiquitous hooligans parading as superpatriots, my first thought: “He must be a bishop or the son of one.” * I once asked one of our Turcocentric ghazetajis if he had read a single Armenian writer, he said he hadn't and he seemed proud of the fact. * Our Turcocentric ghazetajis have their counterparts among the Turks who blame everything on the degenerate and corrupt West and on Armenian criminal conduct, and whenever a Turkish intellectual dares to think for himself, he is imprisoned or forced into exile. If I am not the inmate of a gulag today it's because we don't have gulags in the diaspora. # Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted June 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Sunday, June 8, 2008 **************************************** A HOUSE DIVIDED *********************************** The sanctimonious patriotic prick who asserts moral and intellectual superiority is a far greater threat to our survival as a nation than all our enemies combined. This type of individual discusses our problems as if he were the first to do so. That's because he has neither interest nor respect for what has been achieved in the past by far better men than himself. His sole aim in life is to project the image of an individual endowed with unique powers of perception and to silence anyone who dares to question his judgment and integrity. In short, he is that most repellent of all creatures: an Armenian with political ambitions. * If a problem that has been solved is no longer a problem, it follows we have no problems. What we have instead is a long line of so-called leaders who have consistently obstructed the path of those willing to implement solutions. * The more a nation is in need of intellectual and moral guidance, the more intolerant it gets. The Soviet Union under Stalin, Germany under Hitler, China under Mao, Italy under Mussolini, Armenia and the Armenian diaspora today. * If you want to understand your fellow men, begin by asking yourself: “What if, instead of being better or the best, I am the worst?” Naregatsi's LAMENTATIONS may be said to be a long-winded but honest answer to this question, and in that sense it is the most unread and misunderstood masterpiece in our literature. # Monday, June 9, 2008 ************************************************* TRYING TO MAKE SENSE ************************************** If there is someone out there who has the solution to all our problems but refuses to share it with the rest of us, it may be because he doesn't relish the idea of being crucified. * Collectively we are hidebound and ignorant – all dogmatic people are. There is indeed some truth in the popular adage “People have the leadership they deserve.” * When a capitalist explains reality or God, he makes sure his explanation will not harm his capital. The same applies to a boss with an ideology and a bishop with an orthodoxy. * After dividing mankind into them and us, a nationalist, or anyone who subscribes to a belief system, will proceed to divide “us” into yes-men and dissidents as free speech goes down the drain. * If you make sense, don't expect to be understood by fools. # Tuesday, June 10, 2008 ***************************************** AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE ************************************************ Warning: Do not read what follows, it may cause irreparable damage to your ego. * “I didn't know that!” is not argument but an admission of ignorance. Which raises a number of questions: Why is it that we are more eager to contradict than to learn? Why is it that some central facts about our power structures and establishment figures have been kept from us? Who profits by our ignorance? * To solve our problems? Nothing could be further from my thoughts. If we have consistently ignored, sometimes even rejected, all solutions, including those that have come down to us from heaven, what are the chances that we will even bother to consider the solutions provided by a marginal scribbler who may well be an enemy of the people? * Who is an enemy of the people? Anyone who refuses to kiss the fat ass of a megalomaniacal nonentity with political ambitions. * It is not always easy to tell which part of a yes is prompted by subservience or inability to think for oneself and which by consent. # Wednesday, June 11, 2008 ********************************* Some of the most venomous e-mails I receive are from Armenians who tell me I should be more positive. * All subservient people harbor deep inside somewhere an imperialist ego. * The two most important ideas of all politically ambitious charlatans may be summarized as (one) You are either with me; (two) or against me. * What is the difference between a fascist head of state who silences intellectuals and a sanctimonious prick who ignores them? * A useful no can be more fruitful than a useless yes. * I write one-liners because I don't particularly care for the sound of my own voice. * The misunderstood, neglected, and impecunious writers is a cliché and I have such a horror of clichés that I prefer to identify myself as an unemployed and unemployable misfit. # Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted June 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2008 Thursday, June 12, 2008 ************************************* PERVERSIONS ******************************** From subservience to the mighty Sultan to the worship of the Almighty dollar: some may see progress here, but all I see is a movement from Ottoman barbarism to Yankee moronism. * The first and most important lesson a patriotic Armenian learns is how to piss on fellow Armenians in the name of patriotism. One reason why I loathe patriots and patriotism, nations and nationalism, empires and imperialism, hooligans and hooliganism, and in general anyone who is willing to massacre innocent civilians simply because he is ordered to. * “I may agree with you as a human being, but I cannot agree with you as a nationalist,” a reader writes. This perversion of values might as well be a reliable definition of fascism. * Let our Turcocentric ghazetajis speak of Armenians as victims of Turks. I prefer to speak of Armenians as victims of Armenians. * In his recently published White House memoirs, Scott McClellan writes, the Bush administration manipulates consent by means of “shades of truth, partial truths, twisting of the truth and spin.” This is news only to the nave, the innocent, the dupes, and the superpatriot. # Friday, June 13, 2008 ******************************************* ON JUSTICE *********************************** When asked, “Recompense injury with kindness. What do you think of that?” Confucius is said to have replied: “With what then will you recompense kindness? Injury must be recompensed with justice, kindness with kindness.” That makes sense, of course, but what if the injury is inflicted within an unjust social order? What could be more absurd than to speak of justice in a totalitarian or corrupt state? * Confucius on the superior man: “He acts before he speaks, and afterwards speaks according to his actions.” It follows: Never trust a man who suffers from chronic verbal diarrhea, namely, sermonizers, speechifiers, and anyone else who is in the business of recycling their verbal trash. * Our history, as it has come down to us, is less reality and more fantasy; it is, as a matter of fact, a conspiracy of dunces and dupes. * Corrupt democracies and authoritarian states have identical goals, namely, to manufacture consent by misleading and moronizing the masses. This may explain why, with very minor exceptions, Turks and Armenians are in complete agreement on their own version of the past. * It is the easiest thing in the world to fool those who are willing to be fooled. * Anti-Semites do not consider anti-Semitism a prejudice because they don't hate Jews; they just think Jews are hateful. Something similar could be said of them and us. It's astonishing the word-games people play to appear better than they are in their own eyes. # Saturday, June 14, 2008 *************************************** ONE-LINERS ************************* In our context, financial success and moral failure might as well be synonymous. * A routine occurrence among us: the brainwashed trying to convince the deprogrammed. * Instead of bragging about what we know, we should be mortified by what we don't know. * I could never write a mystery story because I would reveal the contents of the last page on page one. “Cut the crap” is one of my favorite mottoes. * Turning the other cheek? That's easy. To stop wanting to murder the bastard. That's different. * You can't educate brainwashed hoodlums who are out to educate you. * If your answer raises two more questions, you are on the right path. * The ambition of every smart intellectual today is to be the secretary of a national benefactor. That's where the money is. * In a authoritarian environment the brainwashed are always better organized than the deprogrammed. # Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted June 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Sunday, June 15, 2008***************************************** WHY I AM NOT A PROUD ARMENIAN************************************************* In a world inhabited by proud Greeks, Yanks, Brits, Jews, Turks, and Kurds, I prefer to be a humble Armenian.*Greeks are proud of their ancient culture. What they fail to mention or explain is why they squandered their priceless heritage to the point that they are now one of the poorest and most backward nations in Europe.Jews are proud of being the Chosen People. But the truly great and progressive Jews, among them Spinoza, Marx, Freud, and Einstein dismissed all such claims as infantile illusions. And when Jesus taught us the Lord's Prayer that begins with the words “Our Father,” he meant that all men are brothers.*Pride is for people who lack self-esteem. He who has self-esteem does not feel the need to make himself ridiculous by bragging about who he is.*Another reason why I prefer to identify myself as a humble Armenian is the proud Armenian who wears his prejudices, ignorance, and arrogance as badges of merit and views criticism and dissent, and by extension, free speech and fundamental human rights, as unpatriotic. Such an Armenian ignores the fact that the function of literature, from Socrates to Sartre, and from Khorenatsi to Zarian, is self-criticism. Take away criticism from Western culture, and the West becomes an extension of Asia.#Monday, June 16, 2008***************************************** SUMMING UP****************************** We cannot trust the solution to our problems into the hands of our dividers. That would be like trust the flock to wolves in sheep's clothing.*Turks are not our greatest problem because nations are not killed, they commit suicide.*If you are a proud Armenian stay away from Armenian affairs. If you make the mistake of getting involved, you will be tarred, feathered, and dragged through the mud. And if you think the solution to this particular problem is being a humble Armenian, forget it. I have been both and I speak from experience. No matter to who and what you are, if you are honest and mean business, the philistines and commissars will get you and you will curse the day you were born.*A bad Armenian can be worse than the worst Turk.*Our propensity to create problems far outstrips our ability to solve them.*I am fully aware of the fact that discussing our problems may exacerbate them, but it is a temptation I cannot resist. May I also confess that exposing baloney artists is one of the very few pleasures that happen to be within my income bracket.*No one can be as dumb as an Armenian impressed with his own brilliance.#Tuesday, June 17, 2008***************************************** OBSERVATIONS******************************* To the dupe, reality is not what he sees or experiences but what he is told, especially when what he is told is carefully tailored to flatter his ego.*Better a deprogrammed enemy than a brainwashed friend.*In an environment where speechifiers and sermonizers are amply compensated, critics will be seen as nuisances and enemies. The result will be a community swimming in b.s.*The certainties of my youth are my greatest sources of embarrassment. I shiver and burn whenever I think of them.*It's no use pretending to know better because no one knows everything and we will never know the truth. The best we can hope to do is expose the transparent lies of vested interests and propaganda.*The world is a dangerous place where people speak in the name of peace and make war, where they speak in the name of God and do the Devil's work, and where millions of dupes are eager to kill and die in the name of a Big Lie.#Wednesday, June 18, 2008***************************************** A ROUTINE EXPERIENCE******************************************* It might as well be a routine experience with me: readers who assume not only to be better but to know better, and based on that self-serving assumption, they proceed to deliver lectures on patriotism, the kind of nonsense I was exposed to when I was ten. They remind me of our heroic revolutionaries at the turn of the last century who were so sure of their final and inevitable victory that they had a Plan B only for themselves. And like all losers throughout history, they now blame their catastrophic blunder on everyone else but themselves. I once heard one of these revolutionaries (may the Good Lord have mercy on his soul) say, “The chezok [neutral or non-partisan] Armenian is the source of all our problems because he refuses to get involved in Armenian affairs. He is neither hot nor cold. He is nothing.” When Hitler lost World War II and shortly before he had the decency to commit suicide, he put the blame on his fellow Germans, the very same people he had classified as belonging to a superior race. Nothing evil ever dies. Hitler may be dead but his racist ideas continue to live in neo-Nazi skinheads, Putin's ultranationlist Stalinists, and Italy's neo-fascists. I could add our own first-nation-this and first-nation-that propagandists and dime-a-dozen Turcocentric ghazetajis who believe they will usher in a new golden age on the day they corner the Turks into assuming full responsibility for the Genocide, to apologize, and to make financial and territorial reparations. In the meantime they go about pretending there is nothing wrong with us and we are beyond criticism because God and Truth are on our side. It is not that I don't believe what they say, I don't think they believe it themselves.# Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Thursday, June 19, 2008************************************************* CROCODILES************************** Politics and literature don't mix. Politics, power, and propaganda are inseparable. Where goes one, the others are sure to follow. By contrast, the aim of literature is to understand reality by exposing the inconvenient facts that have been swept under the carpet. Hence Hemingway's definition of a writer as one with “a built-in sh*t detector.”*It is a serious blunder to identify a regime with the people and its culture. To do so amounts to saying Hitler is an extension of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, or Chekhov and Stalin share similar aims. Speaking of Chekhov: in one of his letters to a friend (Suvorin, I think) and in an eerily prescient passage, he refers to the next generation of Russian leaders as “crocodiles.” which may suggest that, you don't need supernatural powers to predict the future. (In this connection, see also Dostoevsky's THE DEMONS, sometimes also translated as THE POSSESSED.)*“You can't criticize the Homeland if you have never been there,” I am told. With the advent of the computer, I don't feel the need to go anywhere because I receive a veritable avalanche of e-mails by fellow Armenians who have been there, done that, and now sport the T-shirt. Once I even received two books by a retired bishop in which he exposed the corruption within the hierarchy.*I have noticed that only Armenians who are in the business – and it is a business – of fund-raising that ascribe all our problems on the war, the earthquake, and the blockade and completely ignore the contribution of our crocodiles and “mi kich pogh” panchoonies to our present malaise. *Whenever I run into a smart-ass, loud-mouth, cowardly bully who insults me anonymously and from a safe distance, I have no trouble predicting a brilliant future in politics.#Friday, June 20, 2008******************************************** BULLIES AND YES-MEN********************************* When the men at the top are bullies, the result will be a society of cowardly yes-men.*After they convince us we are smart, perhaps even the smartest people on earth, they treat us like idiots. Patriotism, that is to say flattery (“chosen people,” “superior race,” “it takes seven Jews to fool an Armenian”) is one of the oldest and most effective instruments of mass persuasion.*The honesty of dupes, like the faith of the brainwashed: what is it worth?*Once, at the beginning of my career (if you want to call it that) one of our elder statesmen called me a genius. Shortly thereafter when I wrote something with which he disagreed, he called me an idiot. Easy come, easy go. Sic transit gloria mundi. Or, as the French say, “He who can kiss, can bite.”*If our literature were a person, he would be a beggar in rags on the verge of starvation. We treat our literature the way we were treated at the turn of the century in the Ottoman Empire. Now then, tell me: In what way are we different from them?*People who know and understand, search for more knowledge and understanding. By contrast, the ignoramus is satisfied with his own ignorance.#Saturday, June 21, 2008********************************************* SPEAKING WITH A FORKED TONGUE**************************************************** In a land of instant coffee they want instant solutions. Instead of doing what they can do, they demand that others to what they don't want to do. Instead of reforming themselves they want to reform the nation. Even as they engage in cannibalism they speak of solidarity, unity, and brotherhood. They think of our writers as some species of song birds who did nothing but serenade the moon. Gentle reader, if you are one of them my advice to you is: Don't believe everything you are told by those who pretend to know better because they are better. Don't be afraid to raise your voice and say you refuse to be taken in by baloney artists who speak with a forked tongue. Beyond that there isn't much you or anyone else can do. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted June 25, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2008 Sunday, June 22, 2008********************************************* ON MURDER********************************* Of you expose a liar, a rapist, or a murderer, you don't need to deliver a sermon against lies, rape, and murder -- unless of course you are infatuated with the sound of your own voice.*You may have noticed that the very same people who demand instant solutions to our problems are themselves part of the problem. It follows, these gentlemen will never be satisfied with any solution that will expose them as dupes or charlatans. And if a reform-minded person were to appear among them, they will dismiss him as an ignoramus or a daydreaming fool, sometimes even an enemy of the people. They will laugh at him. They will insult him. And if he keeps talking they will silence him. What they want, what they really need, is not a reformer but a messiah. And if a messiah were to appear among them, they will crucify him. I am reminded of Antranik Zaroukian's words: “Even as they speak of crucifixion, they nail us to the cross.”*Speaking of the murder of Archbishop Levon Tourian in December 1933 in New York, Charles King writes: “The murder cemented divisions within the Armenian diaspora that have remained in place until today, for unlike the many other perpetrators of violence against Armenians – from Ottoman pashas to Soviet commissars – the authors of the twentieth century's most spectacular public murder of an Armenian cultural leader, inside an Armenian church, were Armenians.” See THE GHOST OF FREEDOM: A HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS (New York, 2008, page 178).#Monday, June 23m 2008*********************************** COPS*********************** After the collapse of the USSR, writes Charles King in THE GHOST OF FREEDOM: A HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS (New York, 2008), traffic cops in Armenia used to buy their job. There was even a pricing system for the purchase based on which sites were likely to be the most profitable. “For example, a roadblock on the way to a fashionable restaurant outside Lake Sevan commanded the highest price because citizens were reckoned to be carrying a significant amount of cash on their way to those destinations. The officer would then recoup his initial financial outlay, plus profit, through the collection of fines.”Now I am in a better position to understand why, after a visit to the Homeland, a friend told me, “Everyone wants to emigrate, except cops.” I also remember an American friend saying, “Armenian traffic cops must be just about the ugliest men I have ever seen.”Again, according to Charles King, drivers of expensive cars were not stopped because they were assumed to be men of influence.Elsewhere he remarks: “Dysfunctional politics can sometimes serve the interests of politicians themselves even as they lead the people they claim to represent towards certain ruin.”*The more talk of patriotism, the more corrupt the state. Hitler was a patriot. So was Mussolini. As for Stalin: he was the only head of state who called World War II “the Patriotic War.”*Nothing offends me more than the spectacle of an idiot preaching patriotism.*The most effective way of destroying a nation is by lowering its standards, so that every imbecile can parade as a genius, and every dupe as a statesman of vision capable of solving all our problems.*All nations have their share of imbeciles, but in our case the imbeciles are either at the top or most likely to get there.#Tuesday, June 24, 2008***************************************** FOOLS, DUPES, AND MESSIAHS****************************************** In a commentary headlined “No hope for democracy,” I read: “There is not going to be a revolution in [Mugabe's] Zimbabwe. Half the working-age population lives abroad.” Are you thinking what I am thinking?*There is only one solution to an intolerant community, and that is tolerance. I am therefore suspicious when those who parade as problem-solvers become intolerant in defense of their solutions.*When a problem and a messiah meet, the problem is sure to prevail.*An average, garden-variety fool is smarter than the smartest dupe. No fool will ever be taken in by a bearded charlatan who promises him an afterlife in which he will spend his time deflowering virgins, unless of course he is also a dupe.*When I was a boy I wanted to be a famous writer. Not a good writer or a great writer, but a famous writer. In my old age all I want to be is an honest witness, and I am beginning to suspect being an honest witness among Armenians is a far more demanding undertaking than being a great writer.*You can recognize a brainwashed dupe by the fact that he is dead from the neck up.*An Armenian's capacity to dish out and/or consume verbal crap seems to be limitless.*We survived the Turk. Will we survive the Armenian?*The shortest list in the world: that of living Armenian intellectuals.#Wednesday, June 25, 2008***************************************** THE ROAD TO HELL******************************* Self-interest and ideas are mutually exclusive concepts. Where self-interest enters, ideas exit.*I don't judge a man by his nationality or loyalty to a tribe, race, or ideology. I judge him by the degree of humanity he has been successful in defending against the dehumanizing forces of the world and his fellow men.*No one can save a man, let alone a nation, that does not want to be saved or is programmed for self-destruction. Only a total ignoramus with messianic ambitions will tell you, if we do this, that, or the other, we will save the nation. And if you were to ask why I go on writing and what is my real aim, the answer to the first question will have to be, “Force of habit,” and the answer to the second question, “If I can convince an intolerant Armenan to be less intolerant, I consider it a major victory.” And if you were to ask next my number of major or minor victories, I would have to say either none or plead an amendment – the one dealing with self-incrimination.*According to Charles King in THE GHOST OF FREEDOM: A HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS, (page 226), constnat talk of genocide “has encouraged a patriotism built on victimhoom,” which has stunted our ability “of confidently looking to the future.” To our Turcocentric ghazetajis I say: “And you thought you were doing us a favor by defending our interests?” Whoever said “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” sure knew what he was talking about.# Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted June 28, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2008 Thursday. June 26, 2008********************************************* IT COMES WITH THE TERRITORY************************************************** 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.*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?*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.*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.#Friday, June 27, 2008********************************* MANY QUESTIONS, ONE ANSWER*************************************************** 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.#Saturday, June 28, 2008**************************************** OF APES AND MEN*************************************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 © by dividing them into mutually hostile groups or tribes.*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.*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.*The more underdeveloped the brain, the more easily it is brainwashed.*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.”*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.*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.# Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted July 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2008 Sunday, June 29, 2008****************************************** ON COMMISSARS AND RELATED ATROCITITIES********************************************************** The following notes and comments contain coarse language and mature subject matter. Parental guidance is advised.*When I speak in the name of common decency and use my common sense, they call it philosophy, and they think the aim of philosophy is to confuse and mislead law-abiding, tax-paying, and patriotic citizens like themselves. They seem to be unaware of the fact that philosophy is a Greek word that simply means love of wisdom, and the alternative to philosophy is therefore philomoronism.*Our revolutionaries at the turn of the last century and myself today share similar ambitions: we are both like frogs trying to rape an elephant. The elephant in their case was an empire. In my case it is the lies of propaganda. And of the two, it is hard to say which is the mightier adversary. But then, if I lose, I have only wasted my time. No harm done. Not a single innocent civilian will be lost, and forever after I will not condemn myself to play the blame-game.*Whenever I am asked a question, more often than not it is not an honest question but a loaded one, or in legal parlance, a leading one, which in a court of law would be immediately followed by the triad, “Objection,” “Sustained,” “Withdrawn.”*Dishonesty comes so naturally to us that even in our search for knowledge and understanding we manipulate reality in such a way as to certify our illusions. So that, if I were to quote the celebrated dictum “Truth shall set you free,” one of our ubiquitous Jack S. Avanakians is sure to stand on his hind legs and bray: “So you think you know the truth?” -- meaning of course “You arrogant s.o.b!” My usual answer to that leading question is: “No, I don't know the truth. Only God (if He exists) knows the truth. But I can recognize a lie when I hear one; and I can also recognize a self-appointed commissar of culture when I see one.”*It must be painfully frustrating, perhaps even humiliating to our commissars that we live in a democratic America rather than in a totalitarian USSR, where they would not only be free to cross-examine their victims but also put a bullet in their brain. Unmask these dealers in patriotic slogans and expose an executioner.#Monday, June 30, 2008****************************************** DELISH!*************************** Anything that's worth saying is worth repeating. I, for one, never get tired of rereading and quoting the delicious lines that follow, if only to remind myself what I am against. Enjoy!*From a popular Armenian song:“One Armenian eats one chicken,Two Armenians eat two chickens,Three Armenians eat each other.”*Gostan Zarian: “Armenians survive by cannibalizing one another.”*Anonymous mantra:“Mart bidi ch'ellank.”*Yeghishé (5th-century historian): “Solidarity is the mother of good deeds, divisiveness of evil ones.”*Shahan Shahnour: “The enemy is not theTurk but us.”*THE PROBLEM************************** “The problem of who speaks for the Armenians is still acute,” writes Charles King in his THE GHOST OF FREEDOM: A HISTORY OF THE CAUCASUS (page 11). That may be because our chiefs outnumber our Indians.*CONFESSION****************************** Some of my gentle readers tell me I disappoint them whenever I fail to come up with a new or original or creative idea that will save the nation and usher in a new Renaissance or Golden Age. I am flattered of course that they think me capable of performing such a miracle. I am afraid I shall have to disappoint them again by admitting that I am nothing but an overworked and underpaid shit-disturber, and if their desire is to see the nation saved, they should get themselves a messiah, which should not be difficult because Armenian messiahs are a dime a dozen.#Tuesday, July 1, 2008************************************** SITUATION / SHITUATION**************************************** Those who know how to think for themselves probably see me as someone who is doing his best to emulate them. It is those who cannot think for themselves that resent me and would like to see me silenced, and if possible, massacred; and they are my most faithful readers. If I ever become a best-selling author, I will owe it to them.*I don't write against my critics and detractors. I write against myself when young, naïve, ignorant, brainwashed, self-satisfied, and a loud-mouth smart-ass know-it-all.*My sole aim in life now is to be readable. As long as they read me, I have them by the short hair. As for saving the nation: the nation and I swim in the same soup. We are both dependent on the charity of swine. On the day I save myself, saving the nation will be the number one item on my agenda.*Whenever a reader makes a specific demand on me, I am tempted to ask: “And how would you like your pizza – with or without anchovies?”*If an Armenian disagrees with you, he will not say “I disagree with you.” He will call you a fool, an idiot, and a pro-Turkish bastard who should be tarred, feathered, and driven out of town on a jackass. The trouble with us is not that we don't know how to agree with one another but that we don't even know how to disagree.*We like to explain the massacres as politically motivated actions. But what if they are also expressions of visceral hatred, the kind that I seem to provoke in some of my readers, and vice versa?#Wednesday, July 2, 2008****************************************** SECRET PLEASURES******************************** We all have our secret pleasures.One of mine is needling windbags.*In order to reach XYZwe must begin with ABC and we haven't yet begun.*If in crime it's cherchez la femmein political blunders it's cherchez the dividers.*Why do you think a small island in Europe was successful in colonizing an Asiatic subcontinent? Simply because the English were united and the Indians divided.*The Holocaust may be traced back to what happened 2000 years ago when the Jewish leaders divided the people into those who believed Jesus to be the Messiah and those who believed him to be a blasphemer.*Nations are divided by leaders who cannot reconcile their differences because they speak in the name of God. When God enters in an argument, the Devil is sure to follow.*Theology: the science of the Unknown and the Unknowable.*For many centuries we were subservient to foreign despots from sultans to commissars. Today we are subservient to the lies of our own propaganda. Vicious circle or downward spiral?# Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted July 5, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2008 Thursday, July 3, 2008************************************* IT TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE*************************************************** Armenians who find me unreadable are my most faithful readers. Figure that one out if you can. My only explanation is that like all perennial losers, they have accumulated so many unsettled scores against the world that they take it out on anyone that is available, provided of course he is defenseless and therefore in no position to retaliate.*When asked why I bother writing for readers who hate me, I say, the challenge is not writing for civilized and intelligent readers who may well be ahead of me, but for barbarians who are infatuated with their own limitations. Another reason is that once in a while I receive a phone call or an e-mail apologizing for having been rude to me in the past. Which proves that, like the worst Turks, the worst Armenians are first and foremost human beings and as such not beyond redemption. Besides, it has been the fate of all Armenian writers to be verbally abused by their fellow Armenians. Some of our most celebrated medieval historians, among them Yeghishé and Khorenatsi, have been called hirelings of warlords with dynastic ambitions. Some of our greatest poets and writers, among them Siamanto and Zarian, have been called plagiarists. Accused of nationalism, Charents was betrayed to Stalin's thugs and committed suicide in his cell. *There is nothing typically Armenian about this phenomenon. In times of crisis the scum rises to the top and speaks with the approval of the dominant minority. The verbal abuse hurled against such writers as Sartre in France, Thomas Mann in Germany, Solzhenitsyn in Russia, Kazantzakis in Greece, and more recently Pamuk in Turkey, are cases in point that come readily to mind. If giants like these have been maligned and insulted, why should midgets like me be spared? In a way, I am even tempted to be flattered for being singled out.*Perhaps I should also point out that not all Armenians hate me or disagree with me. If they are afraid to express their agreement openly it may be because they don't relish the prospect of being targeted by hooligans. Finally, to those who say the reason why I call those who disagree with me losers, barbarians, and hooligans, is that once upon a time I was no better. I have always maintained that as products of the same historic conditions and experiences, all Armenians are brothers under the skin, and all analyses begin with self-analysis. If I understand losers it's because I am one. If I understand resentment and venom, it's because “Bovary c'est moi.”#Friday, July 4, 2008*************************************** ONE-LINERS********************************* As long as Armenians and Turks are educated by their own historians, justice, understanding and consensus will elude them.*Propagandists cannot define good and evil in the same way that compulsive liars cannot define truth.*Ideologies and orthodoxies teach us to think that we are thinking.*“There are better writers than you here,” a reader informs me. I consider that cause for celebration if only because misery likes company.*I have learned about us more from odar sources than our own. So much so that I no longer believe anything I am told by Armenians.*Whenever I speak about our failings, I am told all nations have them. With one important difference however. We hate discussing ours, and whenever someones dares to do so we silence him, and failing that, we bury him beneath an avalanche of verbal manure.*To prove that he is civilized, an Armenian will behave like a barbarian. He will become intolerant in defense of tolerance and fascist in defense of freedom; and all with the self-confidence and unawareness of an inborn moron who is convinced of his superior intellect.*Patriotism means supporting one group against another. The opposite of patriotism is not treason but “all men are brothers.”*When Raffi said wealthy merchants are the lowest scum on earth, a wealthy merchant proved him right by hiring a Kurdish assassin.#Saturday. July 5, 2008*************************************** FAMOUS LAST WORDS******************************** “Once upon a time we shed our blood for freedom. We are now afraid of free speech.” After discovering this terrifying truth, Hagop Garabents (Jack Karapetian) spent the rest of his life avoiding it by writing love stories, which made him a darling of our establishment figures. Shortly before he died, he is quoted as having said: “I die alone.”*Those who brag about our survival should be reminded once in a while that our best and brightest did not survive. The massacre goes on....*We speak of pride to cover up the fact that we have many more reasons to speak of humility.*To undertake the impossible is another way of doing nothing.*There is something fundamentally wrong in a community where the old are radicalized and the young entrenched in the status quo.# Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted July 9, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2008 Sunday, July 6, 2008************************************ THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL******************************************** We begin by lying to ourselves, after which we see nothing wrong in deceiving others. A jihadist believing he will spend eternity deflowering virgins; Hitler believing in the superiority of the Aryan race; the Pope believing in his own infallibility in matters of faith: all lies. One could go as far as saying that faith is the root of all evil. As for money: it too could be the root but only if you believe it can solve all your most important problems.*No one can be as dumb as he who believes to be smart. I think of Armenians who believe Armenians like me are the source of all evil. So much so that if I were slightly older they would pin the Genocide on me or wish I had been one of the victims. When told I am a writer, this type of reader becomes even more abusive. If I were to ask these readers to name their favorite contemporary Armenian writer, I have every reason to suspect they would fail to come up with a single name. That's because they have been “educated” to believe by our bosses (believers in their ideology), bishops (believers in God and capital, make it Capital and god), and benefactors (believers in the Almighty $) that dissent or freedom of thought are anathema and anyone who dares to speak against their faith is an enemy of the people, a Turk in disguise, and a liar who is condemned to spend eternity burning in hell, as opposed to deflowering virgins or an equally ill-defined delightful activity. And if you believe that, you will believe anything!#Monday, July 7, 2008******************************************** MEMO********************** Whenever two or more readers gang up on me, I feel it is my duty to remind them, if they lie down with dogs they are liable to get up with fleas.*QUESTIONS********************************* Can there be progress where there is no respect for fundamental human rights? Can there be free speech in a totalitarian environment? Is dialogue possible with a fascist, a concrete wall, an Armenian?*CONTRADICTION****************************** Why is it that the vocabulary of Armenians who preach constructive criticism and love seldom rises above the gutter?*A NOTEWORTHY DISTINCTION********************************************** A famous French actress who slept with Germans during the Occupation is quoted as having said: “My heart is French, but my ass is international.” A noteworthy distinction that. By contrast, when we sleep with the enemy, we surrender our body as well as soul. Hence such unfortunate phenomena as Armenians under Talaat and Stalin betraying their fellow Armenians.*ON A RELATED TOPIC********************************* I wonder how many of my readers, dealers in chauvinist crapola, and holier-than-thou sanctimonious pricks are aware of the fact that until very recently the wealthiest woman in Turkey was an Armenian. When the Turkish government awarded her a prize for paying more taxes than anyone else, her line of work was not known to the bureaucrats. When the master of ceremonies was informed that she was a bordello madam, he wanted to recall the medal, but it was too late. She was no longer in the audience. An obvious case of “arav-pakhav” (grab-and-run).*THE MORAL OF THE STORY**************************************** To emphasize the positive and cover up the negative could be another definition of propaganda and I leave propaganda to our bureaucrats. I prefer to speak of reality in order to make the blind see. If so far I have failed, it may be because, like most of my predecessors, I am not a miracle worker.#Tuesday, July 8, 2008****************************************** RIFFRAFF****************************** “Bullying: Conduct designed to embarrass, humiliate or belittle someone.”*“I don't read you because you are an idiot!” a reader (make it, a non-reader) writes. A clear-cut caste of a bully in action.*The memory of all those I offended when I was young, brainwashed, and self-righteous has been a thorn in my conscience. But I have learned from our bullies to be more tolerant of my youthful self. Which proves that, if you are disposed to learn, you may learn even from riffraff.*If you think for yourself, you can't be self-righteous because, in thinking, doubts always outnumber certainties. Only the brainwashed assert infallibility, and in doing so they compound problems instead of solving them.*There is a type of Armenian who gages your patriotism by how much you hate Turks. “Who is your favorite Armenian writer?” I once asked such an Armenian who also happened to be one of our notorious Turcocentric ghazetajis. “I don't have any,” he replied. “How many have you read?” I asked next. “None!” was his answer. Armenians who are brainwashed to hate avoid ideas because they don't want the purity of their hatred to be contaminated.*Knowledge can be a painful acquisition because it may expose our failings and blind spots. Hence the saying: “Ignorance is bliss.”*We don't burn books or starve writers. We ignore them. It amounts to the same thing. If they are with us, writers are redundant. If they are against us, they should be silenced or ignored.*Ideas are assaults against ignorance. Hence the favorite tactic of the ignorant: “Attack is the best defense.” But how does one go about defending an absence or a vacuum? It can't be done. That's when bullying comes in. When you can't defend your ignorance, attack, threaten, or bully. And if you are a coward -- and all bullies are – try to do so from a safe distance and anonymously. The greater the distance, the better.# Wednesday, July 9, 2008***************************************** ON TURCOCENTRIC GHAZETAJIS*************************************************** They are dangerous charlatans who wallow in massacres and self-pity. They appeal to our baser instincts by creating a climate of resentment, hatred, and intolerance. They refuse to engage in dialogue with their own fellow countrymen, let alone the opposition. They have nothing but contempt for free speech and fundamental human rights and by extention, literature and culture. They at no time admit that it was a blunder to gamble with the lives of innocent civilians by relying on the assistance of the West and Russia – nations that have themselves massacred their own kind in the name of political expediency. They portray themselves as defenders of our interests and the fact that they are believed proves only that we are a nation of dupes. By thinking only in terms of victims and victimizers, they cover up the fact that we have been and continue to be double victims of foreign oppression as well as domestic corruption and incompetence.# Quote Link to post Share on other sites
arabaliozian Posted July 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2008 Thursday, July 10, 2008*************************************** UNDERSTANDING ARMENIANS************************************************ If you want to know more about Armenians, the worst thing you can do is read a book about them written by an Armenian. Since I have written one myself, let me tell you how it is done. You read a few books on the subject. You select, paraphrase, and quote the positives and discard the negatives on the grounds they were written by Turcophile scumbags. The result is bound to be a best-seller. Mine was. Four printings and all sold out within months.But if you really want to understand Armenians, here is what you do: you enter an Armenian discussion forum on the Internet and post an honest, objective, and self-evident statement -- something like, say, two plus two equals four, or the sun rises in the East -- and see what happens. I will tell you what happens. You will come face to face with Armenians who believe, as the offspring of victims of massacres, they are justified to verbally massacre anyone who refuses to recycle their favorite brand of propaganda.What have the Armenians learn from history beside adopting Turks as their role models? You may well ask. Don't get me wrong. We probably have as many moderates as extremists. But like all extremists everywhere, ours too are better organized and loud. So much so that they appear to represent the majority even when they are a minority that suffer from acute verbal diarrhea, which happens to be a common malady among us.#Friday, July 11, 2008************************************** HOW NOT TO SOLVE PROBLEMS***************************************************** Because I am not a prophet, they want my head on a platter.*The only reason we engage in verbal massacre is that the real thing is against the law.*They tell me they are all for free speech, but not for idiots like me, and they define idiot as anyone who disagrees with them.*Like the kingdom of god, the solution to our problems is within us. But if we are to believe our Turcocentric ghazetajis, the solution is in Ankara.*When I was a fascist I justified myself by saying, how can I, a victim of fascism, be a fascist? I now have the answer to that question: the secret ambition of all victims is to victimize.*It is written: “If you have an Armenian friend, you don't need enemies.”*The solution to our problems is not a verbal formula. But if you insist on a verbal solution, abracadabra is as good as any.*When nations lack critics, it means they are not worthy of them.*To those who say the nation will be better off without Armenians like me, I say, you are now in an excellent position to understand them because that's exactly how they felt about us at the turn of the last century.*Only after we de-Ottomanize ourselves we may begin the search for solutions. Until then we will continue to think of genocide as the only viable solution.#Saturday, July 12, 2008************************************** STRAIGHT TALK******************************** Some Armenians write anonymously on the Internet because, I am told, they are afraid of Turkish retaliation. I invite these Armenians to answer the following questions. How many Armenians have Turks killed during the last fifty years? How many Turks have Armenians killed in the same period? And last but far from least: How many Armenians have been killed by Armenians? Turks, moreover, have welcomed thousands of Armenians in Turkey. How many Turks have we welcomed in our homeland and communities in the Diaspora? “Dzour nesdink, shidag khossink.”*Anyone who thinks he knows and understands everything he needs to know and understand should be declared a certified case of arrested development or a mindset that consists in mindlessness. If space can't be infinite, where does it end? What's on the other side of the line or wall? Why things exist? These are questions no scientist or philosopher has ever been able to answer. Now then, go ahead and pretend to know and understand all you need to know and understand when what you know may not even be a drop in the ocean of knowledge.# Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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