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[Guest arabaliozian]

HISTORIANS / 3 **************************The historian who believes his main function is to protect, defend, and promote the interests of the nation will also believe that his even more important function is to safeguard his own survival and the welfare of his family, and if the two are in conflict, guess which set of interests shall be sacrificed.*It is true that there aren't too many dissidents among Armenian-American academics; but it doesn't necessarily follow that academics of the Homeland are more heroic or less opportunistic.*Do I think Armenians are cowards? I believe like all nations around the world we have among us men of integrity and courage as well as opportunists and cowards. When Hagop Garabents said, "Once upon a time we fought and shed our blood for freedom. Now we are afraid of free speech," he wasn't referring to the Armenian people as a whole but only to a small and non-representative fraction of it – our intellectuals and academics. And when Raffi said, "Where there is oppression there is cowardice," he wasn't condemning the nation as a whole either but making a universal statement about human nature. That doesn't mean he was justifying cowardice. Only explaining it.MORE ON THE SAME SUBJECT*************************************Anyone with a minimum degree of common sense would refuse to live in a country where a single political party, leader or academic (even if he were a combination of Einstein, Gandhi and Mother Teresa) is authorized to define what is in the best interest of the nation and, by extension, who is a loyal citizen and who a traitor or an enemy of the people. And at this point may I repeat what I have said before, many times: I'd rather live in a democratic Turkey than a fascist Armenia. And to those who think that exposes me as an enemy, I say: No, dear friends and gentle readers, that simply expresses my profound loathing of all dogmatic and authoritarian power structures. So much so that I'd rather end up in a democratic #### than in a fascist heaven.*I began the above with the words: "Anyone with a minimum degree of common sense…" Anyone, yes, except a smart Armenian who prefers his own ignorance to someone else’s knowledge.*A note on Einstein and Co.: Both Einstein and Gandhi rejected the presidency of Israel and India respectively when it was offered to them and Mother Teresa refused to accept any form of assistance from governments, including the United States of America.*My views are reflections of my own experiences. They are based on facts rather than fiction and wishful thinking. Disagreeing with me amounts to saying: "I prefer my own illusions to your reality." To which I can only say: To each his own.*Speaking of writers who love to speechify, Shahnour writes: "Wouldn't it be better if they were to dedicate their valuable time to their work?… I prefer the company of my books. I believe in art. May the Good Lord have mercy on my soul."*Shahnour: "A French ###### is a ######, an English ###### is a ######, and a Greek ###### is a ######. But an intellectual ###### is an intellectual."____