Armen

I don't think it is right to compare Greek democracy with Christianity in that way. It is not important who and how used them as a tool to gain power and money. Deception is always there. I just wanted to emphacise that the central notion of Christianity is one human being's self-sacrifice for another human being. It is not there in Greek period. One could say that Christian thought is an evolution of the Greek classics. The optimal and effective organisation of human interaction based on incentives, interest groups, pluralistic representative authority, free market, free speech etc. are not enough to ensure even the survival of humanity.

Because only we can save him from his faults by our struggle against our own faults. It is a fare game.

Sophistication does not always bring to the right results. Some may say Jesus was unsophisticated in his self sacrifice. Or they might say that this story did not happen at all. The same goes for Socrat and the pre-Socratics. Maybe they never existed and there were people who invented them ... The way some others invented Jesus. The simbols and the simptoms of historical development are the most important for me. Socrat (and the whole Greek school) simolizes an era. This stage of human development changed after Jesus because his story is the first one to manifest a human self-sacrifice for other humans as the most necessary mechanizm that human soul must be equipped with in our days. Why? Because it is evident that even the best socio-political organization that humans invented until now - Hellenic democracy - leads to mutual distruction. Hellenic democracy was good for those times. Aristotel's phraze: "Crowd always thinks better than one man" is the culmination of the development of this thinking in those times. As I said earlier this worked for the times when humans were more instinctive in their emotions, actions, thinking and everything else. It is evident the the consciousness of present day man and the consciousness of Socrat are different. We have more consciousness because we have more needs, ambition, information etc. etc. And we need more self-consciousness than Socrat did to deal with all this.

The present change in the constitution that is going to be voted in the referendum along with other changes is not regulating dual citizenship. It is simply removing the paragraph that bans dual citizenship. The only law that authomatically comes into force for potential dual citizens (the people who hold passports of 2 countries) is the RA Law on Citizenship. According to this law anyone who wants to become a RA citizen will have the same rights and responsibilities as all other RA nationals. Armenia has to still pass a law on dual citizenship, ammend the current one or sign separate agreements with foreign countries regulating the process. There are many ways to regulate this in a way that will not jeopardize the stability. For example you can give all dual citizens a right to vote only in case they are in Armenia on the day of elections etc. etc. So you are totaly right, Gams.

Briliant post indeed.

In the times of Socrates humans acted based on their instincts only. Even Socrates's wisdom was instictive. Those were times when collective intelligence could be right. Jesus was not only the messiah of Christianity but the simbol of a new era in human development: the era of self-consciousness. We know that he was crucified by a free and fair democratic vote. And Pilatus - although being against the decision of the collective intelligence - acted according to the will of crowd. The moral of this story is that the principles of democracy nowadays should not be the same as they were in the times of Socrates, ancient Greece of Rome. Or else, acting based on collective intelligence or establishing a Bolshevik collective farm will not apear to be that different.

That's the essence of Jesus Christ's story. The problem of present day society is that there should not be any "laymen". Everyone must be educated.

He is an excellent option.

Shnorhavor, Maral jan. Metsanats` xeloq, hammmmmmest axjik darnas

Ah, a model example of strategic thinking. Harut used the magic alibi that will set you free of anything illegal you do. Surely, it includes a border case like steeling the electric waves.

You can't teach democracy to hurricanes. Someone

Phantom, I highly doubt that Hovhannissian is unemotional. Also, he is unprofessional and any of his moves lack essence. We could as well invite some cold-blooded Scandinavian. Why is it that we always want an Armenian to be our leader. I think a total forigner would be a lot better.

Because I don't want any lunatic mother***er like Saakashvili or Yushenko imposed in Armenia only because has an Armenian surname. Only the disporans who come and live here will be elected for presidency. Oskanian has the right. Raffi Hovhanissian relates to Armenian problems as much as he relates to the problems of Burkina Faso. He is his papa's favourite son, nothing more.

We have already seen how the diasporans are "not corrupt". Don't want to mention any names but some of you have raised corruption to international level, something poor Hayastantsi leadership could only wish in their wildest dreams.

No one talks about Iraq anymore.

It depends Anahit jan, it depends. For example I like Thai goods. I wonder where are they going to be exposed in Yerevan.

A joke about Jews is not yet "a discussion". It is just that the types like you and Verginne take is as a duty to "discuss" it until you faint every time "Jew" appears anywhere.

My grand-grandpa always did after a cup or two. He was a well known anti-semite

QB, I was trying to keep "the Armenian" as the only known fact, along with "Enver *****", in that story. But I guess I was wrong. However, there were Armenians in the Bolshevik Red Army's Turkistan military region, which operated in present Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Not only Armenians were part of regular Army but also the newly formed Bolshevik secret intelligence, which was later called NKVD. The legend says he (the Armenian) served in one of the regiments fighting against the Basmach movement, which were the former Turkistan elite landowners who were ousted from their lands by the incoming Bolshevik government. This "Basmach movement" was a part of Enver's pan-Turanist idea. The legend further says that the Armenian recognized Enver (this IS the unbeliavable part) and killed him.

Taguhin aprats kena! Inchpes eq Dzerd Metsutyun? Sruj ktsankanayiq? Hren, Nazir-Vezirin dzen tam ... !

QB, how about this: Enver ***** was killed in 1921 in a battle in Uzbekistan by an Armenain.

I don't think he was happy with the Athenian system either. Also, when reading his works I don't get an impression that he operated with the present American value system. No one can say for sure if he was mad or not The people who wrote (I don't mean you Skara) that he was "mad" are the same people who portrayed Alexander the Great as a modern day gay art critic in the recent movie.

1. Monarchy Rule of one for the well being of all Dictatoriship Rule of one for the well being of oneself 2. Aristocracy Rule of minority for the well being of all Oligarchy Rule of minority for their own well being 3. Polity Rule of majority for the well being of all Democracy Rule of majority for their own well being Aristotel

All Armenians are anarchists. Whatever "colors" we choose to make money, in our heart we all remain passionate anarchists because our brain is a boiling pot of unrealized ideas.

Моя Циганская В. Высоцкий В сон мне - желтые огни, И хриплю во сне я: - Повремени, повремени - Утро мудренее! Но и утром все не так, Нет того веселья: Или куришь натощак, Или пьешь с похмелья. В кабаках - зеленый штоф, Белые салфетки. Рай для нищих и шутов, Мне ж - как птице в клетке. В церкви смрад и полумрак, Дьяки курят ладан. Нет! И в церкви все не так. Все не так, как надо. Я - на гору, впопыхах, Чтоб чего не вышло, А на горе стоит ольха, А под горою вишня. Хоть бы склон увить плющом, Мне б и то отрада! Хоть бы что-нибудь еще... Все не так, как надо! Я - по полю, вдоль реки. Света - тьма, нет Бога! В чистом поле васильки, Дальняя дорога. Вдоль дороги - лес густой С Бабами-Ягами, А в конце дороги той - Плаха с топорами. Где-то кони пляшут в такт, Нехотя и плавно. Вдоль дороги все не так, А в конце - подавно. И ни церковь, ни кабак - Ничего не свято! Нет, ребята! Все не так, Все не так, ребята!