as i see it - Pt. III

[ara baliozian]

Friday, February 14, 2003

*****************************

Gourgen Mahari: "A nuisance is the kind of person

who wakes you up to tell you you can go to sleep."

*

Overheard: "I love my fellow Armenians;

I hate only those I know."

*

Our political parties are for participation and involvement

but against free speech, which is like saying 2+2=22.

*

At one time both anti-Semitism and fascism were popular and respectable.

They are so no longer. As a result, fewer people are now willing to

identify themselves as fascists and anti-Semites. But that doesn't mean

their number has changed.

*

Asked to identify the 100 best books in world literature,

Oscar Wilde is said to have replied:

"I can't. I have only written 5."

*

I learned a new word today:

ignoranus: an ignoramus who is also "where the sun don't shine."

*

To paraphrase Sartre: "Hell is other Armenians."

*

Where the majority is silent,

any fool may think the majority is on his side.

*

A historical fact that may not be in our favor

may not be enemy propaganda.

[Sasun]

I agree, but what if the alternative of the corrupt regime is another corrupt regime? So, there is no regime really to support. Not supporting anyone is not patriotism either.

[ara baliozian]

Saturday, February 15, 2003

*******************************

A fanatic is one who thinks:

"Since I have truth on my side,

I don't have to stand on ceremony."

More often than not, however,

what he has on his side is not the truth

but a lie, and not just a lie

but a Big Lie,

and not even his Big Lie

but someone else’s.

*

And when a fanatic speaks of standing on ceremony

what he means is civilization

and what he ignores is that

the alternative to civilization is barbarism.

*

As for truth: it is not something you can own

like real estate or capital,

but an endless search.

*

A dialogue is not a clash of egos,

that’s because when egos clash

what follows is verbal massacre.

*

This has been said before but it bears repeating:

Of the many forms of cowardice,

the worse is fear of free speech.

*

A warning: Do not enter an Armenian discussion forum

on the internet after breakfast, lunch, or dinner:

you may lose it.

[ara baliozian]

HOMILY

*********************

In our context the words honesty and solidarity

might as well be synonymous.

Because if we are honest

we shall have to admit that

divisions or tribalism has been the main source

of all our problems.

It follows, as night follows day, that

solidarity is the only honest solution.

Having said that I will be accused

of further dividing the community

between those who are for solidarity

and those who are against it.

What we have here is a typical Catch-22 situation:

You are either for or against solidarity.

If you are for solidarity

you are also against it

because you further divide an already divided community.

But not quite.

As far as I know no Armenian in his right mind

is against solidarity.

Which is where honesty comes in.

Because if we are honest

we shall have to admit that when our dividers

(namely bosses and bishops) say

they are for solidarity,

what they really mean is solidarity on their own terms,

which can only be realized

by the unconditional surrender of the opposition – which,

as everyone can guess, will never happen.

What has a far better chance to happen is

solidarity by means of dialogue and compromise –

two honest but also quintessentially unArmenian concepts.

[ara baliozian]

Monday, February 17, 2003

**********************************

To those who say the United States

is the source of all evil,

I say: The world was a mess

long before America was discovered.

And to those who say

Israel is the source of all evil,

I ask: Do you really think the world was a better place

when Jews were oppressed, enslaved,

exploited, persecuted, diasporized, ghettoized,

pogromized, and systematically exterminated like vermin?

*

Since I don't feel the need the defend

a fictionalized record of infallibility,

I don't mind admitting error.

If you think you will feel better by asserting

every word I have published so far

is a lie and every single one of your own pronouncements

bears the imprimatur of papal infallibility,

I say, by all means, be my guest.

I for one will not contradict you.

[ara baliozian]

Tuesday, February 18, 2003

******************************

A pessimist is born on the day

he undertakes a project driven by optimism.

*

A hundred years ago

our partisans challenged the might

of the Ottoman Empire.

Today our academics are afraid

to challenge the might of our partisans.

Obviously, progress cannot be said to be

our most important product.

*

Speaking of repeating myself:

What else can you say to a self-satisfied nonentity

or a loud-mouth bigot except "Don't be one!"

And speaking of repetition:

If you call a racist a racist,

he will call you a racist

and having done so

he will be convinced he is not one.

Am I implying only racists, bigots and nonentities

accuse me of repeating myself?

Implying? Hell no!

Asserting? Damn right!!

*

The Jews have many more reasons

to hate the world than the other way around.

*

In the words of the celebrated Turkish poet

Pilaf Dolma Bey – or was it the Ottoman statesman

Rahat Lokhoum *****? --

"Avoid your enemy’s tongue

as you would avoid a jackass’s hind quarters

or a cobra’s fangs."

[Sasun]

That's right, very tasty poet

[Sip]

I know him well! Good one

[ara baliozian]

Wednesday, February 19, 2003

*********************************

It’s all a matter of selection and emphasis.

If we select and emphasize the negative,

no one – be it a person, tribe, nation or culture –

can escape universal hatred.

No, not even God.

There was a medieval heresy of Armenian origin

that stated the world as we know and experience it

is a creation not of God but of the Devil.

This heresy acquired so many converts

that they became powerful enough

to challenge the might of kingdoms of empires.

*

Our prejudices are invisible only to us

and to those who share them.

Nothing comes more easily to an anti-Semite

than hatred of Jews.

*

During the Soviet era,

Soviet pundits and propagandists had enough facts in their favor

to deceive millions into believing

capitalism was the source of all evil

and not all their dupes were gullible fools;

some were shrewd intellectuals, philosophers, and Nobelists.

*

What happened to medieval heresies, the Soviets and the Nazis?

History buried them…but not quite.

Prejudices don't die, they acquire new labels.

anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism

happen to be in fashion these days.

As for heresies: there are many more strange religious cults today

than there were in the Middle Ages.

To some born-agains,

even the Catholic Church is a sinister heresy.

And who knows: history may yet prove them right.

Nothing evil ever dies.

[ara baliozian]

if the regime is corrupt, we must oppose it.

Under Nazi occupation, all patriotic Frenchmen resisted the regime.

Those who collaborated were later tried, found guilty, and hanged!

[axel]

You are quite ignorant of french history so please do not spread your ignorance. Most of those you qualify as french "patriots" were in fact communists. As for the true patriots such as De Gaulle, "freedom-caring" americans tried to get rid of them for they did not serve their purpose and imperialistic ends.

 

Your simplistic and manichaean views on history are quite disconcerting to say the least.

 

Encore un autre sommet d'hypocrisie politique : la manière dont se pratiquent les "procès des criminels de guerre". Depuis des millénaires qu'il y a des guerres, elles ont toujours été entachées, dans les deux camps en conflit, par des crimes et des injustices... Mais, lors du premier procès de ce type, celui des nationaux-socialistes allemands, à Nuremberg, nous avons vu siéger sur la haute estrade, en arbitres immaculés, les responsables d'une justice qui, durant ces années-là, envoya à la torture, au poteau d'exécution ou à la mort lente, dans son propre pays, des dizaines de millions de vies innocentes.

Et si l'on fait la distinction entre la mort des militaires, toujours inévitable au cours d'une guerre, et le massacre en masse des populations civiles, quel nom donner à ceux qui brûlèrent en quelques minutes, dans la seule ville d'Hiroshima, 140 000 paisibles habitants, en prétendant se justifier, dans une formule ahurissante, par le souci de "conserver en vie leurs soldats" ? Mais ce président-là et son entourage ne furent pas traduits en jugement, ils s'éteignirent au contraire avec une auréole d'honorables vainqueurs. Et quel nom donner... à ceux qui, la victoire étant déjà assurée, envoyèrent, deux jours et deux nuits durant, des armadas aériennes brûler la magnifique ville de Dresde, toute civile et bourrée de paisibles réfugiés ?

En notre siècle qui connaît un tel épanouissement de la pensée juridique, comment ne pas voir que les lois internationales pondérées qui châtieraient équitablement les criminels, indépendamment -indépendamment ! - de la défaite ou de la victoire de leur camp, ces lois ne sont pas encore fabriquées, pas encore reconnues par l'ensemble de l'humanité ?

 

(Alexandre Soljénitsyne, déclaration faite en 1994, à l'occasion du bicentenaire de la guerre de vendée).

[Sasun]

I didn't mean foreign occupational regime. In general, we have to be specific. We have the example of Armenia as of today. The government is currupt undoubtedly. However, any other possible gov't would be equally or more corrupt. It is our common heritage and comes from the corruptness of general people. So if you keep opposing all of them outright that doesn't change anything towards the common good. Opposing can lead to a revolution or other catastropies. It all depends how one opposes.

On the other hand, if you support the good things that the gov't does, that would be patriotic. This kind of support shouldn't be unconditional. We should also oppose the curruptness at the same time. In my opinion, the key is to find balance and progress in balance. Simply opposing is easy and doesn't do good.

[axel]

Sasun, I fully agree with you.

 

Actually, is it possible to point out a non-corrupt regime in history (once propaganda has been put aside)? Very few examples come to mind for perfection is not a property of human nature. Ara Baliozan may well be the exception that confirms the rule.

 

[ February 21, 2003, 01:09 AM: Message edited by: axel ]

[Sasun]

Axel, I think the reason is, most politicians are people who tend to power and like to exercise power. They may or may not think about the people. By nature politics and government are corrupt for this reason.

[ara baliozian]

Thursday, February 20, 2003

*******************************

The only lesson some of us appear to have learned

from the experience of World War II is that

a genocidal hatred of Jews is morally justified.

It is worth remembering that

Hitler too learned an important lesson

from the experience of World War I:

namely, that he could get away with genocide.

*

I once had an old German neighbor

who believed Hitler was alive somewhere in South America.

I am not sure about that.

But I am sure of this:

his ideas are very much alive;

and both Sultan Abdulhamid II and Talaat

continue to have their share of fans

among Turks and Turcophiles today.

*

If Bush is Hitler then Saddam must be

either Franklin Delano Roosevelt or Churchill.

Perhaps even better than both

because he enjoys 100% support by his people.

[ara baliozian]

Friday, February 21, 2003

******************************

There is a type of Armenian

who pretends to love Arabs

but I suspect the only thing he loves about them

is their mantras

DEATH TO JEWS and

DEATH TO THE USA.

This suspicion becomes certainty

when this same Armenian adopts a pro-Saddam stance.

What drives him to be pro-Saddam,

he will explain, is not ignorance

or indifference to tyranny and related atrocities,

but tolerance and charity pure and simple.

But you can tell he engages in double-talk

because both his charity and tolerance evaporate

when it comes to Jews and Americans;

and he is so blinded by his bias

that he cannot see any inconsistency

between his professed tolerance and

visceral anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism.

The only way to explain this type of aberration

(or Saddamized Armenian) is to say that

Armenians are brought up (make it, brainwashed)

to believe they are smart,

perhaps even smarter than anyone else;

and driven by this flattering assessment of their IQ,

they think they can utter nonsense with impunity.

[ara baliozian]

Saturday, February 22, 2003

*****************************

What is infinitely more shameful than military defeat

is passive and cowardly acceptance of tyranny.

*

A tyrant, a liar, a crook, a charlatan – they all live on edge

because at any moment they may be exposed….

*

The dishonest man cannot help being dishonest

when it comes assessing his own qualities.

*

By adopting a noncritical stance towards himself,

the dishonest man condemns himself to

gradual decline and degeneration.

*

It is safe to assume that

all dishonest men are also stupid

if only because they overestimate their own intelligence

to the same degree that they underestimate everyone else’s.

[ara baliozian]

Sunday, February 23, 2003

******************************

HOMILY #123

==========================

Corrupt regimes exist

because the naïve identify it with the people

and ultimately with patriotism;

the opportunist exploits it to his advantage;

the coward is to afraid to rock the boat;

the ignorant doesn't know any better;

the unprincipled will say yes to anything,

including treason and betrayal;

the unemployed and hungry will adapt to any situation

that will grant him a minimum-wage job,

and the vain will be flattered into subservience

with an empty title, even a handshake and an adjective.

*

During the Soviet era

I was personally acquainted with a high-ranking

dedicated Tashnak who after a brief visit to the Homeland,

where he was given an official reception,

returned a staunch Communist.

*

I am not judging anyone.

Once upon a time I too have been

naïve, opportunistic, cowardly, unprincipled,

ignorant, vain and hungry…

and may the Good Lord (if He exists)

have mercy on my soul (if I have one).

Amen.

Let us pray….

[ara baliozian]

Monday, February 24, 2003

*******************************

Mankind may be divided into those

who are not afraid to think new thoughts

and those who prefer to recycle old crap.

*

To be unaware of one’s good qualities:

that indeed is true humility.

*

I have learned nothing from my critics

and my guess is they have learned nothing from me

except perhaps that dishing it out

is not always a one-way street.

*

If we consider the number of failed marriages

we shall have to conclude that feminine intuition is a myth.

*

"Since I have killed no one, I am innocent."

I wonder, did Hitler ever kill anyone with his bare hands?

*

I shall not suffer an eclipse

because I never experienced a sunrise.

*

Unlike some of my critics,

I don't know everything,

I don't understand everything,

and it is not my ambition to be infallible.

[ara baliozian]

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

*****************************

When asked to explain

why she became a follower of Ernst Zundel

(a notorious Canadian anti-Semite,

holocaust denier, and a wanted man in Germany)

a woman replied:

"I was eighteen – confused – and

he flattered me into thinking I was better."

*

What is valuable in an Armenian,

or for that matter in a Turk, Arab, or Jew

is not that which identifies him

as a member of a tribe, nation or race

(that way lies war and massacre)

but that which defines him as a human being

and a member of the human family

(that way lies peace and brotherhood;

also civilization and progress).

*

To say anti-Americanism and anti-Israelism are okay

but anti-Arabism or Saddamism are not

is to imply that fascism is in and democracy out.

*

Readers who accuse me of hating Armenians

should ask themselves once in a while,

"What is it exactly that makes me lovable?"

[ara baliozian]

i am afraid there are some wild generalities here but it is my impression that you are so infatuated with your own views and expertise that are not open to counter-arguments.

 

there is some degree of hypocrisiy in all human actions and political policies.

And the worst criminals have been the ideologues and the religious fanatics.

 

Bin Laden too justifies his crimes by evoking Hiroshima.

And Hitler justified his by asking the well-know rhetorical question: "Who remembers the Armenians?"

 

Solzhenitsyn has had his share of critics too. But here i go again arguing with someone who knows and understand everything....Sorry, i didn't mean to...

[axel]

Dear Ara,

 

On the contrary, I am open to any counter-arguments but I'd like to see those based on valid historical facts and not "wild generalities" as you put it . An intellectual or writer has an immense responsibility with respect to his readers and has to be rigorous in his judgements. Do you realize the nefarious consequences of false ideas being propagated in society? Isn't that what the twentieth century with all its atrocities is all about? Lies and deception. Minor alterations of the truth result in complete untruths being spread. Isn't that perspective horrifying when you think about it? I personaly do not participate in discussions of topics I am not familiar with. That is why when I speak, people get the impression I am infatuated with my views because usually I have enough knowledge to defend my point and I tend to stick to it, unless faced with solid arguments. On the other hand, when I am ignorant or not at ease with a particular topic, I choose to remain silent.

 

I wonder whether you actually understand french. This text is not about justifying any crime. On the contrary it is about condemning all of them including those hypocritically committed in the name of freedom... It is about asking for equal justice for both the victors and the losers. You raised the issue of war crime trials. Soljenitsyne makes the observation that no tribunal was setup for the ones who destroyed Hiroshima and Dresden. And he notes that international laws that would condemn criminals on both sides have not yet been defined. Can you possibly disagree with him, in all honesty?

 

[ February 25, 2003, 11:09 PM: Message edited by: axel ]

[ara baliozian]

Wednesday, February 26, 2003

*******************************

Never argue with someone

whose spirit of contradiction exceeds his IQ.

*

At the beginning was the word;

at the end hooligans.

*

Mumbo jumbo is not conducive to dialogue.

*

To describe is not to explain

and to explain is not to justify.

If we say, Armenians are good and Turks bad,

we must also explain what is it exactly

that makes them good or bad?

What are the motivating factors?

And even more to the point:

Who does the assessing and

what is it exactly that motivates him to assess?

*

The more you plan and

the more sure you are of the outcome,

the more you increase the probability

of disappointing and failure.

That’s because, very much like an Armenian,

reality has a highly developed spirit of contradiction.

*

I write for people who hate to read.

Result: even those who hate me read me.

*

I am not critical of Armenians,

only of charlatans and bloodsuckers

some of whom identify themselves as Armenian.

*

It is not smart to assess oneself as smart.

*

You cannot flatter a smart man by calling him smart.

It is different with a fool.

*

It is written: "Politics makes strange bedfellows."

It is also written: "If you lie down with dogs

you get up with fleas."

*

Trying to change reality

without understanding it is like

feeding a tiger salads in the hope

he will survive as a vegetarian;

or reasoning with a barbarian

in the hope he will behave in a civilized manner

(some say this is exactly what we tried to do

a hundred years ago in the Ottoman Empire).

[ara baliozian]

Thursday, February 27, 2003

*******************************

In a letter to the editor in our local paper

I read the following: "For ever ‘axis of evil’

there is also an ‘axis of weasels’

that use weasel words to misrepresent their self-interest

as altruism."

*

Once you choose the path of ignorance

you will become an addict

who will need increasingly larger doses.

*

Whether we like it or not

we all bear the scars of Ottoman inhumanity

and Armenian incompetence.

*

A Chinese proverb that I just made up:

"If you have the brain of a rat,

do not entertain the ambitions of a dragon."

*

Never judge an Armenian by his critics

or brown-nosers.

*

To utter nonsense, to be a fanatic, to act stupid:

these things have nothing to do with patriotism.

*

Why is it that after a man assesses himself as smart

he feels fully authorized to act stupid?

*

Overheard on the radio this morning:

"Lose your mind and come to your senses."

[Sip]

Hmmm ... next thing you're going to tell me that "Grade Point Average" is not a sign of intelligence and that standardized tests are biased?