The fallacy

Vahe H Apelian

It is said and rehashed over and over again and was amply stated again by Harut Sassounian in his latest editorial that “while Armenians are a wonderful people, they have had a major shortcoming during their entire history which is the lack of skill in diplomacy.”

If that is true, what is the point of rehashing it over and over again and editorializing against the PM Nikol Pashinyan? Surely, the next person who is going to assume the role of a diplomat and occupy the prime minister’s seat will come from the wonderful Armenian people who…..read the above quote in italics.

I have another quote and my quote is from no other than the extraordinary George Carlin. This is what he said. After reading it, I ask the reader to read it again but substitute Armenian/s any time the reader comes across the word American/s, and substitute Armenia any time the reader comes across the term America.

George Carlin’s quote:

““Now, there's one thing you might have noticed I don't complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don't fall out of the sky. They don't pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It's what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you're going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain't going to do any good; you're just going to end up with a brand new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it's not the politicians who suck. Maybe something else sucks around here... like, the public. Yeah, the public sucks. There's a nice campaign slogan for somebody: 'The Public Sucks. F*ck Hope.”

Paraphrasing Carlin maybe it’s the Armenian public that sucks and  f*ck Armenia’s future.

A person not being a good politician can be ascribed to heredity. But not conducting good politics, I believe is a matter of culture. In the case of the former, there cannot be much that can be done. Nature has made the person that way. But in the latter case, it is a matter of culture. I ascribe that in our case, it is the latter and not the former and for all indications it is in a , if not maturing but growing process.

I, on the other hand, believe that Armenians make astute politicians, each and every one them. Had they not been astute politicians in their daily lives, they would not have survived for centuries under the brutal Ottoman rule, let alone thrive. If you have any doubt to what I say, read the first impression of the first American missionary among the Armenians Rev. William Goodell. This is what he said: “The Armenians were an enterprising people, and the great wealth of the bankers, who were nearly all Armenians, made them very influential throughout the empire, even with the Turkish officials, who were largely dependent upon them for pecuniary advances and assistance. The various connections of this people with different parts of the country, and the influence which they were in a position to exert,……..”. (see the link below).

I do not want to go into a lengthy discourse, because I simply blog and do not editorialize or analyze. I see Armenia undergoing labor pains and the object of their labor is to give birth to a firmly established democratic process. On may 8, 2018, the people of Armenia brought about a peaceful, bloodless revolutionary change, unique in the annals of revolutions in any country. They termed it a Velvet Revolution. The reverberations of that change are still on going and will go on because Armenia, like any other democratic country, is pursuing a race without a finish line. In fact, it will forfeit its race if it ever claims it reached its finish line. 

In my estimation, there is small but a vocal segment of the Armenians who offer no other alternative but oppose the change the people of Armenia brought about. But the citizens of Armenia have threaded along and alone and I support them.

Note:

Rev. William Goodell among the Armenians: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2017/04/goodell-among-armenians.html