What Would You Say in Response?

Imagine you’re a Defense Attorney assigned to defend our “civilized society” and you just heard this closing argument from the prosecution. What would you say in response?

We demand a better Armenia and yet we are still our own enemies…

 

It’s a disgusting sight for many to see not only major oligarchs running for parliament, but the country’s president allowing such a thing to happen as well. It’s a slap in the face to all those who are honest in their dreams and ambitions to see a better Armenia. We have seen within the last 20 years how such men have prospered at the expense of the common villager, how the innocent and the poor have been exploited, how the competition has been done away with in the vilest of manners. Yet, it is no secret that all developed countries began with smugglers and pirates, dubious characters who later turned to capitalism and the wonders of stealing legally from the population. Most of the developed world has developed so because of their slave trades and oppression of “lesser” nations. Armenia hasn’t had that chance to exploit the rest of the world, instead focusing it’s sometimes cruel, generally unfair tactics on it’s own people.

The test right now is the extent to which the people of the country have matured. Latest events point towards a stand against such exploitation of the lower classes. However, will these individuals be able to counter the candidacy of these oligarchs with candidates of their own?

There are those who would argue that we are headed downhill, that the country’s situation is getting worse. I wonder at those sentiments. Personally,  I have seen nothing but improvement. A middle class has begun to form in Armenia that did not exist only a few years ago. Activists have sprung up from everywhere, demanding change in multiple social sectors. There is currently a large group of activists occupying Mashdots park in an attempt to protect their green Yerevan. There are those fighting for the rights of homosexuality. There is a huge movement to protect and enhance women’s rights, giving them a platform from which they could voice their concerns on political marginalization, domestic violence and sexist treatment. Voices are raised against abuse in the armies, about crooked cops and an abuse of power by authorities. I don’t see my country going downhill. I see hope and a light at the end of a dark and frightful road. I see obstacles overcome and a day when the president will walk with his or her people, carry a village child in rags on his shoulder and show those disillusioned through years of hardship a drawing of a better Armenia.

What we fail to understand is that the problem does not lie in the government. The problem lies in the people who make up the government, people who are technically no different from anyone else in Armenia, simply with Lady Luck and some friends on their side. The truth of the matter is that the same qualities that are condemned in these “mafia” figures are also present in the rest of the population. There is the honest and the thief everywhere. It isn’t the government that requires a change in Armenia, but the psychology of the individual. There is a lack of nationalist emotions in our country, a phenomenon that has been countered in most of the world. This particular lack, however, could mean that anyone might possibly sell all that we have striven for centuries to salvage.

Unfortunately, as we have seen within the last few months, it’s not the party policies that people are interested in, but the individuals who are to run for government. In most countries, the population supports the party whose platform appeals most to their conscience and needs. The lack of development in vital aspects is because we focus on the wrong thing. If we elected parties based on the platforms they represent, with clear goals and programs they are ready to implement, those with a provision of exact time frames they expect these programs to see the light of day, we’d actually have some progress. As things stand at the moment, we can only wait and see whether our people have understood this important bit of information.

The green thing didn’t exist back then…

This was actually a Facebook post that I found intriguing.. the manner in which the young cashier responds is very similar to those who around today who blame the problems we have on the older generation being neglectful of the environment.

Checking out at the grocery store recently, the young cashier suggested I should bring my own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. I apologized and explained, “We didn’t have this green thing back in my earlier days.” The clerk responded, “That’s our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment for future generations.” She was right about one thing our generation didn’t have the green thing in “Our” day. So what did we have back then? After some reflection and soul-searching on “Our” day here’s what I remembered we did have…. Back then, we returned milk bottles, pop bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles repeatedly. So they really were recycled. But we didn’t have the green thing back in our day. We walked up stairs, because we didn’t have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn’t climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. But she was right. We didn’t have the green thing in our day. Back then, we washed the baby’s nappies because we didn’t have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts — wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that young lady is right. We didn’t have the green thing back in our day. Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house — not a TV in every room, and the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the wall. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn’t have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn’t fire up an engine and burn gas just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn’t need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity. But she’s right. We didn’t have the green thing back then. We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull. But we didn’t have the green thing back then. Back then, people took the bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their mothers into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn’t need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint. But isn’t it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn’t have the green thing back then? Repost this so another selfish old person who needs a lesson in conservation from a smarty-pants young person can add to this!

Just think… our parents and grandparents knew a lot more about conservation than we will ever know.. and they knew it without ever being told or even considering the need for protecting the environment. Lifestyles and society dictated a cleaner world…

 

Where is the Love?- New Years’ Resolutions

I woke up this morning to the loveliest song… Amidst all this music that holds no merit, some artists do stand out and some songs still captivate the heart. I’m an avid Nickleback fan, because of their beautiful lyrics inciting hope and speaking of the social issues that plague us and yet we still remain silent about. This morning, it was the Balck Eyed Peas waking me up, singing to me, asking me where is the love?

I wonder how many of us actually understand what that phrase alone means in our lives… In the mechanical lives we all live, no individual seems to understand the torments of another and few would ever sacrifice everything they have to make a difference and brighten another’s life. The West suffers from the disease of ignorance. The Middle East suffers from constant warfare and strife. The East seems to constantly be hit by one natural disaster or another. The North is cold and unfeeling, the South is full of corruption and riddled with poverty. Neither one understands the other, each writhing in his own agony.

In the end, it will be the memories that we leave behind that will live on, long after our souls have departed from this world. New Years’ resolutions are often silly, personal, self-oriented. Rarely do they dictate making the self a better person but often have to do with reaching society’s ideals. This year, for the first time, I do have a resolution. My resolution is to love, to practice what I preach, to turn the other cheek and to have patience in dealing with those ignorant and misinformed. This year my resolution is to make the world a better place for as many people as possible, one step at a time. This year, I plan on showing the world exactly where the love is…

 

“Where Is The Love?”

What’s wrong with the world, mama
People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that’ll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin’
In the USA, the big CIA fightin’
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you’re bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate
And that’s exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y’all, y’all

People killin’, people dyin’
Children hurt and you hear them cryin’
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love
The love, the love

It just ain’t the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the world insane
If love and peace is so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don’t belong
Nations droppin’ bombs
Chemical gasses fillin’ lungs of little ones
With ongoin’ sufferin’ as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin’ really gone
So I could ask myself really what is goin’ wrong
In this world that we livin’ in people keep on givin’
in
Makin’ wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin’ each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin’ on but the reason’s undercover
The truth is kept secret, it’s swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where’s the love, y’all, come on (I don’t know)
Where’s the truth, y’all, come on (I don’t know)
Where’s the love, y’all

People killin’, people dyin’
Children hurt and you hear them cryin’
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love, the love, the love?

I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I’m gettin’ older, y’all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin’
Selfishness got us followin’ our wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema
Yo’, whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead of spreading love we’re spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity
That’s the reason why sometimes I’m feelin’ under
That’s the reason why sometimes I’m feelin’ down
There’s no wonder why sometimes I’m feelin’ under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found
Now ask yourself

Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?
Where is the love?

Father, Father, Father help us
Send some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love?

Sing wit me y’all:
One world, one world (We only got)
One world, one world (That’s all we got)
One world, one world
And something’s wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something’s wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something’s wrong wit the wo-wo-world, yeah
We only got
(One world, one world)
That’s all we got
(One world, one world)