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STOP THE INSANITY
- May 24, 2013
By Berge Minasian
Recently Armenians throughout the world commemorated April 24 again
and the turnout everywhere gave testimony to the unending pain and
suffering our people still carry regarding the genocide perpetuated by
the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
That's right, 98 years after that horrible first genocide of the 20th
century; huge numbers of us still participate in that once a year
display of loyalty to the Armenian cause. And we do so with good
reason. Our masses have been conditioned, rightfully so to believe
that as a nation, we must never abandon the goal of achieving a just
resolution to our struggle against the denialist Turkish government.
Ours has been a noble and righteous struggle; one that has given our
Diaspora a unifying agenda. For years, communities world-wide were
bonded around the `Armenian Cause,' and this heartfelt unity helped to
postpone the inevitable assimilation which draws closer and closer for
each new generation of Armenians born in the Diaspora.
But I've noticed a troubling trend during the past quarter century or
more which many of our friends have noticed as well. And that trend
is this: although the April 24 commemorative functions have been
reasonably well supported by our general population, attendance by 2nd
and 3rd generation Armenian Americans is noticeably sparse. In fact
their absence from most Armenian community functions has been sorely
noted but not yet ameliorated.
This trend is especially worrisome when it comes to the inability or
unwillingness of our Apostolic Church leaders to nurture that segment
of our population. I'm really not aware of any organized movement by
our church leaders to engage or otherwise attract these absent
community members into the social/spiritual mission of our church.
As blasphemous as this may sound, it's clear to me that our Church
leadership has dropped the ball. They continue on with a liturgy
which is utterly incomprehensible to non-Armenian and even some fluent
Armenian speakers. It seems our leadership would rather go down with
the ship than change their ancient traditions.
I think it is long past the time when our Armenian leaders here in the
United States defined a new agenda for the next 100 years. It's true
that during the past century our grieving genocide survivors and their
progeny made remarkable inroads towards the creation of an Armenian
infrastructure here in the states.
The first generation American born Armenians made huge strides in the
community building process which peaked after World War Two. Returning
home from wars, they orchestrated a dramatic movement to build our
community churches, social halls and schools.
They were fiercely engaged in the Armenian agenda along with their
parents. They spoke Armenian quite fluently and were gradually
integrated into leadership positions in their communities. Most of
them were well educated and they happily raised their families in the
sprawling suburbs of America. They enjoyed the best of life in both
societies.
But now fast forward to the second decade of the 21st century. The
genocide survivors are almost 100% gone, their progeny are well into
their 80's, and the second generations along with their children are
missing in action. This is a huge disconnect from our Golden Age when
the first generation partnered with their immigrant parents and our
Armenian communities blossomed.
Quite obviously, as an ethnic group we are at a crossroads. If we
continue with our present agenda we will no doubt completely lose
those who are currently on the fringe. In that case, by mid-century
and maybe sooner, our community will be totally assimilated into the
greater American society.
Most of us first generation Armenian Americans became passionately
immersed in the agenda of our grieving parents and we took up their
struggle. But along the way our families were becoming Americanized
and we were unable to successfully engage our offspring into the
traditional Armenian agenda, i.e. the Armenian Cause against Turkey.
And herein lies our dilemma. Our historical 98 year struggle against
the denialist Turkish regime is somehow not resonating with our second
and third generation American born Armenians. In fact I truly believe
that it is driving the newer generations of American born Armenians
away from the mainstream. The operating style and historical agendas
of our churches and political organizations are producing some
unintended consequences in our communities.
Our church leaders and our leaders of the major political and social
organizations would do well to define a more relevant agenda to engage
our second and third generation subgroup. Now before you rush off and
erroneously question my personal commitment and passion for the
well-being of our people and nation, let me offer a quick summary of
my background.
I'm first generation Armenian American. I was born in Detroit,
Michigan which was and still is a dynamic hub of Armenian patriots and
activists. My wife Terry and I moved our family to Walnut, California
in 1967 and then to North County San Diego in 1977. We have always
been actively engaged in the Armenian agenda. Both of us have served
in leadership positions and we continue our service to this day.
We traveled to Armenia for the first time 15 years ago and were
devastated by what we saw. We quickly took action and founded an
urgently needed orphanage in Vanadzor. Then almost simultaneously we
created the Adopt a Family Project to help poverty stricken families
still living in `temporary' metal shipping containers.
To facilitate the financial aspects of our projects we created the
HUMANITARIAN OUTREACH FOUNDATION, a 501c (3) tax deductible
organization. If you would like to receive information about how you
can get personally involved in the evolution of tiny Armenia, please
feel free to contact us. Our contact information follows this essay.
I hope this very brief history will suffice to convince you of our
positive activism and negate any thoughts you might have that we are
just complainers or shish kebab Armenians bent on complaining about
our current leadership. We fully recognize that what's being proposed
might very well be anathema to the traditional agenda and could quite
possibly be offensive to some of you. But please be assured that our
suggestions regarding the future of our Diaspora are based on our love
of the Armenian nation, both here and in the homeland.
Armenia became a free and independent nation once again in 1991 and
frankly, most people consider it a miracle that this tiny ancient
country even exists. They suffered through the collapse of their
economy, a devastating earthquake killing 25,000, and finally a war
with Azerbaijan; all within the first 10 years of independence. Many
observers credit the massive mobilization of the Diaspora for the
unselfish and generous support that sustained Armenia during those
early defining years.
Although Yerevan seems to be evolving reasonably well, the rest of the
nation is in decay. Fully half of its citizens are living in the
poverty stricken outlying villages and there is no relief in sight.
Politically there is widespread corruption and cronyism leaving huge
numbers of citizens disenchanted, unemployed and indeed depressed
about their ability to survive and thrive.
The population of Armenia has gradually been eroded and by some
accounts there are fewer than 2,500,000 people still living in the
country. The dirty little secret is that those who have the
wherewithal are leaving to find work and the nation's villages are
quickly becoming depopulated.
Earlier I expressed my concern that our ethnic group in Diaspora would
be completely assimilated by mid-century , and now I believe it is
even conceivable that by then, Armenia might not exist as a free and
independent country either.
To complicate the natural evolution of tiny land locked Armenia is the
illegal blockade by Turkey and the Azeri's which has made economic
trade with neighbors almost impossible. Armenia's enemies are slowly
strangling their tiny adversary and patiently waiting for it to
collapse from the weight of their blockade as well as their own
internal issues.
So where am I headed with all this? Quite frankly I'm convinced that
we can't simply continue on with the same agenda we have followed for
the past 98 years. If we want different results for our Diaspora and
for the tiny nation of Armenia, we must change something. We must
either change what we are thinking, or our attitude about what we want
to achieve.
To begin with, recruiting our second and third generation Armenian
Americans and getting them engaged in helping the homeland evolve into
a true Jeffersonian democracy would be a huge plus. This sub-group of
our Diaspora is quite successful in business and the professions and
they are all technologically quite literate. I'm convinced that
unless we recruit and engage this subgroup, we are truly committing a
huge error and indeed hastening the demise of Armenia.
Along with getting our second and third generations engaged in
assisting Armenia, I'm convinced that somehow a win/win resolution of
our 98 year old conflict with Turkey must be negotiated. I'm not
suggesting that we can ever forget the crimes they perpetrated against
our people. Not at all!
But look at how other nations have successfully moved past their
inhumane histories and how they created workable solutions. If
Armenia is to survive and thrive it must find a way to resolve its
differences with Turkey. It can, it must be done!
Our present conflict with them is too intractable. Both sides need to
give something. Regardless of the righteousness of our claims, after
98 years and counting, we are still mired in a stalemate. In the
meantime our tiny landlocked nation runs the risk of slowly becoming
another footnote in history.
I think time is running out. We can no longer do business as usual.
Our Diaspora needs a new agenda which is focused on working with
Armenia to assure that they survive as a free and independent nation.
We must find a way to put an end to the steady exodus and in fact
encourage immigration from other parts of the Diaspora. Then when
Armenia thrives, we will have indeed honored our martyrs.
As a Diaspora, hundreds of millions of hard earned dollars have been
spent on our agenda during the past 98 years. As patriots, we did
what was needed. But it's quite clear that there is some underlying
tension between Armenia and the Diaspora. Mistakes were made on both
sides. It's time now for our leaders to put aside their ego and work
hand in hand for the survival of our Motherland.
Remember the definition of insanity? Simply put it says that insanity
is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different
results. If we want different results we must change our approach.
There is no reason why we can't change our approach without losing our
commitment to secure justice for our martyrs.
Berge Minasian,
San Diego, Ca.
[email protected]
http://www.armenianlife.com/2013/05/24/stop-the-insanity/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
- May 24, 2013
By Berge Minasian
Recently Armenians throughout the world commemorated April 24 again
and the turnout everywhere gave testimony to the unending pain and
suffering our people still carry regarding the genocide perpetuated by
the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
That's right, 98 years after that horrible first genocide of the 20th
century; huge numbers of us still participate in that once a year
display of loyalty to the Armenian cause. And we do so with good
reason. Our masses have been conditioned, rightfully so to believe
that as a nation, we must never abandon the goal of achieving a just
resolution to our struggle against the denialist Turkish government.
Ours has been a noble and righteous struggle; one that has given our
Diaspora a unifying agenda. For years, communities world-wide were
bonded around the `Armenian Cause,' and this heartfelt unity helped to
postpone the inevitable assimilation which draws closer and closer for
each new generation of Armenians born in the Diaspora.
But I've noticed a troubling trend during the past quarter century or
more which many of our friends have noticed as well. And that trend
is this: although the April 24 commemorative functions have been
reasonably well supported by our general population, attendance by 2nd
and 3rd generation Armenian Americans is noticeably sparse. In fact
their absence from most Armenian community functions has been sorely
noted but not yet ameliorated.
This trend is especially worrisome when it comes to the inability or
unwillingness of our Apostolic Church leaders to nurture that segment
of our population. I'm really not aware of any organized movement by
our church leaders to engage or otherwise attract these absent
community members into the social/spiritual mission of our church.
As blasphemous as this may sound, it's clear to me that our Church
leadership has dropped the ball. They continue on with a liturgy
which is utterly incomprehensible to non-Armenian and even some fluent
Armenian speakers. It seems our leadership would rather go down with
the ship than change their ancient traditions.
I think it is long past the time when our Armenian leaders here in the
United States defined a new agenda for the next 100 years. It's true
that during the past century our grieving genocide survivors and their
progeny made remarkable inroads towards the creation of an Armenian
infrastructure here in the states.
The first generation American born Armenians made huge strides in the
community building process which peaked after World War Two. Returning
home from wars, they orchestrated a dramatic movement to build our
community churches, social halls and schools.
They were fiercely engaged in the Armenian agenda along with their
parents. They spoke Armenian quite fluently and were gradually
integrated into leadership positions in their communities. Most of
them were well educated and they happily raised their families in the
sprawling suburbs of America. They enjoyed the best of life in both
societies.
But now fast forward to the second decade of the 21st century. The
genocide survivors are almost 100% gone, their progeny are well into
their 80's, and the second generations along with their children are
missing in action. This is a huge disconnect from our Golden Age when
the first generation partnered with their immigrant parents and our
Armenian communities blossomed.
Quite obviously, as an ethnic group we are at a crossroads. If we
continue with our present agenda we will no doubt completely lose
those who are currently on the fringe. In that case, by mid-century
and maybe sooner, our community will be totally assimilated into the
greater American society.
Most of us first generation Armenian Americans became passionately
immersed in the agenda of our grieving parents and we took up their
struggle. But along the way our families were becoming Americanized
and we were unable to successfully engage our offspring into the
traditional Armenian agenda, i.e. the Armenian Cause against Turkey.
And herein lies our dilemma. Our historical 98 year struggle against
the denialist Turkish regime is somehow not resonating with our second
and third generation American born Armenians. In fact I truly believe
that it is driving the newer generations of American born Armenians
away from the mainstream. The operating style and historical agendas
of our churches and political organizations are producing some
unintended consequences in our communities.
Our church leaders and our leaders of the major political and social
organizations would do well to define a more relevant agenda to engage
our second and third generation subgroup. Now before you rush off and
erroneously question my personal commitment and passion for the
well-being of our people and nation, let me offer a quick summary of
my background.
I'm first generation Armenian American. I was born in Detroit,
Michigan which was and still is a dynamic hub of Armenian patriots and
activists. My wife Terry and I moved our family to Walnut, California
in 1967 and then to North County San Diego in 1977. We have always
been actively engaged in the Armenian agenda. Both of us have served
in leadership positions and we continue our service to this day.
We traveled to Armenia for the first time 15 years ago and were
devastated by what we saw. We quickly took action and founded an
urgently needed orphanage in Vanadzor. Then almost simultaneously we
created the Adopt a Family Project to help poverty stricken families
still living in `temporary' metal shipping containers.
To facilitate the financial aspects of our projects we created the
HUMANITARIAN OUTREACH FOUNDATION, a 501c (3) tax deductible
organization. If you would like to receive information about how you
can get personally involved in the evolution of tiny Armenia, please
feel free to contact us. Our contact information follows this essay.
I hope this very brief history will suffice to convince you of our
positive activism and negate any thoughts you might have that we are
just complainers or shish kebab Armenians bent on complaining about
our current leadership. We fully recognize that what's being proposed
might very well be anathema to the traditional agenda and could quite
possibly be offensive to some of you. But please be assured that our
suggestions regarding the future of our Diaspora are based on our love
of the Armenian nation, both here and in the homeland.
Armenia became a free and independent nation once again in 1991 and
frankly, most people consider it a miracle that this tiny ancient
country even exists. They suffered through the collapse of their
economy, a devastating earthquake killing 25,000, and finally a war
with Azerbaijan; all within the first 10 years of independence. Many
observers credit the massive mobilization of the Diaspora for the
unselfish and generous support that sustained Armenia during those
early defining years.
Although Yerevan seems to be evolving reasonably well, the rest of the
nation is in decay. Fully half of its citizens are living in the
poverty stricken outlying villages and there is no relief in sight.
Politically there is widespread corruption and cronyism leaving huge
numbers of citizens disenchanted, unemployed and indeed depressed
about their ability to survive and thrive.
The population of Armenia has gradually been eroded and by some
accounts there are fewer than 2,500,000 people still living in the
country. The dirty little secret is that those who have the
wherewithal are leaving to find work and the nation's villages are
quickly becoming depopulated.
Earlier I expressed my concern that our ethnic group in Diaspora would
be completely assimilated by mid-century , and now I believe it is
even conceivable that by then, Armenia might not exist as a free and
independent country either.
To complicate the natural evolution of tiny land locked Armenia is the
illegal blockade by Turkey and the Azeri's which has made economic
trade with neighbors almost impossible. Armenia's enemies are slowly
strangling their tiny adversary and patiently waiting for it to
collapse from the weight of their blockade as well as their own
internal issues.
So where am I headed with all this? Quite frankly I'm convinced that
we can't simply continue on with the same agenda we have followed for
the past 98 years. If we want different results for our Diaspora and
for the tiny nation of Armenia, we must change something. We must
either change what we are thinking, or our attitude about what we want
to achieve.
To begin with, recruiting our second and third generation Armenian
Americans and getting them engaged in helping the homeland evolve into
a true Jeffersonian democracy would be a huge plus. This sub-group of
our Diaspora is quite successful in business and the professions and
they are all technologically quite literate. I'm convinced that
unless we recruit and engage this subgroup, we are truly committing a
huge error and indeed hastening the demise of Armenia.
Along with getting our second and third generations engaged in
assisting Armenia, I'm convinced that somehow a win/win resolution of
our 98 year old conflict with Turkey must be negotiated. I'm not
suggesting that we can ever forget the crimes they perpetrated against
our people. Not at all!
But look at how other nations have successfully moved past their
inhumane histories and how they created workable solutions. If
Armenia is to survive and thrive it must find a way to resolve its
differences with Turkey. It can, it must be done!
Our present conflict with them is too intractable. Both sides need to
give something. Regardless of the righteousness of our claims, after
98 years and counting, we are still mired in a stalemate. In the
meantime our tiny landlocked nation runs the risk of slowly becoming
another footnote in history.
I think time is running out. We can no longer do business as usual.
Our Diaspora needs a new agenda which is focused on working with
Armenia to assure that they survive as a free and independent nation.
We must find a way to put an end to the steady exodus and in fact
encourage immigration from other parts of the Diaspora. Then when
Armenia thrives, we will have indeed honored our martyrs.
As a Diaspora, hundreds of millions of hard earned dollars have been
spent on our agenda during the past 98 years. As patriots, we did
what was needed. But it's quite clear that there is some underlying
tension between Armenia and the Diaspora. Mistakes were made on both
sides. It's time now for our leaders to put aside their ego and work
hand in hand for the survival of our Motherland.
Remember the definition of insanity? Simply put it says that insanity
is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different
results. If we want different results we must change our approach.
There is no reason why we can't change our approach without losing our
commitment to secure justice for our martyrs.
Berge Minasian,
San Diego, Ca.
[email protected]
http://www.armenianlife.com/2013/05/24/stop-the-insanity/
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress