While the capital city shuts off the lights and prepares for sleep in its endless bliss of naive trust, an invisible monster lurks the city streets. It travels from avenue to avenue and from city square to city square targeting all that still stands witness to our collective memory.
And so, you wake up one morning to the sudden realization that your fate has already been sealed. You wake up and discover that you no longer have history. Someone has hijacked the soul of your city. Someone has s
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Very well written. It’s definitely against our collective memory:
http://www.depop.am/news_page_post/destruction-of-cultural-heritage-stimulates-emigration-from-armenia/
You are absolutely right Garo. This process had began with independence years (when massive grabs were made) and accelerates with time. The reason is (as always) the predominant indifference of the people, especially given the fact that the majority of those who even understands the concepts you mentioned is physically not in Armenia to voice their protest. Those who we have here are either part of the problem or just too few to make any difference. Our only and the last choice is to educate the growing generation with values true to our culture, teach them fight for their memories, because we have clearly failing in doing so. We had few victories -(Moscow cinema summer hall, Mashtots park) but that is it. Whats left to do is to pray that until the new blood comes into the system we will be spared at least something. And protest the anarchy while trying to wake everyone up.
It may actually make a difference if the 13,300 people who have posted “like” on social media (Facebook) for the article, were to send letters/emails to the President and Parliament of Armenia. The destruction of historic buildings in the name of modernity (casinos, “shuga”, fashion stores, etc.) is already irriversible.
It is beyond comprehension how historic buildings have become the properties of the few, who may or may not know the history of Armenia and Armenians. Not limited to Armenia, these are members of the “global greed club”established in the past twenty years. Unfortunately, such individuals make people forget the good that is also being done in Armenia and elsewhere.
The greatest gift god gave to man is not life, nor choice, but death. With death comes the possiblity of change. A man will cease to exist one day, whether naturally or unnaturally, and so will his offspring and in turn their offspring ad infinitum. This way no man can control no thing forever; nature forcefully relinquishes control, giving another man the opportunity to take over (hopefully) for the better.
What Armenia needs is a socialistic system based on nationalistic principles. Armenian cultural traits (i.e. business smart, competitive, shrewd, aggressive, materialistic, ostentatious, arrogant, clannish, etc) and Western style Capitalism (individualistic, monopolistic, exploitative, elite based, profit oriented, growth oriented, etc) is a formula for disaster for Armenia. Armenians need to wake up and realize that Armenia has been suffering from twenty-five years of Capitalism. The destruction brought upon Armenia by the sudden and complete collapse of the Soviet Union will be felt for generations to come. In the meanwhile, however, as long as those waiting on the political sidelines in Yerevan for the overthrow of the Armenian government continue serving Western/Turkish interests, we will continue tolerating our oligarchs as the lesser evil.