Recently the FBI arrested 52 in an Armenian crime syndicate that stole nearly $160 million in fake claims to Medicare and I could feel my blood beginning to boil…for two reasons: First, these kinds of actions increase endangering the stability of the Medicare program that is vital in maintaining the health of senior citizens who otherwise cannot afford health insurance; and second, that Armenians, my brethren, would dare put this kind of a stain on the Armenian community. I often wonder why Armenians, probably one of the most ancient of peoples, survived through the ages while other ancient ethnic groups have not. I suspect the reasons for our survival are nobler than for us to embrace the worst of human qualities. I wonder how our ancestors, who were forced from their homes in 1915, in whatever plane they now are, look upon those who carry our strong Armenian genes and wonder if they cringe as they “watch” these dreadful actions by descendants of that horrific genocide during World War I. I think of those helpless Armenians on that cruel march and dare to ask those Medicare perpetrators…was the 1915 sacrifice of family, culture, and country in vain?
How different it would be for the memory of our ancestors who suffered so tragically if our Armenian intelligence and nobility instead was used to create better ways to help humanity. The depth of intelligence needed to perpetuate this expansive crime syndicate is as if they had created their own corporation with a brilliant CEO. Energy is energy and a tremendous amount of energy was needed to perpetuate the stealing of millions and millions of dollars. Just imagine if that same vital energy was used to develop a legitimate corporation giving legitimate jobs to their Armenian compatriots and developing useful products that could become the finest in the marketplace.
I wonder if we Armenians really understand the power of our ancestral genes and why some choose to use it by bathing in piles of dung.
Kay Mouradian
Author, A Gift in the Sunlight
Kay Mouradian
Latest posts by Kay Mouradian (see all)
- Letters: Kay Mouradian: Medicare Fraud - October 17, 2010
- Kay Mouradian: Who Remembers? - March 15, 2010
Thanks prof. Mouradian
For your Soulful Article.
However, Armenians don’t carry pure genes
Our DNA mixed through centuries
We can’t be responsible
About each mistake others’ committed.
Sylva-MD-Poetry
In every race & nation criminal elements exist.It does not bother me a bit that members of this gang are Armenians.
Their deprobable acts do not stain my identity.
Im not bothered by it. They are criminals every ethnic race has them. Let them rot in jail as criminals should!
Anyone else know of Armenian criminal acts, please notify the proper authorities!
Although I feel your emotional pain regarding this incident, I cannot help wonder if your evocation of the Genocide is appropriate.
You are talking about a generation or three of Armenians who grew up under communist rules, with communist morays. They saw an opportunity, a weakness in the system set up by our government and exploited it. Perhaps they even had help from officials of the government, Armenian or American.
I’m glad they were caught. I hope the stolen money can be recovered. However, I hope this incident alerts our government to the loopholes and inefficiencies contained within the system.
It is a shame they were Armenian, but I’m not as shocked or surprised by it as you seem to be. Nor do I think the memory of the Genocide need be invoked. These actions would be as despicable had there been no Genocide.
What bothers me is that they are referring to the criminals as “American Armenians”! If they were Jewish, would they say “the American Jews” or “Irish Americans”? Why is ethnicity so important? Isn’t this racism and descrimination? Our organizations should be complaining about this!!!
No need to specify “American Jews”. However, if they were Israelis or Jews from another country, then I think that would be pointed out.
On the other hand, you do have a point, it is redundant. They could have said “Americans” (assuming they were, and that there were no duel-nationals), printed their names (with the tell-tale ian/yan endings), and said that the money was sent to bank accounts in Armenia.
I believe Mouradian fell in the trap set by the media, which keeps on repeating that this gang is comprised of Armenians and took that point to another level, linking it to the Genocide. When I read similar writings I always remember my childhood when everything Armenian was supposed to be good and no evil could come out of an Armenian or Armenia. I needed to see Armenia in person to realize that we are a nation, a group of people just like any other, with the good, the bad and the ugly and we do not need to chastise ourselves for the fact that there are also Armenian criminals or pat ourselves on our back just for the fact that this or that successful personality is Armenian. The criteria should be how much the good person did for his nation and how much a criminal hurt our nation and country.
Rather than beating ourselves, we should be calling the media to American media to task for constantly repeating the nationality of the criminals and making that the story.
Lin, For instance, did the media ever said that Bernard Madoff is an American Jew, when he stole billions of billions of dollars from various people as well as various institutions? I don’t think they ever specified it, then why did they specified now as American Armenians? Aren’t the media being unfair and unjust and purposely pin-pointing the nationality to put the Armenianness down, just to put all Armenians down unjustifiably?
Sirvart – that is exactly right! The media is biased and racist! We should raise our voices and complain about this injustice! Just for 100 stupid Armenians, the name of million other Armenians n goes down the drain?
Lin, Whatever the injustice warped reaoning of the media in the US, Armenians all over the US must be aware of this and we must come together and collectively rebel against this injustice of the US media towards our greatest Armenian race. We have to come together through our political heads and have the media publicly apologize or they’ll get sued against defemation of racial character.
We as Armenians must never tolerate such injustice against our race. The media must apologize immediately to all Armenians for pinpointing Armenianness and trying to demean all Armenians that way. This is a defamation of racial character coming from US’ media. Thus the media in the US must apologize to all Armenians and as soon as possible.
Again, Judaism is a religion by definition. In practice, it goes beyond that and becomes a cultural identity as well. As Armenians, we are familiar with this too: Armenians from Egypt do things a bit differently than Armenians from Lebanon, from Iran, from Armenia, etc.
Bernie Madoff is and American whose religion is Jewish. No need to say an “American-Jew”. By doing so, it becomes possible to taint ourselves with prejudicial references.
As to the Armenian criminals: Were they all American citizens? Were they here on green cards? Were they naturalized? I don’t know.
I was born in Philadelphia. I am an American. My upbringing was flavored with the parts of Armenian culture that my parents brought with them – from Cairo and from Turkey/Lebanon. I have no real connection to Armenia (aside from my visit there in the 1980s).
Armenia now is a post-Soviet/communist state vying with all the issues that new-found democracies grapple with. My ancestors did not hail from “Armenia”. They all hailed from Western Armenia/Eastern Turkey. I have very little in common culturally with Armenians form Armenia. Perhaps this is why I’m having trouble with seeing the insult in all of this?
I need further understanding in order to understand why there is an obvious component in our community that is insulted by the press delineating that these alleged criminals are “Armenian-Americans”.
Chris, My anscestors are also from Western Armenia/Eastern Turkey and I was also born in the Middle East exactly where you came from. Whether these allegedly Fraud individuals are from today’s Armenian Republic or not is not the issue. The real issue here is the fact that the US Media is pinpointing and bashing all Armenians alike. That is enough for any Armenian to feel insulted and not to tolerate what has transpired in the talk show or whatever it is that they carried on by bashing all Armenians as it is written on Mr. Sassounian’s column/post. Please read the post and what has transpired, then hopefully you will be able to come to a final conclusion on the matter.
Chris,
Besides, no one was tainting themselves with prejudicial references, we were justly pointing out the facts; that if the US Media is not pinpointing about Merdoff’s Judiism then how come they are doing so lavishly now by tainting the whole of ethnic Armenian Americans by purposely pointing out the fact that those few allegedly fraud individuals are Armenian Americans?
Sirvart, I believe I read Mr. Sassounian’s column and posted there as well.
What I pointed out there was that we have insisted we be called Armenian-Americans, we call ourselves “Armenian-American”. So what’s wrong if the press does so too as the politically correct way to refer to us. Yes, these people did some criminal things and stole from the US government. Bad people, bad Armenian-Americans.
When we do good things, good Armenian-Americans. Let’s not try to change the subject in the press. It seems like we are deflecting the issue. The issue is not that there are Armenian-Americans doing this but that there are people doing this.
There was an article in The Times less than a year ago regarding drug dealers in Florida who realized it would be easier to fraud the Medicare system and that the penalties were more lenient when compared to drug trafficking. Many of them converted their organizations to Medicare fraud.
The issue is how factual is the paper’s reporting. They did not use the words alleged? So be it. They can be sued for libel. They described the perpetrators as Armenian-Americans and they were? So be it. Bernie Madoff was identified as being Jewish in the press – we all know that he is. Many Jews felt distressed when they found out that a Jewish person stole from other Jews. Now that is oddly prejudicial as well! Would it have been less of a “sin” if he stole from Gentiles? Well, no, but at least that would be expected! (Yes, I’m making a joke, sort of.) He took advantage of his heritage and stole from people who thought he’d never do such a thing “to their own kind”.
Why should we be surprised that there are Armenian-American criminals?
One unfortunate outcome of the Genocide has been what psychologists refer to as “splitting”, a very primitive level of functioning where things are seen in black and white. Because of the Genocide and unresolved trauma on the national level, that has trickled down generationally to the individual level, Armenians have a need to see the “other”, the “not us” as bad. Everything we resent or find ugly or hateful we project onto the Turks (for the Genocide) the West (because of cultural pressures it places on conservative Armenian sensibilities), the jews (because they always get all the attention). We cannot see the good in “the other”. The more insidious part of “splitting” is that we cannot tolerate to see the bad in ourselves, and when it happens, we quickly want to discharge difficult feelings of shame and faulty-just-like-everyone-else-ness. In this case, we want to blame the media (read: the Jews) for supposedly smearing all Armenians by mentioning that a group of dishonest individuals who had done some pretty rotten stuff were of Armenian origin. If we are unable to find the good in others, it follows that others will see no reason to make the effort to find the good in us. In the aftermath of the Genocide and especially in the present, Armenians continue to be, by and large, incapable of self-reflection and self-evaluation; incapable of debate or plurality of ideas. This may, in time, prove to be the most devastating outcome of the Genocide.
Patricia,
I disagree with a great deal of your thoughts and outbirsts above. For instance, you mentioned that we hate all the Turks, the Jews or any other nationality for that matter; is that what you think? I am surprised at you if that is your own thoughts, then it is you that is generalising about all Armenians. Because personally, mine is the opposite. I would never say for instance, that I hate or love a whole nationality discriminating masses of people, as I choose to take each and every individual on their own merit. However, I would justly say that I find the Turkish government are in denyal for 95 years and they go further than that by packing US Senators and Congressmen’s pockets with millions of dollars to further deny the Armenian Genocide as do it. Are they guilty for this? Of course they are and sinfully so. I don’t know about you, but personally I would never put down the whole Jewish religion or the nationality for a few oil and gasoline hungry businessmen who align themselves with the Azeris or the Turks for this or that monetary fulfilling reasons; rather than taking the morally higher road. If Israel for instance are still aligning themselves with the Genocidal Turkish government, then would you align yourself with them, rather than feeling that how much they would be revolted if the tables were turned and if Armenians were aloof towards the horrific Haulocaust that still haunts and hurts them as a nationality? Of course no Armenian nor Armenia would do that, then how is it that we should be so aloof about our cause for the just acceptance of the Armenian Genocide by most or all countries of the world, including Israel. Especially when the vast Jewish community went through a horrific Haulocaust themselves? In fact, we Armenians from the ghetgo are much more lenient and in acceptance towards other nationalities than our own. Thus I know for fact, that most Armenians treat people from other nationalities much more kindly and gently than their own kind. Then why do you want to dismiss the fact that until proven guilty one should not and cannot say to a person “a criminal”; therefore until proven guilty those 23 individuals are allegedly fraud for the moment.
I will never justify the act of those criminals but this is a %100 racism. Agree with Lin!
Sirvart, What I believe is that it’s time for Armenians to take a good look inside themselves and their own communities. If the media is smearing us, it’s probably because we aren’t giving them anything better to do, and that’s probably because we are too busy smearing ourselves. How many Armenian church, school, community organizations do you know of that operate on a basis of fairness and honesty? I can’t think of a single one. How many cultural groups have you been involved in where the leadership roles were bestowed based on a meritocracy rather than a system of blind loyalty and yes-man-ship? The truth of the matter is that Armenian communities and organizations are alienating and losing touch with the best and brightest, those who truly have something to offer the nation and the world. And so the problem is that when a news story like this hits the press, we really have very little positive with which to counter it either within ourselves or in the world at large. Stories like this threaten to become our identity. That’s what the outcry is about. The greatest threat to our nation and national identity, now as always, is an internal one, the one that gets missed when we’re so focused on the bad “other”. As my very Armenian grandmom likes to say, “Everyone needs to open their own pot and see what kind of cr*p is cooking in there.”
Patricia,
Based on your post above; unfortunately but truthfully I agree with some of the parts with you. Yes, there isn’t one organization nor a Church that is in most part based on fairness, loyalty or on meritocracy. I cannot lie to you and say that it is when it isn’t. It is in most part sadly the truth and I have heard and even seen so many educated and bright young men and women who were practically sent away because this and that person had the authority at the time as well as an attitude problem and wished to stay put on his/her seat, whether he/she deserved that seat or not. I am well aware also that the corruption since the soviet regime is still ongoing in our motherland and personally, I have been writing for a few years myself on other forums to start getting their act together, and I just came back from Armenia just recently and yes because of it there is a radius in Yerevan that a few are very rich but the rest of the people are left either without jobs or in destitute and poor condition. My own heart went for them and that is why already knowing this previously, I have been writing on other Armenian forums and petitioning even for the government and the oligarchs in there to get their act together and stop the corruption as soon as possible. I am with you in this as personally I have also suffered by staying away from organizations because of jealousy, wanting or this and that ambiguity in the system.
However, I also believe in hope and giving hope to the masses and in moving my people and stressing and pinpointing them the good in them as well, for there are numerous things that we do possess as a nation if only we capitalize on them, stay together, exercise more christianity (by loving thy neighbour) sort of thing and compromising, by recognizing who is supposed to be honored with that particular “SEAT”. Just a reminder Patricia, that even when you pinpoint the bad habits in people, you must also stress the good in them. We have plenty; but unfortunately as a nation even from our past history era, they all wished to be kings, not so many soldiers. I agree that we have to move forward in the direction of striving to be more fair, just, honest and even kind toward one another. I wish our Churches start educating our masses more so in that direction and hopefully the people will follow. Btw; that’s what the Rabbys do to the Jews; they know that Jews are very materialistic and they say that if you see another Jew opening a store by you; leave that location and go much farther away. I just wish that our Reverend fathers would start preaching our people in a similar manner.
Coming back to this case though, my own father was left an orphan from the Armenian Genocide and more than 90 percent of my family were atrociously annihilated from the AG. And I felt it in my own bones and in my soul as I grew up the results of the Genocide and how horrible it was for our people. The best of the crop of the Armenian nationality were almost all wiped out because of it. Those who died were the cream of the crop of the Armenian geneotype. They were not assymilated like everyone is today; starting from Armenia with the 70 years of the Bolshevik regime and the rest of course are more than 50% either European, American, Australian or Arabs. The people in Western Armenia were the true Armenians with their geneo characteristics, ethics, mores, culture and in every which way. And the more I think about the horror and the malice that was done towards my nation, the more I cry in my heart the terrible and the sad truth and the extent of what transpired and what we are left with today. That is why, I don’t see any humour or any lightness whatsoever in it.
The other matter is that, I am very unhappy that the US media purposely pinpointed that the said individuals are of Armenian Americans, rather than Americans as they do not say it to other ethnicities of Americans. And I will say it again that you cannot say point blank to a person or people criminals until proven guilty.
“How many Armenian church, school, community organizations do you know of that operate on a basis of fairness and honesty? I can’t think of a single one. How many cultural groups have you been involved in where the leadership roles were bestowed based on a meritocracy rather than a system of blind loyalty and yes-man-ship? The truth of the matter is that Armenian communities and organizations are alienating and losing touch with the best and brightest, those who truly have something to offer the nation and the world”.
Now that’s what I call voice of reason. I agree with you 100%
Clearly the media here has been very much biased.When Madoff…made off(my version)the media did not emphasize his being a jewish American…
that is enough to understand what is going on in that respect. One more thing,Armenian origin people nowadays are not only from republic of Armenia.There are many other ex-soviet union republics/countries such as kazakstan, proper Russia with so many towns such as Rostov. Kharkov. on…to Vladivostok(on the pacific) where Armenians lived and stioll live and some of these people are moving around.They go to EU,the U.S. and many other countries.The media here should be made to understand not to connect any such happening to the Whole of the Armenian people,whether from Motherland or any determined community. We are all over now ,the good, mainly 99% serving the humanity regardless of creed nationality and only a very few such as these, who also do bad.So let us come clear,these few could be from anywhere and they do not represent the 99% law abiding Armenians all over the globe.
Recipe for cultural decline:
1. Deprive people for 500 years of their dignity by suppressing their freedom and treating them as second class citizens, with marginalized rights, within their own land.
2. Forced repression of their indigenous religious expression and detachment from its role as a moral compass.
3. Suppression of indigenous language.
4. Exposure to massacre and extermination without recourse or just reparation.
5. Disbursment of the nation to a vast array of disaporan communities and the constant pressure of assimilation.
6. A big 70 year heaping of commmunist control and suppression of full human and cultural expression and where deprivation is remedied through sneaky rule breaking and culture of bribery.
7. Equal parts social isolation as a “victimized people” mixed well with indifference from other nations.
Mix all parts together and without much stirring, cultural decline will result unless consciously resisted by an informed people inspired by strong and moral leaders within their community and religious institutions.
I promised myself I would not respond any more, but I can’t resist. I’ll try again after this post.
We have been fed an image of what it is, what it means, to be Armenian. Anything that clashes with that image puts us on a defensive, militaristic, and xenophobic stance.
The vast majority of Armenians massacred in the Genocide were simple folk. Perhaps even naive and believing in either religion or the government. That doesn’t make their slaughter any less tragic, but let us not beat our chests and blame our current stagnation on the idea that our “best and brightest” were massacred. That’s a self-depreciating attitude/belief and certainly does not reflect my existence here and now. (Cf. The story of my paternal grandmother and her escape from a Kurdish “foster” home.)
Why just today my mother revealed to me that the ancestors of the Mamigonians were Asiatic/Mongolian. For my mother to admit that! If that is possible, then certainly we as a people and culture can evaluate our place on this planet.
Vagharshak,
You are right to pinpoint all the sad facts above in your post. By the way, do you know that much before the 1915 Armenian Genocide in Kutahya, Turkey, Armenians were not allowed to speak their own language as the Turks would cut the tongues to the people who spoke Armenian. Therefore, Armenians spoke, sang and even wrote and composed songs in the Turkish language only. Read the book of “Gomidas, how he has been” by K. Patigyan. It is written in Armenian. Thus our beloved Gomidas Vartabed didn’t know Armenian until he was admitted to Kevorkian Jemaran “college” when he was 12 years old.
Vagharshak,
In your #4 paragraph alone; “Exposure to massacre and extermination without recourse or just reparation”, this alone makes us to constantly strive for the Armenian Genocide to be recognised by all nations, so that Turkey would start paying reparations to the Armenian people and the heirs of the martyrs of the AG. Can you imagine for a minute how traumatized the Jews would’ve been if the Nazzis for 95 years carried on a denyalist attitude and regime as the Turks are doing to Armenians? Thus the Armenian people for 95 years now, did not even have closure for the Armenian Genocide.
Chris, please re-read my last paragraph above. I am not making excuses. I am saying given all those circumstances listed, the need for strong visionary leaders is that much more important to inspire the broken-hearted and dejected. Where is the church on this? Where is the government? What about our institutions. What about individuals standing for higher good?
@Vagharshak, nowhere in anything that you wrote is it possible to detect that Armenians currently have or have ever had a sense of agency with regard to their existence. In reality, during some of the most difficult parts of our history we have managed to continue evolving and creating. Monuments were built during the Arab period. Manuscripts were copied during the Mongol Invasions. Armenians held positions of economic influence and power under the Safavids and Ottomans. It was, in fact, an Armenian merchant who established the first cafe in France (Marseille) in the 1670’s, and it was after this that cafes proliferated in European cities and intellectuals gathered at cafe’s rather than ale pubs to talk about ideas (under the influence of caffeine rather than alcohol) that in turn contributed to the advent of the Enlightenment in Europe. Under Soviet rule, Armenians wrote novels, made advances in the arts, produced far-reaching ethnographic, historical, and archeological studies, and offered innovations in fields like theoretical mathematics. One can almost say that Armenians have tended to be more productive during periods of political hardship or oppression.
It’s undeniable that something has been very different with us in the past decade or so. Some would call it an internal decay, a sort of moral carcinoma, but even that is too reductionist a label, one that leaves room for seeking an external cause. When you’re constantly looking to put blame on the other, you miss opportunities for self-examination and improvement. Yes, the genocide robbed our nation of some of our intellectuals and leaders, but mostly of good, simple village folk, as Chris suggested, many of whom didn’t even speak Armenian, but nevertheless didn’t deserve their fate. Their progeny were urged to learn and speak Armenian in the context of diasporan ghetto communities.
What is happening now is that our “best and brightest” are alienated or expelled from our communities because, as independent thinkers, they are unwilling to accept the social and personal constraints that are placed on them. Armenian families put enormous emphasis on educating their young, but when educated young men and women come back to their communities with ideas and challenges, they are silenced and “put in their place” (unless, of course, they’re related to so-and-so).
The main role the young have in their communities seems to be a highly objectifying one, especially for women: Your main purpose here is to find a spouse who can match or exceed your own family’s wealth. To that end, appearances are foremost. In the old days rugs were hung over balconies to signify the number of girls available for marriage. Nowadays it’s the number of high-value cars parked in front of the house. All that ever changes is content. Unconditional respect is still reserved for those who come back with big money. Accomplished young Armenians who are esteemed by outsiders are usually unknown or hold little interest for our communities and cultural institutions, nor do they have any interest in contributing or eventually becoming leaders. Is it any wonder, then, that a group of Armenian men don’t even think twice about orchestrating a massive fraud scheme that brings them lots of money at the expense of our national reputation? Clearly, they failed to see a higher moral ground to aspire to.
I am in complete agreement with you Vagharshak on your above post. I mean about not just good but exceptionally good and patriotic leadership with vision and with guts to stand up for our nation. That’s exactly what’s missing and it has been missing for a while. As I mentioned above; I just came back from Armenia and while I was there once in a while I stopped people to ask them about their government, the regime and what and how they thought about it. Some were very vocal and they thought exactly how I perceived to see, and they were as upset about it as I was. Some others were afraid, to speak; but not many were afraid. I even stopped the mayor of Yerevan that I saw him by chance and I questioned him, of course he sided with his government. I didn’t expect differently from him of course; but I gave him a piece of my mind and I also said a few nice things that they’re doig in there; such as having the Russian army in Gyumri until 2044 and some other things that came to mind. However, they all thought that Diaspora Armenians are very patriotic towards our motherland and they praised us for it. Let me tell you though that two thirds of the population are struggling to put bread on the table to fend their families. It’s very sad and it’s all because of the selfish regime of corruption amongst the oligarchs that are practically stealing food from the mouths of the good people, and the government is surely in it too. We certainly need a stronger and a much more patriotic Armenian government who will put away with corruption or whoemever is engaged in one.
As much as we don’t like today’s stagnation in Diaspora and I agree with the comments above; because we have been stagnating for good many years now. As much as Armenia needs it, we also need a much less corrupted and more patriotic Armenians within Diaspora’s organizations and especially good leadership. What we need is some very strong minded and gutsy individuals who will clean up the acts of some of today’s selfish individuals and would replace them with the proper individuals that would demonstrate; extreme patriotism, good knowledge yet strong minded and gutsy leaders. In the past we had it within the ranks of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation who gathered the masses, educated them and has instilled patriotism within the people; that’s why we survived in Diaspora as much as we did. Today however, we need the good leadership like we had in the past amongst the ranks of the A.R.F.
What Patricia is stating in her post above; I have been hearing about this a bit more in the LA area that unfortunately but truthfully not all, but a good many Armenian Americans that came back from the Soviet regime mentality in the 1990’s have become extremely materialistic It is like who has the bigger and the better car, and who owns the larger house and is the wealthiest on the block; rather than who has the most merit and who is the honored student that could take the leadership amongst us. I am not saying that they are any better in the east, the south or the midwest, nor in Canada or in Europe; all I am saying is that our leadership has got to stop sending away our most intelligent youth who should take the stage to be the leaders of today.
Admiral Isakovin USSR.Paul Ignatius(USA) SEScretary of the Navy.Mareshal Baghramian,USSR and a jalf doen other such in USSR armies–
Writers,Musicians,Actors scientists? dozens of each all over the world…
Where is ONE ,just pone turk origin so.Georgian? indeed two bad doers,Stalin and Shevardnadzee…so why do we go about trying to expose our talents.Even today,if you can switch on to USArmenia T.V.,Shant T.v. and H1 Armenian T.V. channels and read some Armenian publication,you will come across the latest achievements by our compatriots.Thence if a less than 1% of our people has resorted to fraud and the like,it is insignificant compared to to the POSITIVE side….all else has more or less been explained by others such as Patricia and others
Patricia, I think your comment about agency is an important observation. And I agree that it is important to remember that we were able to produce and be constructive people even when oppressed. No excuses. Not blaming others. Just an unfortunate conglomeration of circumstances that challenge one’s resolve and sense of agency, family connection, hope for future, etc…,
Sirvart, yes, our leadership needs to completely reconsider the way it has been doing things or cede the reins to other, more capable, and above all, honest, selfless people. But you see, I think these leader types are pretty entrenched in their positions, and have surrounded themselves with people who depend upon them for their own feelings of community and social connection. I think there can be different approaches, however, that don’t depend on a “leadership” and in fact insist on being constantly and vocally critical of all who would be in positions of leadership.
Let me digress for a moment. I promise my digression will make sense very quickly. Armenians are often citing the Jews as a people who have managed to survive and foster a sense of national identity in the aftermath of a genocide. We resent the Jews. We can’t tolerate that they get the kind of attention, protection, and support they do in the world. We have developed all sorts of conspiracy theories about how they go about putting themselves in positions of notoriety and power, often at our expense. But there’s one thing about the Jews that I think continues to elude Armenians, something that one wouldn’t know unless one had prolonged, close contact with Jews. As I have come to understand it, there is one major difference between how Jews do things and how we Armenians do things: Debate. Debate is part of the core Rabbinical tradition of the Jewish religion and culture. If Rabbinical students aren’t debating and splitting hairs with their teachers and among themselves, they are demonstrating that they just simply do not care about what they are learning, and proving themselves unworthy of the privilege of studying. This love for debate permeates all levels of Jewish life. Jewish children learn to debate and are encouraged to debate right at home, right at the kitchen table. By contrast, Armenian children, especially girls, are taught to be silent and respectful, to defer, without questioning, to those who have been vested with authority. Thus, people in positions of authority are excused from proving their worthiness in each interaction, each decision, each conversation.
Could you imagine an Armenian in a position of prominence, the head of a benevolent organization, or a cultural association, a church or school board, insisting on including individuals with whom they generally disagree? Could you imagine an Armenian in a leadership position having the humility or presence of mind to think that perhaps the person who is the sharpest critic has something to offer, for the greater good?
Could you imagine raising little Armenian boys and girls to be masters of argument? I don’t mean argument for its own sake, the kind where everybody’s shouting at the same time, and the loudest person gets their say. Rather, argument in order to reach higher levels of abstract thought? I pulled my child out of the local Armenian day school because, among other reasons, she was being told to be quiet all the time, to see injustice and walk right past it. She was seeing daily that dads serve on the board, and moms serve lunch.
Our institutions, especially in the Diaspora, have this nifty trick they like to do. They credit themselves for preserving and propagating Armenian Culture (with a capital “C”, that is, language, arts, theater, literature, history, faith, etc…), but that’s just window dressing. When you go inside, really you’re only getting Armenian culture (with a little “c”, so things like gender relations, knowing your place in the hierarchy, knowing what is considered proper behavior, the more mundane part of being Armenian). This has got to be exposed, criticized, and has got to start changing. I don’t want my children to receive some brand of Armenian-ness that is no less constructed and no more valid because it’s got an institutional stamp on it. We all have to stop being so loud on the outside and lazy on the inside. It’s time for every single Armenian to take responsibility and to act from a place of accountability. We’re at a critical juncture in our history unlike any before.
Patricia, Yes, I know exactly where you’re coming from and I also disagree with the way Armenians silently or sometimes not so silently, but demand to see our women silenced and pretty much stay in the background, and the more dumb they are the better for the men. I have seen this happen to a few women; and when an intelligent, smart and gutsy woman comes along, they name call her and not so pretty names either, btw; a fighter, how her man has to deal with her and even worse names than that. 100 years ago in the old country women used to stand behind their men, serving food, literally shutting their mouths and childrearing alone. Well Patricia, we were supposed to come a long way; but things haven’t changed much at all, did they? A little yes, but not much. Thank you for telling me and on this open forum about the way Jews debate loudly to benefit from the brainstorms of each ohter and that’s how they become more savvy in any subject as well as gain strength as an individual. I know for sure the way things are done in our oganizations and it is EXACTLY the way you are portraying and unfortunately that’s why we are stagnating, I know. I also agree that what we need is to have some powerful individuals (men and women) with fresh ideas, gutsy, intelligent, logical and perhaps geniuses to move in and throw out the ones that hold most seats that are making most if not all our communities stagnate “jankodil”. It’s very unfortunate; but I understand why you have pulled out your child from that particular Armenian school. I understand that the child will have to live in the real world, while the growing child’s brain must move forward not backward, nor to standstill. If that’s how they are teaching our children in the Armenian schools, then someone or some forces with the right mind must step in and correct their way of teaching in our schools. It’s a shame, really. Mine had to go to “odar” non-Armenian schools and I didn’t know nor did I have to deal with that. Now Patricia, I am glad that we are having this conversation, although somewhat digressing yes, but it is worth it. I just hope that the heads of all our organizations read these columns and see the wrongs that they have done, start giving the younger and the smarter, brighter generation of Armenians chances to take the lead. If they don’t start correcting themselves, then surely they aren’t patriotic Armenians. Wheareas the motherland’s oligarchs and the government are leading and letting corruption reign left from the Bolshevik destructive regime; then the heads of all our organizations in Diaspora are acting in a similar manner but this time, instead of money, they are stealing the seats without much or any meritocracy to deserve that seat. I have always said this about myself; if I am to be a true patriotic Armenian, then I must give away my seat to the next person whom I think will be more worthy of that seat for the good of my people and for the cause.
I would also see the benefit of being critical of especially to the ones who are in positions to teach and also as the heads of our organizations, so that they’ll be on their guards rather than to have their friends and their so called connections surrounding them. I have also seen people in power in our organizations to take in like minded people who will yes them to death, so that they’ll stay in power for 25, 30 or more years to reign selfishly and unpatriotically when there are many newer generations of Armenians who are smarter, better educated, willing and able to take that same seat for the benefit of our people and for our organizations. I have personally seen this happening; in other words, if a person does not side with the authoritative person, then he should be stepping down and finally he will be pushed out to leave the organizations altogether. How sad state of affairs but very true as well.
So, now, Sirvart, getting back to the guys who were recently arrested for Medicare fraud, is it any wonder that that is what they decided to do with their lives? I am sure that these men would have conducted themselves very differently had they been offered something bigger, higher, nobler to aspire to when they were growing up. It’s not just the women who suffer under the demands of culture with a little “c”. It’s everyone. Under this system of thought, a man’s worth is demonstrated in how much money he has. It doesn’t really matter how this wealth is attained. What matters is how it looks when his wife drops the kids off at the local Armenian school in her shiny new Land Rover, Mercedes, or BMW SUV. These people are so easy to caricature, they don’t even realize what clones they are of each other! The dark glasses, the pointy shoes… And yet, these are their lives’ aspirations. Not just to be wealthy, but to imitate the larger local culture (in my neck of the woods, it’s the wealthy, established WASP). In so doing, however, they cling to the most backwards elements of their own culture: the chauvinism, the racism, the duplicity, the gossip. Their own options become narrowed. It takes a lot of ingenuity to carry out the kind of fraud these guys were into, it takes wit, and talent, and creativity. I’m not excusing them for what they did, but I can’t help but think that each of them could have amounted to so much more if they’d perceived themselves as having options to express themselves in ways other than “big money”.
People on this forum have mentioned that saying these fraudsters were Armenian-American is an instant of racism. Oh, well… Armenians aren’t themselves capable of racism, are they? I can tell you that I personally know Armenians who will not ride a particular bus or trolley line because too many Blacks ride those lines. I know Armenians who will not venture into certain shops or neighborhoods because too many Hispanics frequent them. They prefer to keep their kids in less-than-mediocre Armenian schools (where they don’t actually learn Armenian) rather than good local public schools because they don’t want their kids to become Americanized, whatever that means… My list is depressingly endless.
I’m not sure what the way out of this sad predicament is for our nation. I am sure, however, that whatever is done, it’s going to have to be done at the level of the individual and the family. I, personally, have no faith in our institutions.
Sirvart, I think the first thing that our institutions should do is accept financial contributions only on a basis of anonymity. No more name plaques on anything. No more “badvo seghan”. Think of the seismic shift that would happen at the core of our communities! The next thing is to make all board meetings open to anyone who is willing to come and participate in a productive manner. Wow! Talk about accountability! I know, I know… I’m just dreaming…
Patricia, I hear you; but I don’t accept your excusing these guys’ wrongdoings if indeed they are guilty; God gave them brains and conscience, and they should have used it and thought about the consequences of their actions before committing a crime. One would rather do menial jobs and live day by day, rather than steal and then get caught and live a nightmarish life for the rest of their lives; with a bad name haunting them after being incarcerated. I believe these 23 individuals are originally from Armenia and we all know what that means. What it means is that during the Soviet regime, some, but not all of course, used their exceptional wit and they got rich even during Soviet regime times, which have unfortunately made some to be very materialistic, too hungry for money and thought only about their stomachs; rather than taking the high road in life and staying on the high road. The Bolshevik regime created monsters to some or a few in there. It’s very sad; but we both know it’s still ongoing, it didn’t stop nor did it get better; and the corruption is still ongoing. One should rather die than cheat and steal and then get caught only to lose their good names, dignity and respect for the rest of their lives. This is how I think and it is how I’m brought up as I happen to have home education which surpasses any education that you would get later in life; because that’s how one’s character is based in life. Unfortunately and I have heard this from numerous sources; that the ones that are displaying their BMW’s and huge SUV’s and large houses; are mostly the “nouveau riche” that came from Armenia in the early part of 1990’s after the Soviet regime fell through; while they had a lot of smarts as well as education; they have become extremely materialistic. And today they like to show off their material objects to each other, because they haven’t seen it before the exodus in Armenia, and now they don’t know what to do with their riches. As well as Chris, I am also Armenian Egyptian, and the majority of Armenians in Egypt, didn’t mingle with the Arabs. We all went to Armenian schools, that were the greatest schools, then we associated within the Armenian communities and the Church of course. Therefore the Armenian Egyptians mostly kept their Armenian heritage, culture, ethics, mores and basically the Armenian characteristics survived basically in it’s entirety until the government nationalized the businesses and then we all left to go to the U.S. Canada, Australia and Europe. Armenians were mostly fortunate in there for a while anyhow. About racism; since we have been dramatically minimized, thanks to the Armenian Genocide, it has been the hope and the legacy of our parents to intermarry so that we extend our “Armenianness” as long as possible and to better against assymilation. However, no it shouldn’t matter if you’re amidst blacks, hispanics or asians, unless they demonstrate any kind of threat to us. I have known some cold blooded whites and perhaps much warmer hispanics or blacks.
Patricia, I wish it could materialize but I don’t know; however I like your thoughts on accepting monies on the basis of anonymity only. That would be a very good start and I always disliked the “badvo seghans” anyway. I have encountered that most Armenians practically kiss the floors that the very rich walk upon. Thus, if you have money you’ll get all the red carpets and suddenly you become smart and unapproachable. Personally, I dislike it with a passion that most Armenians give so much more respect and emphasis to the very rich and kick the ones in the back to the ones that aren’t. And since I am an idealistic girl/woman, I always disliked that most Armenian girls went after only the rich guys. Does their richness made them any happier? I don’t think so, but they usually tend to go only after the rich. Poooh.
Sirvart, I don’t think I was excusing them from their wrongdoings. I do mean to suggest, however, that it’s probably a far more complex picture than meets the eye. As an aside, I wonder if you happened to see the HBO series “The Wire”. If not, you should set aside a weekend, rent all 3 seasons and settle down to enjoy some of the most compelling TV drama ever created. It is by far one of the richest explorations of the drug traffickers, law enforcement, those who are addicted, those who are selling and buying, those who are trying to aspire to something bigger and better…In all cases, what you get is the human story behind each of the characters. So, I guess I’m thinking that there has got to be a human side to the stories of the Armenian guys who ran the medicare fraud scheme. I am trying to see them as individuals who are as much a product of our culture as those who turn out good and virtuous. Except, honestly, I am coming to believe that those Armenians who turn out morally intact, accomplished, and productive do so in spite of being Armenian, and not because of being Armenian. What our families, communities, and institutions have to offer us these days is inadequate and irrelevant to what our real worlds demand.
In terms of young Armenian women being more interested in men who are rich, yes, there certainly is that trend. It’s an old one and a very unfortunate one, but there is also another, even more troubling trend. Young Armenian women, because they are generally excused from the obligation of bringing in big money, go and educate themselves. Many young women are acquiring advanced degrees in things other than business administration or accounting (which can be translated as eventually taking up a supporting role in the family business and eventually in the husband’s business). As a result, they end up having very little in common, and much less to talk about with their male counterparts. So, you end up with many highly educated, accomplished, independent young Armenian women who, not finding someone compatible among the Armenians, will eventually remain single and childless or will marry outside of their culture because they don’t want their lives to be just about money and material things. They have more to offer, and in turn want more from their relationships. In other words, those women who we’d hope would be the ones raising the next generation, aren’t the ones doing so. Add that to the mix of cultural decline.
I hope I didn’t sound like I was excusing the behavior of the medicare fraud guys. I firmly believe that, regardless of what a person’s life circumstances have been, he or she must be held accountable for their actions and decisions.
Hello Patricia, What do you say we converse with each other through our e-mails.
Dear Moderators, Would you be kind enough to give my e-mail to Patricia? I’ll appreciate it. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Sirvart
Until the editors/moderators give you my e-mail address however, I will try to rent and get hold of that HBO series “the wire” to be able to better understand where you are coming from. I am well aware Patricia that you are not excusing those 23 people; however I just gave you my thinking process at my end. Btw; the ones that do turn out good, it is probably their good upbringing, their good blood, also their logic/Christian beliefs, etc. I can understand why you are saying despite being Armenian; because a good number of them are even out to destroy you as a person, your self esteem and your values too. I have been stepped over myself, that’s why I pretty much stay away as I have and have had better things to do; like taking care of my own family. Plus on my part, I have already paid my dues to the Armenian communities double fold, I have more than done my share in the past.
About the subject matter on our women; it’s too bad. The Armenian woman is normally the pillar of the Armenian family.
Sirvart, I have very much enjoyed our exchange and would be happy to continue talking by email. I’d love to send you some of my other writings, and also to find out how you like “The Wire”. Perhaps I will send a message to the “Contact Us” link, to see if they will release my email info to you that way.
Peace,
Patricia
Thank you Patricia and I have also enjoyed our talks, and please feel free to contact me. I already got an e-mail from the good moderators and I will contact you now.
Dear Moderators/Editors, thank you for your kind response and e-mail.
Sincerely yours,
Sirvart