The Voice of the People is the Voice of GOD... and So On...

There is an Armenian popular saying: “ the voice of the many, the voice of the downtrodden... the voice of the people... is the voice of God...” 

Whenever I think about this Armenian proverb I remember Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the World... It was popular on the university 

  

campus when I was still an aspiring human being... I am not sure what they read these days on the campuses... and what they debate, but the "politically correct" fashion... which outlaws ideas that some minority... some group does not like... or a person whom some people take offence of... is contrary to the free flow of ideas and debate... It was like that during the Cold War... in the Soviet Union... and now in many ways "the Free World," the so called "Western Democracies" are acting like the Soviet Union... Mass surveillance was conducted in The Soviet Union... Banning Pasternak for his Dr. Zhivago or Solzhenitsyn for his Gulags... was a Soviet thing... and now the banning is fashionable on North American campuses... 

    

What a tragedy...! What a shame...! Degrading the free flow of ideas in the bazaar, in the marketplace of ideas...

Dear Student-Friend... at the time we fought for our rights and freedoms... our rights to read and discuss whatever we wanted... We read Zhivago... The Gulag were a sought after book... and Eldridge Cleaver's Soul On Ice was a the thing to read... Of course surveillance was the norm of the day... and what a pity...! Banishing ideas from the campuses is the mores, the conventional normal of the day... 

Just like banishing Romeo... Just like exiling Soviet dissidents... Just like banning to be human in this Global Village of ours...

Dear Student-Friend,

Your dialogue is dear to me... I love your openness... I love your daring... and honesty and critique... That's how it should be... in a peaceful and more harmonious Global Village... Where people are not guided by greed and material profit... That's how Ross was... 

There is a legend which we cherished... Ross at one point decided that he does not want to have a car... and he "sold" his car to a friend for ONE dollar... and never had a car afterwards... He loved cars... The Rossie bubbled up whenever he saw a dashing and neon colour sports car... But never the fanciful Rossie took over the peaceful and fun loving Ross... Ross and Rossie we dialectically compatible... The made the man... and I loved him for that... (Love in its friendly way... not love for lust of sex...)

We were friends... and we had fun whenever we were together... Those moments soothed our nerves and in fact we forgot the academia of the school and the rat race on the street... Those were magical moments... and we just cherished them for that...

In the downtown there was an "old fashioned" bookstore... There were quite sitting places and the arm-chairs were comfortable, specially after few shots... We loved to visit that bookstore... They had a selection of CDs and 

     

we listened and purchased Gregorian Chants and Russian Monks chanting Holy Mass... Those were heavenly times... Those were moments which were insulated from the nastiness of the world... It soothed us... It energized us... Prepared us for the next encounter in the streets and in in the school...

I was like a child... I held the CDs in my hand and was happy for it... I played the CDs the next morning in my classroom... loud for everyone to hear... It was like hanging Christmas lights for everyone to see... I wanted to share my happiness with all... But people mocked me and my music... 

I read your email... and I am very happy for your thoughts...

Hello Sir, 

Just a few quick thoughts. "it was beautiful (I would write... like you),  but then you scarred me..." I didn't quite understand what you meant there but I sure hope that you weren't offended by anything that I wrote. [ Rest assured... Not at all... I love your emails... I will NEVER be offended from words... though they are mightier than the sword...!]

   

Secondly, feel free to write whatever you wish to me. Don't be scared that I will think this or that of you. Regardless of whether or not I agree with you, I will always respect your opinion. You've earned my respect so don't be afraid to write anything. [ Thank you for the kind thoughts and encouraging words... Writing has always been a part of my life and a source of celebration and misery too... Earlier my articles and short stories had a following of their own, but had many enemies too... specially in the status quo and the establishment... But, "The Wretched of the World" loved them...]

 After all... 

I can understand when you say you paid dearly for your openness because I too have gone through the same. But you know what, I would like to think that smart people will find a way to open a new door when one closes. I would rather be punished for speaking my mind and the truth than to be a bystander and feel guilty then when something bad and preventable happens. It's sad how many people are afraid to hear the truth these days. The first thing I say to anyone is to be honest with me, whether it be good or bad. I'm not afraid of hearing criticism, in fact, I'd rather hear everybody's criticism of me. That way, I know where and how to improve and I'm better off for it. Most importantly, I respect people more for always being able to tell me the truth. I've grown up enough that I'm not going to cry or throw a fit if somebody says something bad about me, so long as it's justified. [ I agree with you all the way... I would love to see the youth stand up for their values and humanity... Speak up their minds... and why not... BAN WARS and establish peace on earth...]

I'm glad to have finally read about how it all start between you and Ross. It was also nice to learn about the Armenian tradition of walking backwards so as not to turn your back on the altar. [ He asked my why I walked backwards... I guessed that he knows the answer already, but it was a pretext to talk to me... and I explained that it is an Armenian tradition and we never turn our back to the alter... He loved the idea... It was his way of saying; "Come on... Let's be friends..." And be bonded as friends do...
We had many chats early in the mornings when there were no teachers and no students yet... in the school... Our music and sharing feelings and ideas... Those mornings were rejuvenating... Those morning chats gave me hope in whatever I was doing... and during the day I did it with more energy... with more hope in the future... with more faith in the goodness of the human beings...]

We met in the sanctity and serenity of the Chapel... 

As for the police not ticketing you for almost cutting that person off, I think that you got really lucky but I'm glad you did. With all the ticketing quotas cops now have to fulfill, they will look for the smallest reasons to give you a ticket. They don't care if you will end up fighting it in court and winning. All they care about is that they make their bosses happy, ticket x number of people for whatever reasons they can make up, just so that their jobs are safe. What always enrages me about police is how many you see just sitting on roads looking for traffic violations, or even worse, in Tim Horton's parking lots. Anybody can turn on a siren, act all tough and hand out tickets for measly traffic violations. Why don't they do something useful and actually do some real police work? Why don't they try and break up all the drug/gang/prostitution rings? Or why don't they go sit around in the more dangerous neighbourhoods if for no other reason than just to try and unsettle the criminals in that area? Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of good cops who do good work and earn their massive salary but the most don't. As a specific example, how justifiable do you really think spending millions of dollars spying on Rob Ford was? I understand that he made mistakes, we all do, but if you look at what he did for Toronto, he will be arguably remembered for one of the better mayors in the city's history. He is one of very few politicians there who delivered on his campaign promises. Whenever there was trouble in the city, he was always quick to the scene. If there were snowstorms, he would help out rather than sit on some beach in the Bahamas. What I liked most about him though was that he was willing to spend time with anybody. He spent every night with a different ethnic group, with a different sports group, with a different arts group. He wasn't biased and I really believe that despite his mistakes, he really did bring the city closer together.  [ I guess police care in their own way... I guess there are the good, the bad, and the ugly... in everything... and the police are not immune from the laws of the community - THE GOOD< THE BAD AND THE UGLY... Anecdotal examples will not cover the general truth... As a scientific mind, as an engineer, I am sure you will agree that generalizing from anecdotes,  from the few...  is not justified... We agreed on that long time ago in our AP Calculus class... We learned together and we had fun together... We urged each other to be critical and just and thoughtful... and when we arrived at a conclusion it was not from anecdotal   incidents... In fact, we always insisted that there are exceptions to every rule... there are exceptions to every generalization and to social norms and mores... May be the anecdotal incidents are the exceptions to the rule... and as such, not Calculus... I loved Ross when he reiterated; "You are allowed..." When he repeated those words it made me realize people arrogance and vanity... It reinforced my thesis that only ignorant people will insist that they are right and ignore the other side of the coin... In fact, Ross propelled the idea that there are as many rights as there are people... and in society we have to find the most palatable compromise... not because the norms and mores will be the RIGHT one, but rather the most livable...

Ross was smart and unpretentious... He was the mathematician without the need of numbers... and he was the theologian, the priest devoid of the arresting dogma of the tradition... ]

   

Lastly, your points about the Pope's shoes at the end intrigued me to say the least. I got curious and decided to look into it myself and I have to say that I somewhat disagree with you on that point. The red leather shoes is a 2500 year old Roman tradition. Aside from Pope John Paul II for little while and the current Pope, every other Pope has worn these outdoor Papal shoes and up until now, every Pope has been buried in those shoes. For that reason, I stand behind that decision to follow tradition because as Pope, arguably your biggest job is to keep your tradition intact with your believers, something that the current Pope is not doing so well but that's a completely different topic for another day.   [ I love the tradition... I love the scent of incense... I love the jingle of the incense burner... I love the candles and it mesmerizer me when I follow how they burn and dwindle... by spreading the light in the exploding silence of the church... Just burning quietly... without pretensions... and assisting the congregation to see the light... Wonderful...! Compound this serenity with the harmony of the chants... The peaceful ceremony... and you will get a  crumb of heaven... 

 

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought...

I included shoes because at the time the media insinuated a new fashion... and extravagant spending of Church money... The Dolce & Gabbana Islamic fashion show made me remember the noise that the media creating at the time and now the same media is silent and subservient to the greed of Western materialism... Ross despised the material goods and lived very frugal, but when we went out for dinner he was extravagant ant wanted the best... of course, according to his palate... he never disputed my choice... after all, he knew that "I am allowed..."