By Garen Yegparian
OK–everybody should be over the election enough–gloating or mourning–to start on the next one. The requisite 40 days have elapsed–so let’s get with it. There’re lessons to be learned–battles to be fought and won.
The paramount lesson to be learned by the Democrats and Armenia’s–since clearly the Republicans already have mastered it–is that superior organization wins every time.
Superior organization means having motivated and mobilized volunteers and staff.
Superior organization means being prepared for eventualities and opportunities.
Superior organization means having an ideology–or some set of energizing principles–guiding and driving what you do–ALL THE TIME. The poppycock emanating from the Francis Fukuyamas of the world about the "end of history" (i.e. the end of ideology as a force in shaping society) is now utterly discredited.
Superior organization means having a set of terms and using them to shape the discussion–creating frames it’s called–instead of being trapped by a protagonist’s terms–discussion–and frames. On this one–Armenia’s score pretty well since for Turkey to deny the Genocide–they must use the term genocide–which is a powerful frame to place people’s minds in.
Superior organization means going for the jugular–recognizing politics for the blood sport it truly is–not timid politeness that both Gore and Kerry demonstrated in Florida and Ohio respectively. They look like wimps who really don’t care about what they claim to stand for.
Over the past four decades–as the Democrats have become de-organized–shedding the constituencies that were organized and supported them–the Republicans have become increasingly organized–even picking up some classes of people who previously identified with and supported the Democrats.
We–as Armenia’s–fall somewhere between the two major parties’ levels of organization. We have the ideology. We have at least some of the requisite infrastructure. We have not engaged our people. We have not been sufficiently alert to current developmen’s.
Countless members of our communities whine about how miserable our organizations are. Yet–they neither join and ameliorate them–nor do they come together and form new and better organizations. Without organizations and superior organization both in the diaspora and governmentally in Armenia–we’ll never beat the shear mass–power–and inertia of the Turkish government.
Let’s get with it!
Pathetic Glee
Yes–I’m guilty. I immensely enjoy the big bullies (transnational corporations) of this world getting their comeuppance–especially when I feel particularly powerless to do anything about it myself.
Thanks to Amy Goodman and her "Democracy Now!" program of Pacifica Radio for the early Monday morning inspiration.
It seems that on this 20th anniversary of the Union Carbide (now owned by Dow Chemicals) plant accident in Bhopal–India–a group called the Yes Men pulled of a tremendous beneficial hoax.
Posing as Dow Chemicals representative Jude Finiseterra–someone who claims his real name is Andy Bichlbaum–was interviewed by BBC and said Dow was accepting full responsibility and would cooperate in all future legal actions. Basically–that Dow would do right by the people it maimed and the families of those it killed.
Ain’t it a beaut? Dow was put in the situation of publicly denying they’d appropriately compensate victims and their families. It took them two hours to catch on–meaning it was reported on BBC twice–and then other news outlets started picking up on the story. Of course it was a terse repudiation. That provided the Yes Men with an additional opening to issue a "clarifying" press release explaining all the RIGHT things Dow WOULDN’T do.
In the process–Dow’s shares fell 4.2 percent in just 23 minutes. Three hours later though–all the ‘paper’ losses–some two billion dollars–had been recovered. Imagine timing it so that stock could have been bought and sold–or even shorted–the money made could then have been used to atone for Dow’s transgressions.
Imagine the diplomatic fervor–the time consumed–the distraction from other important issues–such as keeping Armenia’s unnecessarily busy with genocide recognition–if a non-Armenian source similarly targeted Turkey for the 90th Anniversary.
Anyone have the right connections?
