SOLIDARITY AND THE LONE SOLDIER
Monday, July 15th, 2013
BY MARIA TITIZIAN
This is how the story (joke) goes…
A young man decides to enlist in his country’s armed forces. The
commanding officer, wanting to see how prepared the young conscript is
for battle asks him a rhetorical question, “You’re on the battlefield
and you see two enemy soldiers approaching. What would you do?” The
young man says, “I would pull out my gun and shoot them.” The CO
then asks, “You’re on the battlefield and you see 10 enemy soldiers
advancing in front of you plus an approaching tank, what would you
do?” The young man responds, “I would throw a hand grenade toward the
tank, and shoot the soldiers with my automatic machine gun.” Unfazed,
the CO carries on, “You’re on the battlefield, and there’s a battalion
of enemy soldiers advancing from the left, two tanks in front of you
and a war jet zooming just over head, what would you do?” The young
man perseveres, “I would use an RPG against the tanks, shoot the
plane down using an anti-aircraft gun, take my automatic machine gun
and shoot the members of the enemy battalion.” The CO doesn’t back
down and says, “OK, you’re on the battlefield, there are two enemy
battalions advancing in your direction, three tanks are approaching
from behind your position and there’s two jets flying over from
different directions, what would you do?” The flustered young man
throws his hands up in the air and says, “I don’t get it, am I the
only soldier in this army??”
I first heard this joke years ago before moving to Armenia. I thought
it was funny then, it still is I suppose but when I heard it retold by
an acquaintance recently, it didn’t make me smile, it made me begin
to understand how alone one could be in the world in the absence of
community or solidarity.
Injustice has been and continues to be a common theme in human
history. As Armenians we have not been immune to it. We have felt the
monumental blow of injustice against us as a people and it continues
still. Only today, we are committing a significant amount of that
injustice against each other. We channel much of our energy to ensure
the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide by demanding
justice, recognition, and reparations, as we should. However, we speak
little about the ongoing assimilation of our people in the world,
what we Armenians consider the White Genocide (djermak chart), the
continuing depopulation of our lands, not only because of economic
hardship and lack of opportunities or hope toward the future but
because of the prevailing injustice in our society.
Many stories and narratives coming out of Armenia speak to the
injustice that continues to be exacted almost on a daily basis.
We have bishops who drive around Yerevan in Bentleys, we have a prime
minister who allegedly has offshore accounts, we have ministers who
abuse their positions and steal from the public purse without a shred
of conscience, members of parliament who know nothing nor care much
for the legislative process, civil servants who have yet to understand
that it is their duty to serve the public and not their interests. I
can go on because the list is long and multifarious. Presumably this
state of affairs is not dissimilar from most other countries, the only
difference is that in more established, democratic nations those who
hold the levers of power are simply more suave and sophisticated in
the way they do these things. There will always be those who consider
themselves above the law because of their wealth, position and power
in almost every country on the planet. Whether or not they are able
to remain above the law is the core of the matter. And then there are
people whose rights are abused, whose innocence are put into question
and are wrongly accused.
The problem with Armenia is that when someone is threatened,
maliciously maligned or charged with a crime they have not committed,
they are left alone to fend for themselves or they are asked to prove
their innocence; a fundamental precept of law has turned on its head.
The presumption of guilt as opposed to the presumption of innocence
seems to be an accepted norm. And there are those who walk away from
committing crimes because of their power and connections or because of
society’s unwillingness to mobilize their support and raise a public
outcry and sometimes because of perceptions.
Two recent cases in the United States underscored the threads of
injustice that exist everywhere. The first was the acquittal of George
Zimmerman of all charges in the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin in
2012. The unarmed African-American teenager, who was 17 at the time,
was shot by Zimmerman who claimed that it was in self-defense – there
were no witnesses to the crime. Today thousands of ordinary Americans
in different cities across the U.S., along with civil rights activists
are protesting the verdict. The Justice Department has said it will
restart its investigation to consider possible separate hate crime
charges against Zimmerman. There is no doubt that a fierce debate
on racial profiling will continue to shape opinions and outcomes in
that country.
The second case is Marissa Alexander who fired a warning shot to defend
herself against her abusive, estranged husband and was sentenced to
20 years in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. In her
case, no one was shot or injured, she had a restraining order against
her abuser, had a legally registered gun and permit and no history
of criminal behavior. While Zimmerman was acquitted of all charges,
Alexander who is African-American will serve 20 years. Once again,
civil rights and women’s groups and individuals are protesting the
verdict.
While it appears that courts and juries deliver verdicts based not
always on evidence but on perceptions and perspectives, the public
will often through its civic actions, force a reopening of a case or
at least spur a national discourse on the matter. Both the Zimmerman
and Alexander cases will continue to be discussed and examined across
all sectors of American society. I don’t know what the outcomes will
be but at the very least those in the United States who are expressing
their outrage will be heard.
In Armenia, the justice system is not just nor is it independent. Most
judges serve their masters because if they don’t they will lose their
position, salary and prestige so they do as they are often told. Civil
society lets out a whimper and then quickly loses interest or moves
on to the next scandal and because so few are ready to put themselves
on the line to ensure justice is served many cases and individuals
are left on their own. People in general are too busy trying to make
ends meet to join in the fight, not surprising considering almost
half the population continues to live in poverty. So when someone
is left to fend for themselves against a state apparatus which is
carefully designed to ensure their downfall or demise, they cannot
depend on a polity that will come to their defense or aid.
That is the difference between Armenia (and countries like Armenia)
and those societies where similar conditions and problems exist.
If the notion of solidarity was ingrained in us, then perhaps these
kinds of injustices could be addressed, if not in the courtrooms
of the country then most definitely on the streets. We’re adept at
fighting against a common foreign enemy but when the enemy lives and
exists among us we forget how to fight. And yes, we have been trying
but it hasn’t been good enough, not yet at least.
The saying, “I might not agree with what you say but I will defend
to the death your right to say it” must become part of our collective
conscience. I don’t always agree with the tactics of certain activists
and organizations when they are fighting against corruption or an
injustice, but I applaud them for doing it and I certainly support
their right to do so and when and if I can, I join them. When an
individual or organization is persecuted by authorities without
legal grounds, when a murderer walks away free, when the rights of an
individual are maligned, we must all join forces, regardless of our
personal feelings and fight the good fight because without solidarity,
we will never foster and create the kind of society needed to sustain
this good land of ours. None of us should feel that we are a solitary
soldier…
From: Baghdasarian
http://asbarez.com/111536/solidarity-and-the-lone-soldier/