Chidem Inch: The Armenian Genocide 105th Anniversary

     Every April, I dedicate a post to the commemoration of the Armenian Genocide. I have done this since I started this writing project, first as a monthly e-letter in 2004 and then, in 2009, as this blog. In many years, I have written about the Genocide years.
     The Genocide drove most of the Armenian nation out of the ancestral homelands and created the diaspora from where I am writing. It was a such a traumatic and devasting event in our recent history that it dominates us well after the generation that survived it has essentially all passed on. Their children are now dwindling in numbers. 
     I am not sure of the percentages, but there are a large number of Armenians that love our culture and heritage and strive to keep it central in our lives no matter where we live. Many of us in the diaspora, sadly, have melted away into whatever country they live in and lost any most of what the rest of us fight to maintain whatever degree we can. 
     The 100th Anniversary of the Genocide came in 2015. We did commemorate it grandly with all the reverence due to those that perished and what we lost as a people. We commemorated with proud who we are still hear maintaining our culture and heritage. We commemorated with political demands for recognition and reparations. Collectively, we made all the martyrs saints. 
     We wrote novels, poems, and historical analyses. We produced works of fine art and had concerts from folk and classical to jazz and pop. We made films. We did this all to proudly remember and honor our past but proudly, and a bit defiantly, celebrate that we are still here, still Armenian, and we are not about to let that go. 
     Countries around the world began to acknowledge that what happened from 1915 – 1922 in the waning days of the Ottoman Empire was indeed a Genocide. Countries did this in spite of significant lobbying from Turkey who adamantly denies that it was Genocide providing all kinds of spin and distortions of history to make the Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians war criminals instead of victims. There is as resolved to never admit to any crime that could lead to reparations as we are to reclaim our lost lands.
     In this country, we have been fighting, lobbying, and advocating for recognition of the Genocide by the US Congress. Whenever we have been close to having the votes, Turkey would influence our State Department and President to pressure the Congress, particularly the House of Representatives not to pass the resolution. Almost every President claimed to be a friend of the Armenians when they were candidates and then let us down to support Turkey because of an airbase or other diplomatic leverage they had over us. 
     President Trump made no such promise. Yet, in late 2019, the resolutions commemorating and recognizing the Armenian Genocide passed both houses of the US Congress. H. Res 296 on October 29, 2019 by a vote of 405-11 in the House of Representatives. A few short weeks later, S. Res 150 was passed by the US Senate on December 12, 2019 by unanimous consent. It a wonderful culmination of years of effort by Armenians in this country. We never thought we would see it happen and finally it did. It could be argued that Congress was condemning the Turkish incursions into Northern Syria to battle our Kurdish allies more than they were doing something for Armenians. 
     Since the passage of these resolutions, nothing more has happened as the world’s attention is now focused on the Covid-19 pandemic. Aside from this, I do not expect Turkey to cave in and offer the Armenians anything remotely related to admission or reparations. The government there is adamant and definitely racist. They are not about to do anything positive for Armenians who haven’t lived there for over a hundred years. Heck, they consistently suppress and harass their Kurdish population who are actually Moslem. But this will not keep us from demanding and working for justice. 
     What else can we do? We must focus on the Republic of Armenia. We have to bolster its economy and shore up its defenses as it lies between Turkey and Azerbaijan. We, in the diaspora, need to strengthen our own communities lest our heritage simply assimilates away. 
     I have read and appreciated the posts of family, friends, and acquaintances on social media to commemorate the 105th Anniversary of the Genocide. Many have added a border to their profile photo stating that they are a descendant of an Armenian Genocide survivor. Others have posted photos of their grandparents and great-grandparents before the Genocide in whatever village or town they hailed from. Others posted quotes from a survivor grandparent or great-grandparent reminding us what a horrific and dismal time it was and thus putting this pandemic into a different perspective.   
     Me? I recorded a lament on the oud. It was Adanayi Voghpuh, a song commemorating the 1909 massacres of Armenians and Assyrians in Adana. It is the saddest and most hauntingly beautiful song I have ever heard.  

My rendition of Adanyi Voghpuh 

     I leave you with the words of a dear friend, Nvair Kadian Beylerian, on Facebook: 

On the night of April 24, 1915, over 250 Armenian intellectuals of Constantinople were arrested, deported and eventually executed. The act, which was ordered by the Minister of Interior Talaat Pasha, was intentionally premeditated to deprive the Armenian population of leadership and any chance for significant resistance. Arrests, deportations, starvation, executions, rape, murder, pillaging ensued ultimately stripping historic Armenian lands of any identifiable Christian Armenians and the death of nearly 2 million ethnic Armenians. We rise from the ashes. 105 years later... We survive. We thrive. We remember. 

Contagion: Working from Home

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     I have experienced two financial crises this century. Certainly, I am not alone in that. Many folks lived through the Great Recession and, now, this Covid-19 Pandemic. In both cases, I spent a lot of time in move home office.      
     The Big Recession: A big factor for me is that during the Great Recession, I was unemployed. I was let go from what ended up being my last corporate position. It was my first time being laid off, terminated, or fired. It was a shock. I had reached a career pinnacle in terms of both salary and title. Suddenly, in September 2008, it was over. The sudden chaotic unravelling on Wall Street was mind numbing. 
     I found myself looking for a job and exploring what to do next as I was not really ready to fully retire at that time. I was one of seemingly millions of men just like me, in their mid-fifties and white, looking for a job. There were millions of us looking for jobs and like only two maybe three jobs available. It was as if the business world was done with us and basically, they were. I was home bound for the most part and my full-time job was to look for a full-time job. Everything I read or was told back then was to stay upbeat, be energetic, and to network a lot. It was most frustrating and, as the probability of actually landing anything was so low, it became dismal. There was, of course, some social interaction but for the most part it was with people just like me. 
     Even though a lot of people were unemployed during the Great Recession, a majority of people were still working. 
      I was able to get some consulting work after several months and that greatly helped as it got me out of the house and back working with people. Until then, I had never appreciated just how important working and being gainfully employed was. 
      The Current Covid-19 Lockdown: This go-around is the same in that I am spending a lot of time at home and most of that being in our library that serves as my home office But, this go-around is different in that I am very busy and I am gainfully employed. I am so very thankful for that. 
     As readers of this blog know, I am a professor of operations management in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University. Our Spring break began on March 7. We were to have resumed classes on March 16. We never made it back to campus. Due to this contagion, we have moved all of our classes online. 
     I am currently teaching five courses. Only one of those was scheduled to be online. The other four were traditional face-to-face classes. Our university was not alone. The entire country moved all education, K-12, colleges, and universities, online. 
      I have taught about thirty percent of my classes online. I thought moving those four classes over to an online format would be a lot easier than it was. I also thought running the classes was going to be easier than it was. But then, I know I am sometimes operating under the Planning Fallacy where one believes that tasks take less time than they actually do. This has a whopper of a case in that regard. 
      Bottom-line? I have been crazy business and I love it. 
      It is so much better than the Great Recession simply because I am busy. I am gainfully employed and doing meaningful work that I love. For this, I am so very so very grateful.  
      It seems a majority of this country is homebound. The front-line health providers and those in the food and consumer necessities supply chains are among those that get to venture out to their workplaces. I am ever so appreciative of them for the risks they are taking on our collective behalf. Many others, like me, are working from home. Younger folk, with school age children, are juggling schoolwork, making meals, keeping the children occupied when they aren’t doing schoolwork, and trying to get their own work done. I believe they are even busier than I am. 
     What will come? There are those that are homebound with no work and no income. They are doing home projects as they can and no doubt worrying about their economic futures. 
     Actually, we are all worried about how long this will last and the impact it will have on the economy. There is no shortage of economists, people in the news media, and government and business analysts predicting what the future will look like and the timing for their various prognostications. No one really knows. 
     The outlook for higher education is as fuzzy as it is for every segment of the economy. So while I am grateful for being employed and busy, I am concerned about the my university. I am concerned for our country, for all of us. 
     Over 40,000, at this writing, have lost their lives to this virus. I know a few that have passed and several more that were infected and survived. I feel bad for those that have passed and my heart goes out to their survivors. 
     These are truly unprecedented times.

Contagion: A Bit of a Ramble

     I learned a lesson the other day. Actually, I relearned a lesson that, for the most part, I try to adhere to: Never get involved in politics or religion on social media. It is a no-win proposition. Thankfully, I don’t have to be reminded of it very often. 
     I had re-posted a photo that was actually two photos next to each other. One was from an absurd movie, the kind of base level lunacy, that makes me laugh out loud. The other was from the daily White House press briefing on the Covid-19 crisis. It was a minor post with a few likes and humorous comments. Then, a news story broke saying that the number of deaths in the US from this virus would likely be between 100,000 and 200,000. At this point, a close friend of mine saw the post and got royally pissed off and completely offended, insisting that I take it down. In trying to explain myself, he got even angrier. I took the post down. 
      I hope not to make that error again. The bias and scorn between the pro- and anti-Trump camps is worse than ever. Did we act fast enough? Could we have done more? Should we have we have done more? And… it is still an election year. This is not the time for politics and there is entirely too much of it. The tension is magnified even more by the essential shutting down of our economy. I want to be no part of adding to anyone’s angst. Getting through this with the least number of people dying is the goal. We can do a serious After-Action Review when we are it is over. 
     I vacillate from worrying what is in store for all of us and being hopeful. I am not alone. Many are feeling the same way. I talked with another friend this evening who was despondent about this whole situation. Many will die if we don’t stay at home in self-isolation. We are paying a hefty price not only economically but emotionally especially those who have suffered a loss of a loved one to this virus. 
     There is no need or reason for me upsetting anyone more than the gravity of this situation already has us feeling. 
     So, what will happen in terms of this pandemic and he economy? There are plenty of forecasts and projections on both counts. But forecasts and projections are fancy words for predicting the future. We are reasonably OK at it when the immediate future resembles the immediate past. No matter how intelligent and mathematically gifted the people developing and running these models might be, all bets are off when the immediate future is nothing like the immediate past due to the magnitude of this random shock we have been dealt. 
     It is not all doom and gloom. It seems, at this moment, we may stay well below the estimated amounts stated late last week. With each day our actions, the ramping up the production of much needed equipment, and fast track research changes the immediate future. The economy, well, that is another story. Most everyone is agreeing that this is going to get worse before it gets better. I believe folks smarter than me are constantly at work and obsessed with getting the economy back on track. This is truly unprecedented. I have used that word more in the past month than I have in my entire life up until then. 
     Well there you have it. I suppose I deal with all of this by writing… and hopefully not raising the stress levels in others by doing so.

Contagion: Diversions in Home Isolation

A Los Angeles Class Submarine firing a torpedo.
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     This pandemic has certainly been disruptive and unprecedented in so many ways. Businesses of all sizes are in economic free fall. This includes the business of sports. The National Basketball Association outright cancelled the remainder of the 2019 – 2020 season. The National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, and Major League Baseball all postponed their seasons. The NCAA followed suit a few days later and cancelled all sports for the remainder of this school year. Today, the International Olympic Committee decided to postpone the Summer Olympics Games. 

     Basically, the NBA Finals, the NHL Stanley Cup, the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, and the start of the Baseball season are not happening when, arguably, we need them the most. The leagues, teams, and players are certainly all losing income, but so are the networks. 

     So, there are no sports at the time when the rather large portion of the population that follows sports could most use them. We are stuck watching reruns. I favor the Big Ten Network where I can watch replays of Michigan football and basketball. Thankfully for ESPN, Tom Brady announced he was signing with Tampa Bay just as all sports closed down. That story will kept them occupied for two weeks. 

     I cannot watch a steady diet of sports reruns. I would have watched March Madness. That is such a great and exciting tournament. I am not sure if my team, the Michigan Wolverines, would have qualified but I am certain the Michigan State Spartans would have. I feel bad for the players and the fans but in the larger scheme, it is a small sacrifice to make the health and well-being of fans and players alike. 

     Tonight, April 6, 2020, was to have been the Championship Game of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. It is one of the sports highlights of the year for me. I never miss it. Many people never miss it. Instead of basketball, I am watching a Netflix series: Winter Sun. 

     We are lucky these days to have access to a large number of films. I have Comcast, Netflix, and Amazon Prime Video. Prime Video is more and more my go-to place for movies. Given that I am writing about not having live sports, it would seem logical that I might be watching sport related movies. 

     I have watched a few sports movies. My favorite sport movies are Pele: Birth of a Legend, Miracle, and Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius. I will watch them whenever they are on. They are motivating and uplifting. Just what we need in these unprecedented times. In these first two weeks of home isolation, I have watched The Natural and The Legend of Bagger Vance. Just this week, I watched The Babe Ruth Story, the 1948 starring William Bendix. Bendix portrayed Babe Ruth in a more idealized light than the 1992 version, The Babe, in which John Goodman played Ruth. 

     More than sports movies, I have watched more movies about seafaring men. I have watched Mutiny on the Bounty with Clark Gable and Charles Laughton and, one of my all-time favorites starring Errol Flynn, The Sea Hawk. I have also watched submarine movies. I love submarine movies and the tension close quarters brings for these stealth warships. This love affair began when I first saw Run Silent, Run Deep, the World War II classic starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. 

     In the past three weeks, I have seen four movies; three about Soviet submarines and another about a US sub rescuing the Russian President from an attempted coup. The Hunt for Red October was the first I watched. It is based on the first Tom Clancy’s first book. The film is as gripping as the novel. The second was based on a true story, K-19: The Widowmaker. The K-19 was the first Soviet ballistic missile submarine. On its maiden voyage, the reactor coolant system had a broken pipe which led to radiation leaks that caused the evacuation of the crew and the boat being towed back to port for extensive repairs. Eight crew members heroically gave their lives to save the rest of the crew. The third movie about a Soviet submarine was Phantom (2013) in which a rogue KGB unit takes over a ballistic submarine, with a phantom propulsion system, with the intent of starting a nuclear war between the US and China. 

     The most recent submarine movie was made in 2018. I missed any advertising for it or I would have seen it in the theaters. Hunter Killer stars Gerard Butler as a US submarine commander. It is a fast-paced movie in which the US sub takes with the aid of a Soviet submarine commander rescues the Russian President from a coup attempt. 

     It doesn't a psychiatrist to figure out that submarines movies appeal to me more because these days we are battling another stealth silent killer in the Covid-19 virus.

     I am hoping and praying that this pandemic ends soon for so many more reasons than just sports or any kind of movies.