PROMOTIONAL MESSAGES (2)
To conclude our analysis regarding the most recent publicized promotional trick which follows the letter exchange between the prime ministers of Greece and the country of Skopje, we will begin by saying which was the usefulness of the whole matter of Militi, Florina as well as by mentioning the importance of other moves which, while very important, are hidden by the Greek people and most possibly from the people of the country of Skopje while what is communicated internationally remains undefined.
In particular, from the so called ‘diplomatically dangerous’ issue of the celebration of the prophet Elijah in Meliti, Florina during which an annual Balkan culture festival takes place:
The mass media reported and commented:
1. that in Meliti there is an issue of ‘Macedonian’ minority and fortunes which is proven by the presence of dance and music groups from the country of Skopje, which play Slavic music, after their being invited by the organizers of the festival.
2. that people from the country of Skopje are invited and who are related to dwellers in Meliti, fact which is presented as further indication of the existence of this minority.
3. that nameless people (they are presented on television without name and function and of course no way to double check the evidence) mention their certainty for the existence of this minority in Meliti and Greece in general, self-naming themselves ‘Macedonians of the Aegean’.
4. that during the weekend, members of the far right that is identified with Nazism demonstrated at Greek borders against having buses carrying Skopjan demonstrators/ groups/ of diaspora enter, fact which according to them makes Greece look bad. After the intervention of the district attorney the ‘fanatics’ dispersed peacefully, and the access of the Skopjan people was allowed from that moment on.
5. that the Skopjans were very displeased because they were forced to wait for two hours in the borders while the security check was taking place for the security of the Greeks and peace, since Skopjans had publicly threatened with episodes on Greek soil, fact which for some reason is a minus for Greece.
Taking one point at a time we will explain a. what the mass media are attempting to get across to the Greek people, and b. why the whole issue of Meliti is fabricated for promotional reasons.
“1. that in Meliti there is an issue of ‘Macedonian’ minority and fortunes which is proven by the presence of dance and music groups from the country of Skopje, which play Slavic music, after their being invited by the organizers of the festival.”
It is widely known that when one organizes a cultural festival where international cultural groups are participating one must primarily invite them actively so that they will schedule their appearance in the festival and one often offers financial remuneration / accommodation. From the moment the particular group accepts to appear exactly because it is cultural and represents the folklore of its culture/ Nation, it goes without saying that when it comes where the festival is taking place, the group will dance, sing and speak the language, the songs and the dances for which it was invited in the first place.
The existence of such a group which is visiting does not, of course, mean that there exist land or fortune-related or any other type of National matters of the group’s Nation of origin with the country the group is visiting, because if that was the case, then the whole globe would have issues in the several different countries because there have been observed in numerous of them appearances of Irish, Chinese, Aborigine, Shaolin, Argentinian, Spanish, Russian and other groups which blatantly and overtly dance their folk dances and speak their language throughout their stay in each country where the performances are taking place. That is to say, that something which is normal procedure is presented in a distorted manner by the mass media with the purpose of causing fear, anger and specific impressions.
“2. that people from the country of Skopje are invited and who are related to dwellers in Meliti, fact which is presented as further indication of the existence of this minority.”
Again there is an effort to intimidate through misinformation and a false attribution of graveness/ danger/ evidence-giving of a fact which is a world wide phenomenon because of the diverse movement of populations around the globe:
It is very logical to have it occur repeatedly in every country to invite relatives of different Nationalities and national status to visit their families in another country regardless if these families staying in the country are indigenous, immigrants, refugees, of the diaspora, etc. However this phenomenon does not constitute proof of land/ National/ fortune claim in the country they are visiting or they are staying as immigrants/ fugitives. If that were true, then the parade of the Greeks every 25th of March in Astoria, New York in the USA or the festivities of the Irish wordwide at St. Patrick’s Day with parades and the like would constitute evidence that Astoria is Greek soil under the occupation of the Americans for far more than 50 years, and the Irish soil is far larger than is apparent, with most of the irish lands being under occupation by more than six countries of the American Continent, Europe and Australia. All this without mentioning the other festivities openly celebrated and displayed by Chinese, Italian and other National groups.
“3. that nameless people (they are presented on television without name and function and of course no way to double check the evidence) mention their certainty for the existence of this minority in Meliti and Greece in general, self-naming themselves ‘Macedonians of the Aegean’”
Primarily the term ‘Macedonian of the Aegean” is a geographical oxymoron which, though it could simply be proof of the ridiculousness and arbitrariness of the people designing this propaganda, in essence it is an indirect but very definite attempt to transform a term which is connected to a specific area of Greece and its citizens (i.e. a subgroup term) into a term that is connected to a group and has, in turn, subgroups exactly like, for example, Greece is a term containing the subgroups Crete, the Cyclades, Epirus, Thrace, etc.
The people who present themselves to claim the above do not give any other proof beyond their word about their own existence, nor is it, of course, demanded by the mass media which are providing full coverage. After a phone research I conducted in the indigenous people of Meliti, I was informed that a very small group of individuals who are displeased or in a difficult position by the ruling party are stating all of the above for a fee. I was also informed that even under these circumstances it is very hard for the mass media / channels to find people who will make, even anonymously, these statements and ‘they hunt them down to find them like wolves’ as it was told me verbatim.
When I asked a person of the non-state radio of the area there why he had not mentioned all these things, he replied to me that the National Council for the Radio has forbidden to all the local stations except the state one to comment or report anything that does not strictly fall in the artistic/ sports categories.
“4. that during the weekend, members of the far right that is identified with Nazism demonstrated at Greek borders against having buses carrying Skopjan demonstrators/ groups/ of diaspora enter, fact which according to them makes Greece look bad. After the intervention of the district attorney the ‘fanatics’ dispersed peacefully, and the access of the Skopjan people was allowed from that moment on”
Primarily, this would not have occurred at all if through the Greek0wide and internationally broadcasting mass media it was not cultivated throughout the week a terrorism that the festival taking place in Meliti was going to have every other kind of significance except the objective, harmless and cultural profile it does have.
Secondarily, the constitutional right of every Greek citizen, regardless their political affiliation, to demonstrate peacefully his/her will is attacked. If and since the demonstration of these people consisted only from a vociferation of mottos and slogans nobody had the right to tell them to disperse.
Tertiarily, the particular group of people with their actions characterizes and intimidates the rest of the liberal Greeks into remaining idle (not regarding demonstrating, but regarding following ways that truly count and which the particular group of far right people certainly has not followed) and not defend their Human Rights for fear of not being characterized totalitarian, junta-lovers or fascists.
It is questionable why publicity was given to the particular group and its activities and the rest of the very wide activity of the Greeks within and beyond the borders, which is peaceful and liberal and teaches the proper way to defend the Human Rights of the Greeks (part of whom are the Macedonians) remains unpublished and non-broadcasted despite the successive press releases to all the previously mentioned channels which are the agents of political, social, moral, anti-religious and anti-national propaganda.
It is also unacceptable to have Greek population dispraised for the choice not to want certain elements to come in their country, fact which is their inalienable right just as it is for every population of every country. It is a right that seems to be upheld in the cases of closing up the borders for protection from terrorism that take place at the borders of the USA and the United Kingdom.
“5. that the Skopjans were very displeased because they were forced to wait for two hours in the borders while the security check was taking place for the security of the Greeks and peace, since Skopjans had publicly threatened with episodes on Greek soil, fact which for some reason is a minus for Greece.”
How someone feels, when this someone wants to enter a foreign country which seeks to defend peace and order within its borders and for that follows certain security measures that are typical and do not violate any human right, is irrelevant and does not make any sort of political argument or piece of news. The broadcasting of people who nag in front of the camera because they were obliged to prove, just like any alien, that they are not going to be part of criminal activity within Greek borders is just a means to unfairly anger a people.
If how a person subjected to security check at the borders of a country feels and what he/she has to say has gravity, then all the highly humiliating and insulting checks tourists have to go through in the borders of the UK and the US, as well as in every airport where personal affects are confiscated such as perfume and nail clippers, while others are viewed fully by third parties which constitutes a breach of personality and dignity of every person.
We see that with this analysis, the whole issue of Meliti is just a news-hunting and provocative, distorted presentation of a simple cultural celebration, fact which renders all the contributors to these news stories (reporters, commentators, producers, editors in chief, channel/station directors and owners, and others) as well as the state agents who allowed it to broadcast during the entire week warmongers, anti-peace, anti-hellenic and underminers of the well being and peace of the People of more than the state of Skopje.
Due to length we will refer to the issue of hiding or undertoning of very important elements with relation to the entire issue of Skopje next time.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Promotional Messages
When a known Roman emperor said ‘The emperor’s wife should not only be honest, but also look honest’ that which he actually meant was that the importance of the presentation of issues is just as important with the essence of these issues. That is, a big percentage of the events and reactions taking place in global current events do not stem from the essence of things but from how ‘righteous-like’ the situation is allowed to be shown.
That is to say?
That is to say, somebody has the capacity to acquire the so-called ‘window of opportunity’ to go on to take some action, regardless if later it is proven that this somebody’s allegations were unfounded and abusive and he/she destroyed fortunes, lives and esteems unfairly with his/her actions.
This window of opportunity is created by a network of promotional messages which are threadbare but flashy, broadcasted by specific sources which protect these messages from counter-argument messages that would shoot them down immediately and show them to be ridiculous. So, actions take place which afterwards, like dominoes lead to other actions until a result is achieved which otherwise would be impossible to reach.
So history is constructed and things that should never have happened, given common opinion at the time before the spreading of specific promotional messages. Later history analysts just mention in brief how the people was ‘fooled’, ‘waylaid’, ‘enraged’, ‘maddened’ etc.
That which they do not analyze is why the people fell into those mindsets all of a sudden when just before they were calm or methodically progressing towards a specific trajectory (or improvement or deterioration depending on the era) based on the facts they were dealing with on a daily basis. Historic examples include the propaganda of Hitler, of the Ku Klux Klan, or the USA constitution regarding its coloured inhabitants towards the end of the 19th and during the 20th century, as well as during the beginning of the Greek civil war in 1947.
In all these occasions, wrong messages terrorized the People regarding certain groups within it and turned one against the other or towards war with other nations. These wars were completely imposed and the only thing they achieved was to eradicate a large percentage of the human potential of the People which in reality crippled the People ideologically, socially and financially.
In the case of the Skopjan issue now, we have an identical process of twisting and intimidation which leads to the same situations we just described. This process is the result of two cooperating group of forced which have nothing to do with the objective situation of the People of either side and their wishes.
What do we mean by that?
We mean that in the propaganda taking place we have once side which is ranting and raving that it is being wronged and oppressed and the other side, which remains silent or answers in a manner which leaves room for doubt. This, in Physics, is called a ‘force system’ which means that two forces cooperate to turn a lever, or move something heavy (the muscles of the body use the rules of the force system to move the members: one muscle pulls while the other relaxes).
With this system of forces the People is moved, from their default wish for peace and calm, to be fanatized and become violent, wishing for war. This has happened historically countless times with the most obvious example being that of the Second World War, where, from the ‘never again’ motto they had said in the end of WWI they were led and in essence forced to take part in an even worse bloodshed: The German People with the promotional messages of Hitler’s staff, which were very carefully designed (starting from liberal and proper ideas and very gradually evolving into nazist ideas of totalitarianism and genocide, a process which took two decades to mature and in which high profile people from the fields of philosophy, science, the arts and not just from Hitler’s staff contributed actively), and the rest of the Peoples with an inertness and denial (due to the assuaging and other distracting events which were designed to take Peoples’ attention away from the danger which grew and lurked) to realize during these two decades that the ideology dominant in Germany of the time (with the protests, the cultural events, the declarations and the demarches) was leading with mathematical accuracy to a war eruption.
Are you saying there was a cooperation of the leaderships of the states of that time towards the instigation of WWII?
For certain there was a force system which pushed the People to it, very consciously as it can be surmised and proven scientifically, technocratically and objectively from many things, one of which is the free and fully coordinated exchange and co-production of news reports and documentaries which misinformed or fanatized both sides, as well as the financial support of Germany by countries of the Allied front, so that Germany would continue having equipment and armed forced during the preparation and conducting of the WWII at least until its first half.
All this can be proven and are documented in international bibliography (e.g. the special technology developed by IBM for the filing and processing of the data of each one individual of the countless Jews, Gypsies and ideologically opposing people so that their eradication in the gas chambers could take place in full organization and controlled knowledge of even the history of each person that was chosen by computer to be put to death, have fortune taken, etc. The same goes for other technologies that made Hitler’s purging would be much more effective than they could have been if forces from the Allies’ side did not equip him and leave the money flow free towards him.)
And how does the Skopjan issue coincide with the backstairs situation and the real face of WWII?
ideological nationalistic but unfounded and extremely belligerent and war-demanding ideas are not countered but allowed to develop and be established and relayed repeatedly and globally, while they are protected from any counters there is and brims in the thinking, scientific, objective part of the People which is gagged and censored systematically and illegally by everyone, to the level of the censorship of the Junta or McCarthyism of the USA.
The minute, almost dismissible part which promotes the ideological but unfounded, irrational and abusive ideas buys out allies who present a false majority, just like a tiny mouse standing very close to the torchlight makes it so that its shadow is the size of a dinosaur.
the countering from the official matching channels is lukewarm or presented in such a way which in the end supports the adversary.
the People who objectively and rightfully opposes this, is subjected to intimidation and terrorism that if they do not keep silent they will become ‘nationalists’, ‘extreme’, ‘totalitarian’, ‘ludicrous’ and generally culturally inferior and isolated. This fabricated silence, however, is taken as consent by any third party called to watch and draw verdicts (e.g. arbitrators of any type)
We will begin to give specific examples, beginning with the letter of the prime minister of Greece K. Karamanlis, in answer to the baseless and unhistorical demands and claims (almost to the level of an ultimatum) of his counterpart from the country of Skopje and in the next article we will continue with an analysis of the whole coverage and preparation of the events in Meliti, Florina, Greece.
We are linking to the full letter here for space economy. (it is in Greek, but upon finding a translation of it, we will change the link)
In general, the letter states the truth as well as a correct response to the demands of the Skopjan prime minister. However there are specific sentences which deduct power and status from the letter, attributing importance to other agents who have nothing to do with the objective situation and position not only of the facts but also the difference in stature and status of the two sides.
Specifically:
He constantly mentions that Greece is committed (‘bonded’ and therefore liable and in a position not of power but of dependence) to make concessions and back down so that states which Greece has not assumed under its guardianship, nor are they in any official condition of mutuality with Greece beyond the ones that all the countries of the world share with each other, will be able to have international privileges at the expense of Greece who, for some inexplicable and vague reason has been ‘bonded’ to fund without any remuneration beyond that of financial and ethnic impoverishment.
Also, he presented Greece as unilaterally having commited to the keeping of the peace and good neighboring in the Balkans, regardless if the other states there are aggressive and belligerent, investing in processes of embezzlement and arbitrariness in the area. In essence in this way, indirectly but surely he lets the Skopjan country off the hook regarding its obligation to respect the limits of other countries on a land, cultural, historical and anthropological level.
He refers (even with inverted commas) to the issue of ‘Macedonian’ minority saying there is none in Greece. But this implies that there may exist such elsewhere and therefore there exists a ‘Macedonian’ nation, just simply not within Greek borders, giving other leverage to the Skopjan propaganda makers and all who support them. Also, the way which he chooses to deny the existence of the particular ‘minority’ implies that there are other minorities which the Skopjan prime minister mentions in his own letter, which can open up other national matters in Greece (fact which is highly undermining for the peace he professes to be serving).
He urges Skopjan individuals to appeal to specific courts to which people who are oppressed by totalitarian/ absolutist regimes, presenting Greece as such a type of trespasser, which has given the possibility to substantiate a legal case for the taking of lands/ fortunes from the Greeks, instead of showing that such a claim could never hold before any normal court, as is the truth. In essence he gives his consent to Gruevski’s threat to urge the Skopjans to appeal to international courts, actually attempting to equate themselves with real victims of state barbarism such as the Armenians and the Kurds in the Turkish state as well as the Greeks in Northern Epirus (Albania) and in Asia Minor and Constantinople (Instabul) of Turkey, i.e. the victims which have been globally silenced and are not being vindicated ‘for the maintenance of peace and good neighboring’.
Unfortunately the letter of the Greek prime minister ends with the disastrous statement that the prime minister (i.e. the first defender of the Greek Nation according to his rank and title) personally has decided not to serve to the fullest the National rights and interests but instead of that, temporary and international financial/commercial agreements and coalitions/ institutions, characterizing the defending of the Nation and the People as ‘obsolete’ and passed. That is to say, whatever these coalitions/institutions order, he will follow since he is ‘devoted’ to them.
And how should this letter have been so as not to do these things?
Here is the letter as it should have been:
“The Prime Minister of FYROM,
Sir,
As you know, in order for a country to acquire presence, force and status among an international community which commits to the defense of peace and good neighboring as is underlined by the Security Countil in decision 817, this country is obliged to display respect of the boundaries prescribed not only by common logic and the historic, anthropologic and scientific community but also of the historicity of the existence of the claims of either side.
Your investment in arbitrary and misleading ideas, encouragement and claims to all those who do not have experience of the History of the Balkan peninsula and of its Nations render you in a highly negative light which harms your credibility, since you are trying to embezzle names, history and human potential belonging and having belonged to other Nations, one of which is Greece, in your effort to afford historic background and antiquity to a newly founded small state consisting of a panspermia of Nations and languages.
I am taking advantage of this opportunity to stress to you that Macedonian is a subgroup of the National group of the Hellenes, descending from ancient times with the Hellenic language. The Slavic alphabet is called Cyrillic exactly because its existence is owed to Cyril, a Greek far after Alexander the Great. Cyril, in his effort to acculturate and enlighten more effectively the Slavic raced beyond the limits of Greece, created this script from which benefited several states of the Byzantine era.
Therefore there is no such thing as a Macedonian Language except the Macedonian dialect which is part of the Hellenic one. The individuals to whom you are alluding to correctly as Macedonian are correctly categorized as children of Greece not only from Macedonia, since they are refugees or abducted people from the era of the Greek Civil War and therefore are Hellenes of the Diaspora who, having been persecuted during the totalitarian regime of Tito and were forced to accept a forced and false propaganda. Their children were turned against Mother Greece as they became indoctrinated with propaganda and hate instead of education and peace. This phenomenon had resurfaced in the cases of the Franc and Turkish occupations in Greece, fact, however, which did not characterize its instigators at all positively.
Sir,
I invite you to honor the support and protection which Greece has afforded you from the resources of her children as well as rise up to the obligations stemming from your ambition to be treated internationally as a modern European state, i.e. have the respect of the pre-existing states and of peace, recanting the unfounded and libelous claims you have made and which are punishable by the authorized International courts and commit yourself from now on to properly educate your People.
History judges the leaders from how they rise to the level of the challenges and assume their responsibilities. Much will depend from your own positive attitude and constructive spirit.”
That is to say?
That is to say, somebody has the capacity to acquire the so-called ‘window of opportunity’ to go on to take some action, regardless if later it is proven that this somebody’s allegations were unfounded and abusive and he/she destroyed fortunes, lives and esteems unfairly with his/her actions.
This window of opportunity is created by a network of promotional messages which are threadbare but flashy, broadcasted by specific sources which protect these messages from counter-argument messages that would shoot them down immediately and show them to be ridiculous. So, actions take place which afterwards, like dominoes lead to other actions until a result is achieved which otherwise would be impossible to reach.
So history is constructed and things that should never have happened, given common opinion at the time before the spreading of specific promotional messages. Later history analysts just mention in brief how the people was ‘fooled’, ‘waylaid’, ‘enraged’, ‘maddened’ etc.
That which they do not analyze is why the people fell into those mindsets all of a sudden when just before they were calm or methodically progressing towards a specific trajectory (or improvement or deterioration depending on the era) based on the facts they were dealing with on a daily basis. Historic examples include the propaganda of Hitler, of the Ku Klux Klan, or the USA constitution regarding its coloured inhabitants towards the end of the 19th and during the 20th century, as well as during the beginning of the Greek civil war in 1947.
In all these occasions, wrong messages terrorized the People regarding certain groups within it and turned one against the other or towards war with other nations. These wars were completely imposed and the only thing they achieved was to eradicate a large percentage of the human potential of the People which in reality crippled the People ideologically, socially and financially.
In the case of the Skopjan issue now, we have an identical process of twisting and intimidation which leads to the same situations we just described. This process is the result of two cooperating group of forced which have nothing to do with the objective situation of the People of either side and their wishes.
What do we mean by that?
We mean that in the propaganda taking place we have once side which is ranting and raving that it is being wronged and oppressed and the other side, which remains silent or answers in a manner which leaves room for doubt. This, in Physics, is called a ‘force system’ which means that two forces cooperate to turn a lever, or move something heavy (the muscles of the body use the rules of the force system to move the members: one muscle pulls while the other relaxes).
With this system of forces the People is moved, from their default wish for peace and calm, to be fanatized and become violent, wishing for war. This has happened historically countless times with the most obvious example being that of the Second World War, where, from the ‘never again’ motto they had said in the end of WWI they were led and in essence forced to take part in an even worse bloodshed: The German People with the promotional messages of Hitler’s staff, which were very carefully designed (starting from liberal and proper ideas and very gradually evolving into nazist ideas of totalitarianism and genocide, a process which took two decades to mature and in which high profile people from the fields of philosophy, science, the arts and not just from Hitler’s staff contributed actively), and the rest of the Peoples with an inertness and denial (due to the assuaging and other distracting events which were designed to take Peoples’ attention away from the danger which grew and lurked) to realize during these two decades that the ideology dominant in Germany of the time (with the protests, the cultural events, the declarations and the demarches) was leading with mathematical accuracy to a war eruption.
Are you saying there was a cooperation of the leaderships of the states of that time towards the instigation of WWII?
For certain there was a force system which pushed the People to it, very consciously as it can be surmised and proven scientifically, technocratically and objectively from many things, one of which is the free and fully coordinated exchange and co-production of news reports and documentaries which misinformed or fanatized both sides, as well as the financial support of Germany by countries of the Allied front, so that Germany would continue having equipment and armed forced during the preparation and conducting of the WWII at least until its first half.
All this can be proven and are documented in international bibliography (e.g. the special technology developed by IBM for the filing and processing of the data of each one individual of the countless Jews, Gypsies and ideologically opposing people so that their eradication in the gas chambers could take place in full organization and controlled knowledge of even the history of each person that was chosen by computer to be put to death, have fortune taken, etc. The same goes for other technologies that made Hitler’s purging would be much more effective than they could have been if forces from the Allies’ side did not equip him and leave the money flow free towards him.)
And how does the Skopjan issue coincide with the backstairs situation and the real face of WWII?
ideological nationalistic but unfounded and extremely belligerent and war-demanding ideas are not countered but allowed to develop and be established and relayed repeatedly and globally, while they are protected from any counters there is and brims in the thinking, scientific, objective part of the People which is gagged and censored systematically and illegally by everyone, to the level of the censorship of the Junta or McCarthyism of the USA.
The minute, almost dismissible part which promotes the ideological but unfounded, irrational and abusive ideas buys out allies who present a false majority, just like a tiny mouse standing very close to the torchlight makes it so that its shadow is the size of a dinosaur.
the countering from the official matching channels is lukewarm or presented in such a way which in the end supports the adversary.
the People who objectively and rightfully opposes this, is subjected to intimidation and terrorism that if they do not keep silent they will become ‘nationalists’, ‘extreme’, ‘totalitarian’, ‘ludicrous’ and generally culturally inferior and isolated. This fabricated silence, however, is taken as consent by any third party called to watch and draw verdicts (e.g. arbitrators of any type)
We will begin to give specific examples, beginning with the letter of the prime minister of Greece K. Karamanlis, in answer to the baseless and unhistorical demands and claims (almost to the level of an ultimatum) of his counterpart from the country of Skopje and in the next article we will continue with an analysis of the whole coverage and preparation of the events in Meliti, Florina, Greece.
We are linking to the full letter here for space economy. (it is in Greek, but upon finding a translation of it, we will change the link)
In general, the letter states the truth as well as a correct response to the demands of the Skopjan prime minister. However there are specific sentences which deduct power and status from the letter, attributing importance to other agents who have nothing to do with the objective situation and position not only of the facts but also the difference in stature and status of the two sides.
Specifically:
He constantly mentions that Greece is committed (‘bonded’ and therefore liable and in a position not of power but of dependence) to make concessions and back down so that states which Greece has not assumed under its guardianship, nor are they in any official condition of mutuality with Greece beyond the ones that all the countries of the world share with each other, will be able to have international privileges at the expense of Greece who, for some inexplicable and vague reason has been ‘bonded’ to fund without any remuneration beyond that of financial and ethnic impoverishment.
Also, he presented Greece as unilaterally having commited to the keeping of the peace and good neighboring in the Balkans, regardless if the other states there are aggressive and belligerent, investing in processes of embezzlement and arbitrariness in the area. In essence in this way, indirectly but surely he lets the Skopjan country off the hook regarding its obligation to respect the limits of other countries on a land, cultural, historical and anthropological level.
He refers (even with inverted commas) to the issue of ‘Macedonian’ minority saying there is none in Greece. But this implies that there may exist such elsewhere and therefore there exists a ‘Macedonian’ nation, just simply not within Greek borders, giving other leverage to the Skopjan propaganda makers and all who support them. Also, the way which he chooses to deny the existence of the particular ‘minority’ implies that there are other minorities which the Skopjan prime minister mentions in his own letter, which can open up other national matters in Greece (fact which is highly undermining for the peace he professes to be serving).
He urges Skopjan individuals to appeal to specific courts to which people who are oppressed by totalitarian/ absolutist regimes, presenting Greece as such a type of trespasser, which has given the possibility to substantiate a legal case for the taking of lands/ fortunes from the Greeks, instead of showing that such a claim could never hold before any normal court, as is the truth. In essence he gives his consent to Gruevski’s threat to urge the Skopjans to appeal to international courts, actually attempting to equate themselves with real victims of state barbarism such as the Armenians and the Kurds in the Turkish state as well as the Greeks in Northern Epirus (Albania) and in Asia Minor and Constantinople (Instabul) of Turkey, i.e. the victims which have been globally silenced and are not being vindicated ‘for the maintenance of peace and good neighboring’.
Unfortunately the letter of the Greek prime minister ends with the disastrous statement that the prime minister (i.e. the first defender of the Greek Nation according to his rank and title) personally has decided not to serve to the fullest the National rights and interests but instead of that, temporary and international financial/commercial agreements and coalitions/ institutions, characterizing the defending of the Nation and the People as ‘obsolete’ and passed. That is to say, whatever these coalitions/institutions order, he will follow since he is ‘devoted’ to them.
And how should this letter have been so as not to do these things?
Here is the letter as it should have been:
“The Prime Minister of FYROM,
Sir,
As you know, in order for a country to acquire presence, force and status among an international community which commits to the defense of peace and good neighboring as is underlined by the Security Countil in decision 817, this country is obliged to display respect of the boundaries prescribed not only by common logic and the historic, anthropologic and scientific community but also of the historicity of the existence of the claims of either side.
Your investment in arbitrary and misleading ideas, encouragement and claims to all those who do not have experience of the History of the Balkan peninsula and of its Nations render you in a highly negative light which harms your credibility, since you are trying to embezzle names, history and human potential belonging and having belonged to other Nations, one of which is Greece, in your effort to afford historic background and antiquity to a newly founded small state consisting of a panspermia of Nations and languages.
I am taking advantage of this opportunity to stress to you that Macedonian is a subgroup of the National group of the Hellenes, descending from ancient times with the Hellenic language. The Slavic alphabet is called Cyrillic exactly because its existence is owed to Cyril, a Greek far after Alexander the Great. Cyril, in his effort to acculturate and enlighten more effectively the Slavic raced beyond the limits of Greece, created this script from which benefited several states of the Byzantine era.
Therefore there is no such thing as a Macedonian Language except the Macedonian dialect which is part of the Hellenic one. The individuals to whom you are alluding to correctly as Macedonian are correctly categorized as children of Greece not only from Macedonia, since they are refugees or abducted people from the era of the Greek Civil War and therefore are Hellenes of the Diaspora who, having been persecuted during the totalitarian regime of Tito and were forced to accept a forced and false propaganda. Their children were turned against Mother Greece as they became indoctrinated with propaganda and hate instead of education and peace. This phenomenon had resurfaced in the cases of the Franc and Turkish occupations in Greece, fact, however, which did not characterize its instigators at all positively.
Sir,
I invite you to honor the support and protection which Greece has afforded you from the resources of her children as well as rise up to the obligations stemming from your ambition to be treated internationally as a modern European state, i.e. have the respect of the pre-existing states and of peace, recanting the unfounded and libelous claims you have made and which are punishable by the authorized International courts and commit yourself from now on to properly educate your People.
History judges the leaders from how they rise to the level of the challenges and assume their responsibilities. Much will depend from your own positive attitude and constructive spirit.”
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
A Good Example
Often in past articles, both here and in my main one ( stigmata ) I have given the theory and basic trajectories of how common logic and hard fact is attacked by emotional violence, propaganda and attempt to dazzle through conjectures and unfounded statements that at best consist of the attacker’s personal and very subjective opinion. Today, I am very pleased to be given the chance to offer a real example that illustrates exactly what is going on and how a Nation is being pushed and prodded to give up what has been always factually, anthropologically and historically obvious to any objective observer.
A person that will not give their proper name, so that we can see the true identity and life ( and therefore estimate the interests this person is serving as well as his / her motivation and capacity ), wrote an answer to this blog, taking a lot of time and space to try and obscure the arguments presented without any counter- argument.
Below I will give the article almost in its entirety, using it as an example to what is going on as the mainstream propaganda Greeks are being brainwashed with and have been for some time.
1. Primarily a person seeking to derail a sound and true fact will attempt to provide information he / she will call evidence of their allegation but in reality is part of a much bigger whole disproving them altogether : The person we are using as an example today provided the following self contradicting but very assertive presentation of ‘ fact’ which is disproven by the evidence provided to support it, as is obvious on a closer careful look :
“UPDATE: Macedonia was in the past regarded by its own inhabitants as a wide geographic region, inhabited by many ethnic groups. In the middle of the 19th Century, the Slavs of Macedonia thought of themselves as “Macedonian Bulgarians“. This is well known, of course: The “Macedonian” ethnic identity of their modern descendants did not exist at the time. This fact is evident e.g. in the front cover of a 19th century book, “Folk songs of the Macedonian Bulgars” by Stefan Verkovic (1860)”
On a superficial perusal this seems like a fact. However, it is a methodological mistake when one seeks to prove something scientifically, such as the nature of the inhabitants of “ a wide geographic region” without taking into account that the naming of this wide geographic region from antiquity until today has had many changes none of which included using the name Macedonia to denote anything or anyone not of Greek heritage. Especially the area in question has been named several things of which Macedonia is the most recent political move enforced by a dictator and not the result of age old ethnic identity and the evolving or development of it. Titles of pop culture books which can be named arbitrarily by their authors cannot in any case be evidence of ethnic, historical and anthropological value when history and scientific historical documents of the last three ( 3) centuries at least show otherwise.
It will, however, be fodder for making impressions and political propaganda which will not hold in the scientific community, exactly like Hitler’s invoking of the Arian Race superiority based falsely on some ( not all as should be ) philosophical theories and fabricated scientific evidence based on skull measurements which never did and never will hold on proper scientific scrutiny. He also circulated pamphlets with the prophecies of Nostradamus as sound proof of his claims and even that he did not include in its entirety because Nostradamus was not fully accommodating. Finally, the above example of the 19th century book titled provided, is not mentioned to be part of a Bulgarian political attempt to acquire Greek soil as they have many times since displayed especially during and following the 2 World Wars and therefore does not constitute proof at all of an ethnic identity but of what the attempt to use the particular name in a composite appellation can and will amount to, should it be allowed : attempt for occupation, bloodshed and breaching of Human Rights as was done by the Bulgarians and is still remembered by their victims and their descendents who are still alive.
2. The person seeking to obscure sound and valid arguments may also attempt to present a neutral fact as argument, hoping for the other person’s imagination to fill in the blanks to make it so. For example, in the article we are examining the person says :
“ However, many Greeks and (most) Slavs of today’s (wider) Macedonia are unwilling to accept anyone else being “Macedonian”, than themselves. They both seem to forget that Madeconia has been (for a very long time) a geographic region, rather than an ethnic identity, or a nationality, or an ancient State. E.g.”
The above is a fact. However, it does not prove or even make an indication as to which side is correct. There also a suspicious glossing over of information which is vital in forming an objective and well rounded outlook on the matter by phrases like “ for a very long time” which for the Slavs may amount to seventy (70) years of making such a claiming while for the Greeks it amounts to a few millennia. Also, upon closer scrutiny and content analysis, the above statement implies the animosity that does exist between the holder of a title / name and the contender and the strife that can and will be derived from it if this is not settled properly.
Then, an example is attempted to be offered by this person :
3. The example offered begins as relevant and then goes on at a tangent without sufficient explanation why it is an illustration of the fact it is strung with :
“Mrs. Olga G. Yeritsidou is a Greek psychologist (and a blogger) who declared (in response to rather moderate views I had expressed, in blog-conversation with her ) that… “in Psychology, satire is a manifestation of covert hostility and impotence (or powerlessness)”.
(in Greek, “η σάτιρα… στην ψυχολογία υποδεικνύει κεκαλυμμένη επιθετικότητα και ανημποριά από το άτομο που την εξαπολύει.”)
Well, an ENGLISH post follows, as a critique of the above quote (which is also the post-title in Greek):”
The above quote is irrelevant to the fact the person stated presented in 2. because it is not pertinent to my stance and view of the Skopjan matter but to a scientific estimation according to my application of psychological theories on the function of satire. However, satire and what I think of it has nothing to do with the Skopjan matter but everything, apparently, to do with the reason and motivation of this person’s use of my name as opposed to anyone else’s sharing my views and they are many, regardless of political affiliation, gender and age. It stands to reason because the above statement was made in an effort to make the particular person be serious about a very serious matter instead of using satire which has no purpose ( except to bully someone into remaining silent or goad someone out of a calm and controlled demeanour ) or argumentative value whatsoever.
4. A person that cannot meet another on the objective level with sound arguments will attempt to gag the one he / she cannot counter with threats of tags and branding that this person knows and abhors :
“Mrs. Yeretsidou is an extremely militant advocate of the well known “Macedonia is (only) Greek” hard-line doctrine, which is advocated today only by the Extreme Right in Greek poltiics, even though she does not appear to have any right-wing views (in any other issue than Macedonia)”.
With the above paragraph this person attempts to accuse me or my view as being that of the Junta or any such similar totalitarian and unacceptable regime which is an effort to scare people who are liberal and free spirits to even dare go against mainstream doctrine and propaganda for fear of being branded as what they most hate. He / she also calls me militant ( extremely so ) when everything that is being done is according to the law, the scientific truth and Human Rights. Of course, there is a token nod to the fact that my profile and my writings as well as my family history and personal life conduct is completely opposed to anything totalitarian and as such so do my views upon the Skopjan matter advocate freedom, peace and prosperity for all in the Balkan Peninsula. It will not, however, accommodate interests that are not the vested right of any people. Using a name that is not yours is not a vested right of anyone on any level UNLESS the rightful owner of the name gives you the right to do it.
5. To further obscure and present a person whose arguments cannot be disproven, one can resort to an attempt to ridiculize what the person is saying with a running commentary ( with words like “ wow” and an abundance of suspension points as well as a good helping of irony ) which does not, however, explain why what is being said deserves this ridicule, leaving it again to imagination to fill in the blanks. It also blends irrelevant issues with the relevant ones. For length issues I do not paste the relevant paragraphs but I shall provide the link to the text if anyone is curious.
6. A person will also attempt to misinform and instead of providing objective facts, he / she will instead present the fact in an abundance of descriptive adjectives, anxious to ensure that the reader will not stray from the trajectory this person is setting. For example, though this person does mention that I did not bother to give him / her a history lesson since he / she did not give any indication of being a serious discussion partner, this person fails to mention that I have mentioned the case of the ( official ) naming of the U.K. as U.K. and not Great Britain because France, which possesses the historically coveted by the English region of Bretagne, rightly so opposed to this appellation to protect its territorial rights and prevent further strife. Since this person appears upon content analysis to have knowledge of my views through my blogs ( i.e., has read them ) this is an inaccurate statement on his / her part.
This person also claims not to be a nationalist ( an indirect accusation that my views are extreme since mainstream propaganda portrays Nationalism as equal to Racism with the exception of ethnic badgering between countries during sports events like football events and basketball events ) and by the way he phrases the following, possibly completely uninterested to what any other country can inflict on the land he / she lives in, whether or not he / she is part of the Greek nation. Then the person proceeds to threaten again with a contradictory threat since everyone can call themselves what they want ( according to his / her article ) by stating the following :
“However, I do feel it’s very unjust for Greek Macedonians, to be eventually forced to lose the very term “Macedonia”, which should NOT be the “copyright” of anyone, anymore (I think) within the geographic region of Macedonia: Greek Macedonia, Bulgarian Macedonia, as well as the small part of (wider Geographic) Macedonia that belongs to today’s FYROM.”
Losing the term means two things : first, that we ( Greeks ) have the name or otherwise we wouldn’t be able to lose it and second, that IF WE LOSE IT, IT MEANS THAT WE WOULD BE FORBIDDEN TO USE IT, WHICH MEANS THAT NOT EVERYONE CAN CALL THEMSELVES WHAT THEY WANT AND PEOPLE ARE BOTHERED, OFFENDED OR THREATENED AND THEREFORE ACT TO PROTECT THE NAMES THEY POSSESS.
7. Then, this person proceeds to fulfil a “promise” to me ( which upon its fulfilment he / she did not in any way let me know, and it was one of my readers who dropped me a note asking me to answer it ) by trying to disprove what I have stated is the true situation regarding the Skopjan matter. Below I will paste all of it and in brackets indicate what is attempted to be achieved by this display :
“1. Macedonia and her name at this moment stand established in theory as well as in action as part/grounds of the country of Hellas (Greece).
No. I am afraid that the term “Macedonia” is now seriously in danger of becoming another country’s copyright, unless we can achieve a compromise about it. [ this is not proof but this person’s opinion which is regurgitated by the media. This is an opinion presented as fact with no support to prove it valid. That another country is claiming the name does not mean that it is not Greek and established as such.]
2. UNLESS ONE BECOMES AN INVADING FORCE THROUGH AN IMPERIALISTIC WAR, nobody can usurp the name, the lands and the history of Macedonia within the law.
No. Nobody would start an imperialistic war (against Greece) for the sake of the word “Macedonia”, although some extremists would like such a war, in BOTH countries (Greece and FYROM). [ this is not proof but this person’s opinion which is regurgitated by the media. This is an opinion presented as fact with no support to prove it valid. That another country is claiming the name does not mean that it is not Greek and established as such. History has proven that war has occurred over this name before, along with moves made by other countries’ dictators.]
3. This legality to usurp can be given ONLY DELIBERATELY AND ONLY BY HELLAS (GREECE) HERSELF.
No. That’s nonsense (or delusions of grandeur and childish omnipotence). Our problem is completely different: That the other side refuses to bargain. [ This is an attempt to ridiculize and inexplicably characterise what is a valid and provable fact. What is provided as an answer is not proof or argument but this person’s opinion. This is an opinion presented as fact with no support to prove it valid. That another country is claiming the name does not mean that it is not Greek and established as such, which is why arbitration by the U.N. is taking place and why NATO accepted it.]
CONSEQUENTLY IT IS BEING ENFORCED ON GREEKS THREATENING (of the type: ‘we made wrong moves/ we are bound by political agreements/ we will be isolated/ there will be war’) AND MANIPULATION OF DIFFERENT MANNER (of the type: ‘you are fanatics/nationalists/ cruel/ hard/ historically uneducated/ etc’) SO THAT WE WILL WILLINGLY AND ON OUR OWN GIVE THIS LEGALITY WHICH IS LACKING FROM THE CLAIMS OF THE STATE OF SKOPJE.
Nope. I’m afraid that sounds like paranoid bulshit. It also doesn’t make much sense (in English)… [ this is another attempt to characterise without backing up with arguments the characterisation. The derogatory nature of the characterisation indicates anger, helplessness to disprove the statement and pent up aggression on that person’s part. It usually takes place when a person is cornered and out of arguments, constituting an attempt to derail from the objective to the subjective personal levels. It also displays a poor knowledge of the English syntax ( however unusual ) but this is particular to this person and not the general strategy this person is using.]
IF WE ACCEPT ANY KIND OF NAME CONTAINING THE TERM ‘MACEDONIA’ (that is, if we compromise as we are being pressured to do) :
1. WE WILLINGLY LEGALIZE THE STATE OF SKOPJE IN ALL ITS CLAIMS AND DEMANDS.
No. If we can achieve an agreement safeguarding the rights of Greek Macedonians, then no claims and demands can ever again be justified. If -on the other hand- we stubbornly insist on a name that does not even contain the word “Macedonia”, then the other side will never agree to this! So, emotionally (and otherwise) we will then acquire an eternal enemy, thereby legalising the other side’s claims and demands, ever worsening, as time passes. [ This is again all conjectural and lacking the common knowledge that when you give in to an irrational and unjust claim you simply indicate that the one who claimed it should have asked for more.]
2. WE DENOUNCE MACEDONIA (in terms of the land, the people, the history and culture)IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS WE NAME OURSELVES AS CAPTORS, TRESSPASSERS AND EVERYTHING ELSE THEY ARE ACCUSING US OF.
No. It is our historic obligation to achieve a peaceful compromise with those Slavic people whose presence in our own country (as well as other regions of the Balkans) was just as valid as our own, once upon a time. But we do have to give up psychological denial: Denial of the fact that they were just as native within the wider geographic region of Macedonia just as our own (native) Greek Macedonians. [ This lacks historical documentation and it is an insult to the men and women we honour in our National Anniversaries who obviously did not think they were obligated to give up what was rightfully theirs and shed their blood to keep it. It is also ethnic slander because it does not indicate how any Slavic or other people coming to reside in Greece became absorbed by the indigenous population instead of forming minorities as is being implied here. ]
WHAT WE MUST DO:
WE STAND FAST TO NOT RECOGNISING OR ADMITTING THE CLAIMS OF THE SKOPJANS AND THEIR ALLIES AND NOT EVER ACCEPT THE TERM ‘MACEDONIA’ IN THEIR STATE’S NAME OR ANY COMPROMISE AS THEY ARE PRESSURING US. SUCH COMPROMISE WILL LEAD TO ETHNIC DECOMPOSITION AND DESTABILIZATION OF THE PEACE IN THE BALKANS.
No. This extremist attitude is advocated ONLY by the Extreme Right (in Greece), today. ALL other political parties have agreed on a moderate stance (of a composite name containing the word “Macedonia”) instead. [ This is not argument disproving or proving anything except an unacceptable attempt to compartmentalise pluralism of opinion into what political parties say. It also is a greater disrespect to any individual, Greek or not, as it is implying an incapacity of individuals to be able to think critically and instead relying on party politics to form an opinion. Also, an opinion is not copyright to a political party. Anyone can have it and in the same time not be part of it or use it in the way the alluded to party is, which is not in any way in the interests of the true Greek people. ]
ATTENTION! THE ONLY WAR WHICH CAN BE WAGED IF WE DO NOT COMPROMISE IS AGGRESSIVE / IMPERIALISTIC AGAINST US, WHICH IS VERY HARD TO ACHIEVE BY THE STATE OF SKOJE ALONE, WHICH WILL BE FORCED TO TAKE ON THE ROLE THAT IS BEING ATTEMPTED TO BE PINNED ON US: CONDOTTIERES AND TRESPASSERS.
No. Such war (although at the moment unlikely) can happen anyway, regardless of how the other side is called officially. As a matter of fact, war-like sentiments are likely to increase on both sides, if an agreement is not reached that saves the dignity of both. [ Again this is an unfounded opinion without any argumentative support. ]
IF WE COMPROMISE THE ROLE OF THE TRESPASSERS WILL HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO US WITH OUR OWN CONSENT AND THE WAR THAT WILL BE WAGED WILL BE LIBERATING, JUST AS IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE IN THE CASES OF IRAQ AND YUGOSLAVIA.
No. There is nobody to liberate (unless the tiny minority of Macedonian Slavs in Greece is overestimated by our own… paranoid national imagination). [ Again this is an unfounded opinion without any argumentative support. It also is another attempt to ridiculize. ]
IF WE DO NOT COMPROMISE, THERE IS A CHANCE TO UPHOLD AND KEEP THE PEACE IN OUR REGION AND OUR NATION INTACT.
No. Only if a reasonable compromise is not mutually accepted, hostile feelings can get the chance of being cultivated in both countries, against each other; certainly not helpful for Peace. [ Again this is an unfounded opinion without any argumentative support. Peace is achieved when everyone’s boundaries are extremely clear. Any parent with two children is aware of this fact. ]
IF WE DO COMPROMISE, THIS OPPORTUNITY WILL BE GONE FOR EVER.
No, Absolutely Not True: We have ALREADY compromised. It’s now the OTHER side’s obligation, to respect this compromise, and respond to it…” [ Again this is an unfounded opinion without any argumentative support. Without a National referendum the diplomatic strategy followed only reflects the opinions and interests served by anyone else except the Greek people. ]
This person rambles on and on in the same way which is typical and identical and falling in the obscuring strategies discussed and illustrated. Time and length do not allow me to continue reiterating how so called statements this person makes are unfounded / slanted / misleading or simple attempts to ridiculize or call names. Any person interested can do that on their own time by following the link I will provide at the end of the article. I will finish today’s illustration of how opinion leaders attempt to intimidate those with critical thinking and objective thought while hiding behind a pseudoname which grants them impunity and the capacity to argue for both sides depending on where the wind blows, with this fine specimen :
“So, an uncompromising attitude, that depends on the highly arrogant, irrational premise that we can dictate to another independent nation how to call themselves, is justified and sanctified as an absolute logical prerequisite for Peace in our region; Not only peace, but for the very integrity of Greece (keeping our nation “intact”). (wow…)
I.e. Mrs. Yeretsidou imagines that as soon as a certain small neighbouring country is officially recognised internationally as “Macedonia” (without any adjective or any geographic qualification) then the path towards instability, war and the destruction of the Greek nation will follow, as an inescapable logical consequence!
-How paranoid! Well, 120 countries have already accepted FYROM as “Republic of Macedonia” and there have been no such evil consequences!”
It is easy to detect all the stratagems : false characterisation ( arrogant, irrational premise when the premise is defendable by law and Human Rights ), unfounded claims ( that we cannot and apparently should not prevent another country from calling itself something that is ours, not as is attempted to be presented dictating in general what the name should be ) and gratuitous name calling ( paranoid, arrogant, etc ) without the presentation of a single argument except of the typical manipulator’s tenet “ THAT’S WHAT EVERYONE WANTS”( if 120 countries have accepted it it does not mean we must, as the country of the U.S.A. has displayed often on environmental and other issues including Human Rights and Nuclear Weapons while everyone else – literally- abides by them. It also is not important how many countries have accepted something but if the crucial ones within the matter – in this case Greece, as the power of the veto displayed – have ).
Link to all of the article, as promised: http://omadeon.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/macedonian-salad/
A person that will not give their proper name, so that we can see the true identity and life ( and therefore estimate the interests this person is serving as well as his / her motivation and capacity ), wrote an answer to this blog, taking a lot of time and space to try and obscure the arguments presented without any counter- argument.
Below I will give the article almost in its entirety, using it as an example to what is going on as the mainstream propaganda Greeks are being brainwashed with and have been for some time.
1. Primarily a person seeking to derail a sound and true fact will attempt to provide information he / she will call evidence of their allegation but in reality is part of a much bigger whole disproving them altogether : The person we are using as an example today provided the following self contradicting but very assertive presentation of ‘ fact’ which is disproven by the evidence provided to support it, as is obvious on a closer careful look :
“UPDATE: Macedonia was in the past regarded by its own inhabitants as a wide geographic region, inhabited by many ethnic groups. In the middle of the 19th Century, the Slavs of Macedonia thought of themselves as “Macedonian Bulgarians“. This is well known, of course: The “Macedonian” ethnic identity of their modern descendants did not exist at the time. This fact is evident e.g. in the front cover of a 19th century book, “Folk songs of the Macedonian Bulgars” by Stefan Verkovic (1860)”
On a superficial perusal this seems like a fact. However, it is a methodological mistake when one seeks to prove something scientifically, such as the nature of the inhabitants of “ a wide geographic region” without taking into account that the naming of this wide geographic region from antiquity until today has had many changes none of which included using the name Macedonia to denote anything or anyone not of Greek heritage. Especially the area in question has been named several things of which Macedonia is the most recent political move enforced by a dictator and not the result of age old ethnic identity and the evolving or development of it. Titles of pop culture books which can be named arbitrarily by their authors cannot in any case be evidence of ethnic, historical and anthropological value when history and scientific historical documents of the last three ( 3) centuries at least show otherwise.
It will, however, be fodder for making impressions and political propaganda which will not hold in the scientific community, exactly like Hitler’s invoking of the Arian Race superiority based falsely on some ( not all as should be ) philosophical theories and fabricated scientific evidence based on skull measurements which never did and never will hold on proper scientific scrutiny. He also circulated pamphlets with the prophecies of Nostradamus as sound proof of his claims and even that he did not include in its entirety because Nostradamus was not fully accommodating. Finally, the above example of the 19th century book titled provided, is not mentioned to be part of a Bulgarian political attempt to acquire Greek soil as they have many times since displayed especially during and following the 2 World Wars and therefore does not constitute proof at all of an ethnic identity but of what the attempt to use the particular name in a composite appellation can and will amount to, should it be allowed : attempt for occupation, bloodshed and breaching of Human Rights as was done by the Bulgarians and is still remembered by their victims and their descendents who are still alive.
2. The person seeking to obscure sound and valid arguments may also attempt to present a neutral fact as argument, hoping for the other person’s imagination to fill in the blanks to make it so. For example, in the article we are examining the person says :
“ However, many Greeks and (most) Slavs of today’s (wider) Macedonia are unwilling to accept anyone else being “Macedonian”, than themselves. They both seem to forget that Madeconia has been (for a very long time) a geographic region, rather than an ethnic identity, or a nationality, or an ancient State. E.g.”
The above is a fact. However, it does not prove or even make an indication as to which side is correct. There also a suspicious glossing over of information which is vital in forming an objective and well rounded outlook on the matter by phrases like “ for a very long time” which for the Slavs may amount to seventy (70) years of making such a claiming while for the Greeks it amounts to a few millennia. Also, upon closer scrutiny and content analysis, the above statement implies the animosity that does exist between the holder of a title / name and the contender and the strife that can and will be derived from it if this is not settled properly.
Then, an example is attempted to be offered by this person :
3. The example offered begins as relevant and then goes on at a tangent without sufficient explanation why it is an illustration of the fact it is strung with :
“Mrs. Olga G. Yeritsidou is a Greek psychologist (and a blogger) who declared (in response to rather moderate views I had expressed, in blog-conversation with her ) that… “in Psychology, satire is a manifestation of covert hostility and impotence (or powerlessness)”.
(in Greek, “η σάτιρα… στην ψυχολογία υποδεικνύει κεκαλυμμένη επιθετικότητα και ανημποριά από το άτομο που την εξαπολύει.”)
Well, an ENGLISH post follows, as a critique of the above quote (which is also the post-title in Greek):”
The above quote is irrelevant to the fact the person stated presented in 2. because it is not pertinent to my stance and view of the Skopjan matter but to a scientific estimation according to my application of psychological theories on the function of satire. However, satire and what I think of it has nothing to do with the Skopjan matter but everything, apparently, to do with the reason and motivation of this person’s use of my name as opposed to anyone else’s sharing my views and they are many, regardless of political affiliation, gender and age. It stands to reason because the above statement was made in an effort to make the particular person be serious about a very serious matter instead of using satire which has no purpose ( except to bully someone into remaining silent or goad someone out of a calm and controlled demeanour ) or argumentative value whatsoever.
4. A person that cannot meet another on the objective level with sound arguments will attempt to gag the one he / she cannot counter with threats of tags and branding that this person knows and abhors :
“Mrs. Yeretsidou is an extremely militant advocate of the well known “Macedonia is (only) Greek” hard-line doctrine, which is advocated today only by the Extreme Right in Greek poltiics, even though she does not appear to have any right-wing views (in any other issue than Macedonia)”.
With the above paragraph this person attempts to accuse me or my view as being that of the Junta or any such similar totalitarian and unacceptable regime which is an effort to scare people who are liberal and free spirits to even dare go against mainstream doctrine and propaganda for fear of being branded as what they most hate. He / she also calls me militant ( extremely so ) when everything that is being done is according to the law, the scientific truth and Human Rights. Of course, there is a token nod to the fact that my profile and my writings as well as my family history and personal life conduct is completely opposed to anything totalitarian and as such so do my views upon the Skopjan matter advocate freedom, peace and prosperity for all in the Balkan Peninsula. It will not, however, accommodate interests that are not the vested right of any people. Using a name that is not yours is not a vested right of anyone on any level UNLESS the rightful owner of the name gives you the right to do it.
5. To further obscure and present a person whose arguments cannot be disproven, one can resort to an attempt to ridiculize what the person is saying with a running commentary ( with words like “ wow” and an abundance of suspension points as well as a good helping of irony ) which does not, however, explain why what is being said deserves this ridicule, leaving it again to imagination to fill in the blanks. It also blends irrelevant issues with the relevant ones. For length issues I do not paste the relevant paragraphs but I shall provide the link to the text if anyone is curious.
6. A person will also attempt to misinform and instead of providing objective facts, he / she will instead present the fact in an abundance of descriptive adjectives, anxious to ensure that the reader will not stray from the trajectory this person is setting. For example, though this person does mention that I did not bother to give him / her a history lesson since he / she did not give any indication of being a serious discussion partner, this person fails to mention that I have mentioned the case of the ( official ) naming of the U.K. as U.K. and not Great Britain because France, which possesses the historically coveted by the English region of Bretagne, rightly so opposed to this appellation to protect its territorial rights and prevent further strife. Since this person appears upon content analysis to have knowledge of my views through my blogs ( i.e., has read them ) this is an inaccurate statement on his / her part.
This person also claims not to be a nationalist ( an indirect accusation that my views are extreme since mainstream propaganda portrays Nationalism as equal to Racism with the exception of ethnic badgering between countries during sports events like football events and basketball events ) and by the way he phrases the following, possibly completely uninterested to what any other country can inflict on the land he / she lives in, whether or not he / she is part of the Greek nation. Then the person proceeds to threaten again with a contradictory threat since everyone can call themselves what they want ( according to his / her article ) by stating the following :
“However, I do feel it’s very unjust for Greek Macedonians, to be eventually forced to lose the very term “Macedonia”, which should NOT be the “copyright” of anyone, anymore (I think) within the geographic region of Macedonia: Greek Macedonia, Bulgarian Macedonia, as well as the small part of (wider Geographic) Macedonia that belongs to today’s FYROM.”
Losing the term means two things : first, that we ( Greeks ) have the name or otherwise we wouldn’t be able to lose it and second, that IF WE LOSE IT, IT MEANS THAT WE WOULD BE FORBIDDEN TO USE IT, WHICH MEANS THAT NOT EVERYONE CAN CALL THEMSELVES WHAT THEY WANT AND PEOPLE ARE BOTHERED, OFFENDED OR THREATENED AND THEREFORE ACT TO PROTECT THE NAMES THEY POSSESS.
7. Then, this person proceeds to fulfil a “promise” to me ( which upon its fulfilment he / she did not in any way let me know, and it was one of my readers who dropped me a note asking me to answer it ) by trying to disprove what I have stated is the true situation regarding the Skopjan matter. Below I will paste all of it and in brackets indicate what is attempted to be achieved by this display :
“1. Macedonia and her name at this moment stand established in theory as well as in action as part/grounds of the country of Hellas (Greece).
No. I am afraid that the term “Macedonia” is now seriously in danger of becoming another country’s copyright, unless we can achieve a compromise about it. [ this is not proof but this person’s opinion which is regurgitated by the media. This is an opinion presented as fact with no support to prove it valid. That another country is claiming the name does not mean that it is not Greek and established as such.]
2. UNLESS ONE BECOMES AN INVADING FORCE THROUGH AN IMPERIALISTIC WAR, nobody can usurp the name, the lands and the history of Macedonia within the law.
No. Nobody would start an imperialistic war (against Greece) for the sake of the word “Macedonia”, although some extremists would like such a war, in BOTH countries (Greece and FYROM). [ this is not proof but this person’s opinion which is regurgitated by the media. This is an opinion presented as fact with no support to prove it valid. That another country is claiming the name does not mean that it is not Greek and established as such. History has proven that war has occurred over this name before, along with moves made by other countries’ dictators.]
3. This legality to usurp can be given ONLY DELIBERATELY AND ONLY BY HELLAS (GREECE) HERSELF.
No. That’s nonsense (or delusions of grandeur and childish omnipotence). Our problem is completely different: That the other side refuses to bargain. [ This is an attempt to ridiculize and inexplicably characterise what is a valid and provable fact. What is provided as an answer is not proof or argument but this person’s opinion. This is an opinion presented as fact with no support to prove it valid. That another country is claiming the name does not mean that it is not Greek and established as such, which is why arbitration by the U.N. is taking place and why NATO accepted it.]
CONSEQUENTLY IT IS BEING ENFORCED ON GREEKS THREATENING (of the type: ‘we made wrong moves/ we are bound by political agreements/ we will be isolated/ there will be war’) AND MANIPULATION OF DIFFERENT MANNER (of the type: ‘you are fanatics/nationalists/ cruel/ hard/ historically uneducated/ etc’) SO THAT WE WILL WILLINGLY AND ON OUR OWN GIVE THIS LEGALITY WHICH IS LACKING FROM THE CLAIMS OF THE STATE OF SKOPJE.
Nope. I’m afraid that sounds like paranoid bulshit. It also doesn’t make much sense (in English)… [ this is another attempt to characterise without backing up with arguments the characterisation. The derogatory nature of the characterisation indicates anger, helplessness to disprove the statement and pent up aggression on that person’s part. It usually takes place when a person is cornered and out of arguments, constituting an attempt to derail from the objective to the subjective personal levels. It also displays a poor knowledge of the English syntax ( however unusual ) but this is particular to this person and not the general strategy this person is using.]
IF WE ACCEPT ANY KIND OF NAME CONTAINING THE TERM ‘MACEDONIA’ (that is, if we compromise as we are being pressured to do) :
1. WE WILLINGLY LEGALIZE THE STATE OF SKOPJE IN ALL ITS CLAIMS AND DEMANDS.
No. If we can achieve an agreement safeguarding the rights of Greek Macedonians, then no claims and demands can ever again be justified. If -on the other hand- we stubbornly insist on a name that does not even contain the word “Macedonia”, then the other side will never agree to this! So, emotionally (and otherwise) we will then acquire an eternal enemy, thereby legalising the other side’s claims and demands, ever worsening, as time passes. [ This is again all conjectural and lacking the common knowledge that when you give in to an irrational and unjust claim you simply indicate that the one who claimed it should have asked for more.]
2. WE DENOUNCE MACEDONIA (in terms of the land, the people, the history and culture)IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS WE NAME OURSELVES AS CAPTORS, TRESSPASSERS AND EVERYTHING ELSE THEY ARE ACCUSING US OF.
No. It is our historic obligation to achieve a peaceful compromise with those Slavic people whose presence in our own country (as well as other regions of the Balkans) was just as valid as our own, once upon a time. But we do have to give up psychological denial: Denial of the fact that they were just as native within the wider geographic region of Macedonia just as our own (native) Greek Macedonians. [ This lacks historical documentation and it is an insult to the men and women we honour in our National Anniversaries who obviously did not think they were obligated to give up what was rightfully theirs and shed their blood to keep it. It is also ethnic slander because it does not indicate how any Slavic or other people coming to reside in Greece became absorbed by the indigenous population instead of forming minorities as is being implied here. ]
WHAT WE MUST DO:
WE STAND FAST TO NOT RECOGNISING OR ADMITTING THE CLAIMS OF THE SKOPJANS AND THEIR ALLIES AND NOT EVER ACCEPT THE TERM ‘MACEDONIA’ IN THEIR STATE’S NAME OR ANY COMPROMISE AS THEY ARE PRESSURING US. SUCH COMPROMISE WILL LEAD TO ETHNIC DECOMPOSITION AND DESTABILIZATION OF THE PEACE IN THE BALKANS.
No. This extremist attitude is advocated ONLY by the Extreme Right (in Greece), today. ALL other political parties have agreed on a moderate stance (of a composite name containing the word “Macedonia”) instead. [ This is not argument disproving or proving anything except an unacceptable attempt to compartmentalise pluralism of opinion into what political parties say. It also is a greater disrespect to any individual, Greek or not, as it is implying an incapacity of individuals to be able to think critically and instead relying on party politics to form an opinion. Also, an opinion is not copyright to a political party. Anyone can have it and in the same time not be part of it or use it in the way the alluded to party is, which is not in any way in the interests of the true Greek people. ]
ATTENTION! THE ONLY WAR WHICH CAN BE WAGED IF WE DO NOT COMPROMISE IS AGGRESSIVE / IMPERIALISTIC AGAINST US, WHICH IS VERY HARD TO ACHIEVE BY THE STATE OF SKOJE ALONE, WHICH WILL BE FORCED TO TAKE ON THE ROLE THAT IS BEING ATTEMPTED TO BE PINNED ON US: CONDOTTIERES AND TRESPASSERS.
No. Such war (although at the moment unlikely) can happen anyway, regardless of how the other side is called officially. As a matter of fact, war-like sentiments are likely to increase on both sides, if an agreement is not reached that saves the dignity of both. [ Again this is an unfounded opinion without any argumentative support. ]
IF WE COMPROMISE THE ROLE OF THE TRESPASSERS WILL HAVE BEEN ATTRIBUTED TO US WITH OUR OWN CONSENT AND THE WAR THAT WILL BE WAGED WILL BE LIBERATING, JUST AS IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE IN THE CASES OF IRAQ AND YUGOSLAVIA.
No. There is nobody to liberate (unless the tiny minority of Macedonian Slavs in Greece is overestimated by our own… paranoid national imagination). [ Again this is an unfounded opinion without any argumentative support. It also is another attempt to ridiculize. ]
IF WE DO NOT COMPROMISE, THERE IS A CHANCE TO UPHOLD AND KEEP THE PEACE IN OUR REGION AND OUR NATION INTACT.
No. Only if a reasonable compromise is not mutually accepted, hostile feelings can get the chance of being cultivated in both countries, against each other; certainly not helpful for Peace. [ Again this is an unfounded opinion without any argumentative support. Peace is achieved when everyone’s boundaries are extremely clear. Any parent with two children is aware of this fact. ]
IF WE DO COMPROMISE, THIS OPPORTUNITY WILL BE GONE FOR EVER.
No, Absolutely Not True: We have ALREADY compromised. It’s now the OTHER side’s obligation, to respect this compromise, and respond to it…” [ Again this is an unfounded opinion without any argumentative support. Without a National referendum the diplomatic strategy followed only reflects the opinions and interests served by anyone else except the Greek people. ]
This person rambles on and on in the same way which is typical and identical and falling in the obscuring strategies discussed and illustrated. Time and length do not allow me to continue reiterating how so called statements this person makes are unfounded / slanted / misleading or simple attempts to ridiculize or call names. Any person interested can do that on their own time by following the link I will provide at the end of the article. I will finish today’s illustration of how opinion leaders attempt to intimidate those with critical thinking and objective thought while hiding behind a pseudoname which grants them impunity and the capacity to argue for both sides depending on where the wind blows, with this fine specimen :
“So, an uncompromising attitude, that depends on the highly arrogant, irrational premise that we can dictate to another independent nation how to call themselves, is justified and sanctified as an absolute logical prerequisite for Peace in our region; Not only peace, but for the very integrity of Greece (keeping our nation “intact”). (wow…)
I.e. Mrs. Yeretsidou imagines that as soon as a certain small neighbouring country is officially recognised internationally as “Macedonia” (without any adjective or any geographic qualification) then the path towards instability, war and the destruction of the Greek nation will follow, as an inescapable logical consequence!
-How paranoid! Well, 120 countries have already accepted FYROM as “Republic of Macedonia” and there have been no such evil consequences!”
It is easy to detect all the stratagems : false characterisation ( arrogant, irrational premise when the premise is defendable by law and Human Rights ), unfounded claims ( that we cannot and apparently should not prevent another country from calling itself something that is ours, not as is attempted to be presented dictating in general what the name should be ) and gratuitous name calling ( paranoid, arrogant, etc ) without the presentation of a single argument except of the typical manipulator’s tenet “ THAT’S WHAT EVERYONE WANTS”( if 120 countries have accepted it it does not mean we must, as the country of the U.S.A. has displayed often on environmental and other issues including Human Rights and Nuclear Weapons while everyone else – literally- abides by them. It also is not important how many countries have accepted something but if the crucial ones within the matter – in this case Greece, as the power of the veto displayed – have ).
Link to all of the article, as promised: http://omadeon.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/macedonian-salad/
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