Why,when I post a not so pleasant log (as in my last entry, after re-reading it and thinking that maybe I was a little bit harsh), some related news story comes out that quickly makes me change my mind and makes me think I was not harsh enough.
As Jeff Ryan of the Nungi Ceramics would say, "It burns my ass..."
So what burns my ass? The Fresno Bee newspaper out of Fresno, California ran a story on October 27th, titled, "Leader of tiny ethnic Armenian nation speaks in Fresno", which is reporting about our good president Ghoukasian's visit to a church, where he spread his empty rhetoric about creating a "dignified life for his people".
Dignified life for his people? I would like for the president to share with us what he or his administration has done since he has been president to do this? If you ask the natives or myself, he has done virtually nothing. Then again, maybe he was talking about "his people", meaning his friends, which in that case, he has done everything.
In the article, the president goes on to say, "We have started a new war, an economic one, and if we lose this one, the military war could also be lost." I'm not sure what this means other than it sounds really good to a new crowd of people, as the president has been using this same line since he was first "elected" 6 years ago. If you ask me, this economic war has been going on long before our war with Azerbaijan started and it's not a war we are fighting against someone from the outside, but it's a war of the common people trying to do business and support their families vs. the people in power, such as the present day president who want to be rich beyond what this country can support. Who the winner of this battle will be I still am not sure, but I hope those most deserving and who have invested the most in this country will be the victors. As for the military war being lost due to the "economic war", let's not be naïve, this is not our war, but a war between Russia/Iran vs. Turkey and the West and what they decide for us will be how this war ends. We need to win this economic war, but it's not something that will be won by what Ghoukasian later suggests to the crowd as being investment, as important as that may seem, under his administration and the BIG picture, so far, such investments have proven to do more harm than good.
The article also states: "In the past three or four years, he said, between $30 million and
$40 million of investment has been funneled into his country from Armenians in the United States, France, Italy and Australia." What the question should be asked is of those investments, how many became viable businesses? How many did he and the Prime Minister demand to have some share of? How many of those that refused to give them a share are still in business? How many of them are facing avoidable difficulties and suffering due to things that are caused by the government (see my last log)?
According to the article, Ghoukasian encouraged such investment to continue and said his country's tax structure is attractive for additional investment. Maybe the tax structure is attractive, but if you ask me, I would rather be paying 50% in taxes and have stable rules on the economic playing field rather than trying to work in a place where the "rule" change by the minute to what is best for those corrupt people in power.
Every time I write about these issues, I ask myself if Shahan was here today, what we he think and do?
As Jeff Ryan of the Nungi Ceramics would say, "It burns my ass..."
So what burns my ass? The Fresno Bee newspaper out of Fresno, California ran a story on October 27th, titled, "Leader of tiny ethnic Armenian nation speaks in Fresno", which is reporting about our good president Ghoukasian's visit to a church, where he spread his empty rhetoric about creating a "dignified life for his people".
Dignified life for his people? I would like for the president to share with us what he or his administration has done since he has been president to do this? If you ask the natives or myself, he has done virtually nothing. Then again, maybe he was talking about "his people", meaning his friends, which in that case, he has done everything.
In the article, the president goes on to say, "We have started a new war, an economic one, and if we lose this one, the military war could also be lost." I'm not sure what this means other than it sounds really good to a new crowd of people, as the president has been using this same line since he was first "elected" 6 years ago. If you ask me, this economic war has been going on long before our war with Azerbaijan started and it's not a war we are fighting against someone from the outside, but it's a war of the common people trying to do business and support their families vs. the people in power, such as the present day president who want to be rich beyond what this country can support. Who the winner of this battle will be I still am not sure, but I hope those most deserving and who have invested the most in this country will be the victors. As for the military war being lost due to the "economic war", let's not be naïve, this is not our war, but a war between Russia/Iran vs. Turkey and the West and what they decide for us will be how this war ends. We need to win this economic war, but it's not something that will be won by what Ghoukasian later suggests to the crowd as being investment, as important as that may seem, under his administration and the BIG picture, so far, such investments have proven to do more harm than good.
The article also states: "In the past three or four years, he said, between $30 million and
$40 million of investment has been funneled into his country from Armenians in the United States, France, Italy and Australia." What the question should be asked is of those investments, how many became viable businesses? How many did he and the Prime Minister demand to have some share of? How many of those that refused to give them a share are still in business? How many of them are facing avoidable difficulties and suffering due to things that are caused by the government (see my last log)?
According to the article, Ghoukasian encouraged such investment to continue and said his country's tax structure is attractive for additional investment. Maybe the tax structure is attractive, but if you ask me, I would rather be paying 50% in taxes and have stable rules on the economic playing field rather than trying to work in a place where the "rule" change by the minute to what is best for those corrupt people in power.
Every time I write about these issues, I ask myself if Shahan was here today, what we he think and do?
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