“Hey! sweet ghapama
Whoever eats it is satiated
Hey! dear, sweet ghapama
Whoever doesn’t eat it, understands nothing!!”
Harout Pamboukjian

Theory has it that if you know your goal and remain focused you’ll get there.
‘Meritocracy’. That’s the name of the pretense…

Practice demonstrates that in order to ‘get there’, one needs ‘opportunity’.

The reality of the matter is simple.
Deceivingly simple and harsh as hail. Or hell… take your pick!
If you stay focused on a sensibly chosen goal you will cover a considerable distance. BUT ONLY AS LONG AS the opportunity field you are toiling will not change much. Too much for you to cope with.

There are three sides involved in this. Or dimensions…
Choosing the goal. Staying focused. Conservation of the playing field.

Staying focused is an individual thing. Something to be learned, for sure, but having more to do with the personal innards of each individual than with the community to which they belong.
Choosing the goal is, say, 50%-50%. Each individual is torn between their personal preferences and the various fads piled on them by families/society.
Conserving the playing field is the responsibility of the society. It’s the consequence of each individual doing their thing but the ultimate responsibility rests on the society as a whole.

What happened?
Simple.
Too many of us have stayed focused. On our individual goals. Set according to the prevailing fads circulating while we were young.
We’ve been so focused on our goals, on our respective individuals goals, that we didn’t notice the change. The fact that we’ve been changing the world. The narrowness of our focus prevented us from seeing anything else…
From understating that our goals were out of touch to start with. Not as important as they seemed at the beginning. And that pursuing them was detrimental. For us, for the society at large and for the environment.
Understandably, we’ve become frustrated. Angry…
In denial!

Some enterprising people have noticed the whole thing.
And have figured out that anger can be weaponized.
Used to herd us. To convince us to stop thinking about our fate. And to chase their goals instead…

One doesn’t need much to drive a herd.
A lure to entice, a red rag works perfectly, and a scare to hurry the reluctant.
Presently, globalization is the red rag of choice and the immigrant is the most efficient scare.

I’m of mixed extraction. Armenian and Romanian.
During the last 25 years, some 4 million Romanians have left the country. Most of them are still citizens and some of them continue to vote. To cast votes when the Romanian state organizes elections. Lastly, a majority of the Romanian emigrants currently living in the Western Europe have voted for anti-globalist and anti-immigrant parties. AUR (gold, in Romanian) and SOS.
And there are more Armenians living abroad – some 8 million, than the 3 million inhabiting Armenia proper.

Before wrapping up, I need to add that, as far as I know, the Armenian people have evolved in situ. Various foreign powers have sometimes controlled the territories inhabited by Armenian people but there were no known significant population influxes into the area. Until the Turkish speaking tribes up-rooted and overwhelmed the Armenians living in the flatter zones but that is another subject.
So.
We have an ancient people living in its original areal.
And one of the most cherished dishes of that people is Ghapama. Roasted pumpkin stuffed with rice and spiced with cinnamon.

Pumpkin is currently cultivated in Armenia. But it was brought there from America…
Rice and cinnamon don’t grow in Armenia! Never did…

Why are we so afraid of globalization?
Why have we allowed the scaremongering social-entrepreneurs to lure us?!?

Only because we are frustrated?
Angry enough to forget about ourselves?!?