The Equifinality of Armenian Experiences
Posted on August. 16. 2024
“It is not in numbers,
but in unity, that our
great strength lies”.
Thomas Paine
BY Z. S. ANDREW DEMIRDJIAN
The preponderance of surviving small ethnic groups around the world pride themselves on being resilient in the face of national calamities. Armenians are no exception. But really, would it be better to avoid losing in the first place than be able to pick up the pieces after a misfortune?
How can national problems be avoided or resolved efficiently and effectively? I often think for an answer and always come up with the same solution.
In this essay, indulge me with the opportunity to explain the solution of not throwing caution to the wind and then bouncing back from a loss as most resilient people pride themselves for doing.
To discuss the proposed solution, let me first present the principle or theory of equifinality as a rational framework within which to argue my solution. Essentially, equifinality is the theory that in open systems a given end state can be reached by many potential means. The term and the concept is due to the German Hans Driesch (the developmental biologist). Later the concept was applied by the Austrian Ludwig von Bertalanffy (the founder of the General Systems Theory) and by the American William T. Powers (the founder of Perceptual Control Theory). In the following section, I shall simplify the theory of equifinality by presenting two familiar examples.
Ideas have changed the world; ideas can also enlighten our minds. To be on the same page, by equifinality I mean the property of allowing or having the same or similar effect (e.g., outcome) from different events (i.e., causes). Here is an example of equifinality from a psychological perspective. In psychology, equifinality refers mainly to how different early experiences in life, such as parental divorce, parental substance use, physical abuse, etc., can lead to similar outcomes such as “childhood depression”. This tells us that there are many different early experiences that can lead to the same psychological disorder.
Another example of equifinality from the field of medicine refers to a person’s early habitual experiences, such as poor dieting, not exercising, smoking, drinking, little sleeping, bypassing physical checkups to see Dr. Dikran Abrahamian, etc., can lead to similar or the same outcomes in the form of “poor health”.
Now, let us apply this theory to the Armenian experiences of some past events. For example, Tigran the Great organized the nation and established a vast empire. He ruled as the king of Armenia from 95 to 55 BC. The Armenian Empire stretched from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Unfortunately, his son went against him and conspired with the Romans to defeat his fatter. As a result, disloyalty led to disunity, which caused the loss of the empire after being in existence for a short period of time.
Another example is the formation of the first Armenian Republic in 1918. Political strife (e.g., conflict for superiority) among the traditional Armenian political parties gave the opportunity to the mainly Jewish Bolsheviks to force them to become part of the Soviet Union even by executing their opposing members in prisons. As a result, political strife led to disunity, which made the fledgling republic lose its sovereignty within two years’ of independence in 1920.
A very recent example is the formation of the Republic of Artsakh in 1994 with seven so-called Azerbaijani regions captured primarily to serve as buffer zones. Internecine disagreement, corruption, and ego-centeredness among the political parties including the selfish generals and heads of state of the Republic of Armenia, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), and their vast irresponsible Diaspora leaders left them disorganized, unprepared, and vulnerable to face the enemy.
Lack of unity and complacency caused the devastating defeat to Azerbaijan in the 44-Day War in 2020 and in 2023 the entire Artsakh historical Armenian province was captured by Azerbaijan on September 19-20 by a blitzkrieg surprise attack on Stepanagert. As a result, corruption and other factors led to disunity, which caused the seven regions lost from Armenian control and later the Artsakh Republic was dissolved after being in existence as a democracy for nearly 30 years.
Some readers may question as to why I have not used the recent scandal of trying to squander historical Armenian properties in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem. Sorry, but I cannot use the Cows’ Garden (Goverou Bardeze) for another recent example of an event which led to disunity since the property of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem is not lost yet. Legal measures are being taken to render the contract illegal. However, it does serve as an excellent example of disunity between Archbishop Nourhan Manougian (The Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem) as an ego-centric cleric and the rest of the patriotic Armenian nation, which is ardently and adamantly set against the divesture of Armenian lands located in the Holy Land.
Based on the preceding three examples of Armenian experiences from the three different events, such as disloyalty, internal political strife, corruption (e.g., ego-centeredness), led to the same or similar outcome or effect of “disunity,” the cancer of national health, impediment to progress, growth, and prosperity. We are having the same effect (i.e., outcome) from the different events. In other words, all these experiences (i.e., disloyalty, political strife, and corruption) lead to the same outcome of “disunity,” which is the root cause of losing national rights and interests.
Many examples of events in the Armenian experiences of the past lead to the same or similar effect (e.g., outcome of disunity). The consequences of disunity are loss of territory, loss of life, loss of property, etc. In other words, the nation suffers material losses due to the consequences of disunity of the members of this ethnic group. Ever since the fall of Tigran the Great’s Empire, Armenians have had a succession of territorial losses due mainly to disunity.
Please note that there is a marked difference between disunity (or lack of unity) and unity. When an ethnic group experiences disunity, its members just cannot get along with one another — because they are not united. Unity, on the other hand, is “the state of being one;” the word comes from the Latin “unitatem, “which means “oneness, sameness, or agreement.” Adding the prefix dis-, “not, or lack of,” gives you the exact opposite of the condition or status of unity. Therefore, disunity or lack of unity is the antonym of unity. The condition of disunity for a group is a self-destructive state of affairs.
The modern day contention has been that the Armenian nation consists of three sovereign kingdoms: Armenia, Artsakh, and the Diaspora. Each kingdom, in turn, is made up of various “sectarian chiefdoms,” often at loggerheads with one another over how to steer the Armenian national ship.
Armenians have just lost a great territory to Azerbaijan because of disunity (lack of unity) among the individualistic kingdoms and the vying chiefdoms. This untenable condition should serve as a sobering lesson to discontinue with the mentality of the stubbornness of a mule. Instead, embrace the concept of unity as a way to advance the nation in the face of increasing threats from its adversaries.
Graphically presented for emphasis, the above three examples of Armenian experiences (i.e., events) created an equifinality of having the same effect or outcome (i.e., disunity) from the different events as characterized in the three preceding examples of the past Armenian experiences, namely disloyalty, political strife, and corruption:
It is important to reiterate for the young generation to remember that negative events (e.g., disloyalty) in the Armenian experiences of the past lead to the same or similar outcomes such as disunity, which, in turn, gives rise to the consequence of loss of national assets in terms of life, territory, and property. Presently, the stakes of disunity is sky high for the Armenian community.
The substance of the argument is that without unity, Armenians will be doomed to make themselves liable to further losses against the backdrop of increasing unprecedented threats to national security coming from two plundering brothers, the genocidal Azerbaijan and the imperialist Turkey or the cruel Turkbaijan twins (as the compound name is aptly coined by Mr. Jerry Tutunjian).
To reverse the unfortunate trend of debilitating losing streak, such as Armenian territories, the only viable solution is to change disunity into unity, harmony, cooperation, collaboration, teamwork, and respect for each other’s differences. Resiliency is fine, but preventing loss in the first place is better.
The ardent hope is that the new Armenian generation will embrace the criticality of the concept of unity for the sake of national survival and growth. Most of the old-timers are victims of the culture of disunity despite their frequent bemoaning by giving lip service to the dire need and vital importance of unity for the progress of the Armenian nation. When it comes to get organized, though, they begin their war dances against their committee members. What a shame to lose the opportunity to get united against the common adversary!
How can a small nation like Armenia, caught between two acquisitive rogue states, overlook the manifold advantages of unity to thrive together, boggles the mind? From the unmatched collective problem-solving to shared mission, emotional support, cultural enrichment, resilience in adversity, and inspiration for future generations are all possible to be derived from unity and teamwork for the safety and security of the Armenian community around the world.
Aseop’s contribution to thousands of years of political theory is captured in his “Fable of The Bundle of Sticks,” in which he concludes that “individually, you can easily be conquered, but together, you are invincible. Union gives strength.”
In the ever-evolving landscape of realpoltik development of the early 21st century political arena, the concept and practice of unity have emerged as a powerful and versatile tool since the cave man to revolutionize the benefits that unity brings to the table of an ethnic group to survive extinction.
Nothing seems to surpass the unrivaled blessings, the unyielding strength, and the super power of unity for the survival of a marginalized ethnic group without a genuinely supportive ally in the political jungle of the 21st century. The slogan is written on the wall: Get united, or perish!
Like the spinning of the fibers in the above picture, as we twist more fibers or strings together, we gain more strength in the thread through the union. You might say, most Armenians already know that, but then why is that the Armenian community around the world is still disorganized, clannish, disunited, and constantly losing to the enemy? Most Armenians profess that they believe in unity, but unfortunately –their behavior betrays their attitude.
The modern day contention has been that the Armenian nation consists of three sovereign kingdoms: Armenia, Artsakh, and the Diaspora. Each kingdom, in turn, is made up of various “sectarian chiefdoms,” often at loggerheads with one another over how to steer the Armenian national ship. Armenians have just lost a great territory to Azerbaijan because of disunity (lack of unity) among the individualistic kingdoms and the vying chiefdoms. This untenable condition should serve as a sobering lesson to discontinue with the mentality of the stubbornness of a mule. Instead, embrace the concept of unity as a way to advance the nation in the face of increasing threats from its adverseries.
I Agree with the author’s observation but am skeptical about the prospect of unity. During the Lebanese civil war from 1975 to 1990, members of opposing Armenian political parties murdered one another. How shameful!