George Bernard Shaw Quotes
What we are confronted with now is a growing perception that if we desire a certain type of civilization and culture we must exterminate the sort of people who do not fit into it.
Shaw, George Bernard. Preface. Too True to be Good, Village Wooing & On the Rocks. Three Plays by Bernard Shaw, Constable and Co., 1934, p. 143.
He was one or the few Turkish Senior officials who would testify about the Armenian genocide. The Christian Armenians, a minority in Turkey and its lands, were discriminated against like other non Muslim minorities in the Ottoman Empire. But during the Turkish War with Russia and WWI, some Armenians defected and served on the Russian side. Many Turkish citizens took revenge on Armenians by means of murder and torture. Soon, the extermination of the Armenians became the official “Young Turk” government policy. Hundreds of thousands of Armenians were killed outright, and about an equal number were “deported” to special areas. Many died of malnutrition along the forced march of Ethnic Cleansing. Others were murdered as they were deported. No one knows exactly how many Armenians were killed with estimates ranging from ½ million to 4 million. This was the first genocide of the 20th century. Modern Turkish leaders however, are in denial about the Armenian deaths. They claim that there was a war and food was scarce; the only Armenians killed, the claimed were proven Russian agents. They further claim that the Armenian behavior was in large part responsible for the forced deportations because of their lack of patriotism and unwillingness to help the Turkish authorities identify the Russian agents. Most Turks today are unaware of the Armenian Genocide as nothing is taught about the massacres in schools or other institutions. It is against the law in Turkey to even have an intellectual study of the Turkish behavior towards the Armenians, much less publish anything about it.
At the time, Jefferson was the Governor of Virginia and the Indians and white settlers in the Western part of the state were coming into increasing conflict. This rather heartless and blood thirsty quotation of Jefferson’s surprises many of his great admirers. Especially because of his historical sophisticated and empathetic way he treated Indians. See {589102}, {589103}, {589113}, {589125}, and {605068}. Jefferson saw Indians much like he saw whites—differentially. Some were friends, some neutral, and some dangerous enemies. His wish to exterminate or ethnically cleanse these Indians was limited to these Indians—not to Indians in general. Nonetheless, it shows a violent side of Jefferson that was in play with enemies. As President, he was aggressive against the Muslim Pirates (see {623707} and {617123}).
Mehmet Talaat Pasha was one of the national leaders who adopted the policy of extermination of the Armenians. The Christian Armenians, a minority in Turkey and its lands, were discriminated against like other non-Muslim minorities in the Ottoman Empire. But during the Turkish War with Russia, some Armenians defected and served on the Russian side. Many Turkish citizens took revenge on Armenians by means of murder and torture. Soon, the extermination of the Armenians became the official “Young Turk” government policy.
This has been a classic dilemma for all large multi ethnic states—trying to develop a sense of unity of citizenship in the face of populations who think of themselves foremost differently. Attempts like this of banning the names of the peoples from official use, banning languages, changing people’s names, requiring common dress and other such methods have failed in most cases (Ataturk’s Turkey being the notable exception). America, Great Britain and the Soviet Union showed the world that it was possible to have a strong sense of national unity and at the same time allow peoples, cultures, and ethnicities to maintain their own ethnic identities. However, many modern governments see their situation as so unique that ethnic repression of one kind or another is required. Modern China, in particular, while not as extreme as Sun Yat-Sen still makes it very difficult for certain cultures to thrive such as the Tibetans. Note that even in the United States we have many who argue that non English language usage should be discouraged and disapprove of the concept of hyphenated Americans. For example, see Theodore Roosevelt {631377}.
He was a brutal officer who by modern standards committed various war crimes.
George Bernard Shaw, known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond. He wrote more than sixty plays, including major works such as Man and Superman (1902), Pygmalion (1912) and Saint Joan (1923). With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and in 1925 was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
