This blog in 2 parts. This is part 1.
THE UNWELCOME MEME IN THE LATVIAN MINDSET 1.


A Meme of a  Tem;ple Gong. 1

 To intervijā laikrakstam «Latvijas Avīze» pastāstījis «Vienotības» ģenerālsekretārs Artis Kampars.

«Tā kā latviešu valoda noteikti ir viens no šīs valsts pastāvēšanas pamatjautājumiem, tad tik svarīgā pasākumā, iespējams, varētu izmantot arī budžeta naudu. Tam piekrīt «Vienotības» valdes vairākums, jo lai atceramies, ka arī pirms referenduma par iestāšanos Eiropas Savienībā tika rīkota plaša atbalsta kampaņa, kam tērēja valsts līdzekļus. Jautājums par latviešu valodu kā vienīgo valsts valodu ir tikpat nozīmīgs pamatjautājums Latvijas nākotnei. Manuprāt, šī ir reize, kad būtu korekti tērēt nodokļu maksātāju naudu, lai informētu iedzīvotājus. Tai nevajadzētu būt lielai summai, lai izskaidrotu mūsu neatkarīgās valsts pozīciju, kāpēc ir tik svarīgi saglabāt pilnas neapstrīdamas tiesības latviešu valodai. Un valstij šāda pozīcija ir jāieņem,» teica Kampars.

A Meme of a Tem;ple Gong. 2.

Kampars ir pārliecināts, ka trim koalīcijas partijām šajā jautājumā nebūs nekādu domstarpību.
«Par «Vienotību» runājot, jā, cilvēki tiks celti kājās, un mums būs arī kampaņas vadības grupa. Man ir pārliecība, ka vismaz jau nu referenduma lietā trim koalīcijas partijām nebūs nekādu domstarpību. Paredzu, ka turpināsim koordinēt sadarbību, saskaņot plānus, lai uzrunātu vēlētājus.» (Paldies Apollo.lv)

The  above announcement is from Artis Kampars, the general-secretary of the right wing’s most  anti-populist) party. Kampars is confident that he reflects the  party’s collective will. What does that will mean? What means its success? WIll the Russian language in Riga lie prostrate before A STATE FINANCED CULTURAL WAR LED BY KAMPARS? Where is the public  Referendum for that act?

I have only unpleasant associations with the mind-set behind Kampars aggressiveness.  Does Kampars and the party indeed have so closely related views? 

It seems as if an ancient mind meme originating with the arrival in Latvia of the Romans in the eleventh century, found fertile ground here. The route of the infected meme was: through the ranks of  lithuanian boyars who find much in common with the polish pans. A ‘native lett', one named Kaupo, joined the defectors from the Egalitarian League. It was probably through the help of the llatter that Latvian bohyars in Riga got hold of the preses and being a Latvian was defined in the Riga. It was obviously asuccessful seizure, because Latvian boyars are now everywhere we look.

Ever since the roman meme virus was let loose in Livonia, it occupies the land as a mind-meme. In Latvia the local synonym for roman aggression manifests itself as  „skaudiba”

Strange as it may seem, the „roman meme” was carried by what we may now call the „Mind Meme Virus”, a virus  that asserts that „whatever takes self-discipline is easily sabotaged” by turning  to violence for a little help.

True, the aggressiveness ought never to have got this far into the Latvian culture and become part of the mind-set. Unfortunately, it has seldom if ever been contested, and as a result it does a lot of  harm when it comes to the preservation of the community for the long-term. Mr. Kampars speaks for the short-term culture, which is subject to a mindset open to a suggestion to solve problems through turning to aggression, perhaps even violence

The roman mind meme among Latvians has its roots in the eleventh century and in the arrival of the idea that solutions to the problems of the community can be solved by aggression and violence. The prehistoric traditions of self-sacrifice as means to an end were shown the door. Ever since it has been an unstated presumption of the state that the "tauta" of populists better do as we of the government do, or you exist only  because we and the state money behind us agree to it.

However, there are other ways of thinking about the roman meme. The Roman-to-German to-Papish and the catholic lutheran meme dug itself deep into the proto-Latvian soul. The Latvians, living largely on poor soil and little else but forests and sands as its  resources) were naturally jealous of everyone better off. This is one reason why it is such a wonder that the community came through not as demoralized as some would predict..

The roman meme met up with and became friends of  Latvian ‘skaudiba’. Whether it leads to violence is anyone;s guess. It takes training to be able to do a mind meme stunt with the entire society in tov. The result is more likely of one of moving agains the crowd.

Hopefully Latvians have come to an end of accepting such advice as offered as a solution to the language issue by Kampars of Vienotība. «Tā kā latviešu valoda noteikti ir viens no šīs valsts pastāvēšanas pamatjautājumiem, tad tik svarīgā pasākumā, iespējams, varētu izmantot arī budžeta naudu. Tam piekrīt «Vienotības» valdes vairākums.... " It is a presumption that leads a political party to identify itself as the state." This is not a mindset for Latvians to be welcoming of..

A Meme of a Tem;ple Gong. 3.

What can provide this innder compulsion? Next a fantasy about the romanized mind meme.

The question is „What if” using the tactic dictated by the presumption for more and more and never enough freedom theme, leads to a  „meme cancer”, and the canceriys „sastrehgums” of languages devours the  community.

How a photographer makes friends with a pile of wood 1.

November 29, 2111

The subjection of the Latvian language over the past twenty years to an increasingly brutal secularization, has been gaining increasing attention lately.

The attention is a byproduct of a successful signature gathering campaign by members of the Russian population for a petition to hold a referendum (the current amount of signatures 137,500; the necessary amount 154,379) to change the Latvian Constitution so it will allow the Russian language in Latvia to acquire equal rights to the Latvian language, in effect to make such constitutional changes as are necessary to allow Russian to become the second language in Latvia.

The issue was first raised by certain Latvian jingoists parties (re Unity and All for Latvia; Vienotība and Visu Latvjai). The intent to bolster the political popularity of said parties has resulted in a counter movement by the Russian segment of the Latvia’s population.

In the face of many years of Latvian “do-nothingn politics” to reform corrupt politics or improve the country’s economic prospects, the language issue has proven itself exceedingly popular among the Russian speaking segment of the Latvian population.

Though one can sympathize with the point of view of the Latvian jingoists to some degree, such sympathy soon comes up against the fact that the ultra nationalist viewpoint turns the Latvianlanguage itself into no more than an advertising tool for the above mentioned parties.

Once one perceives the divide that forms between a secularized language and its earlier spiritualized and emotive equivalent, one (whether one is born to the Latvian or Russian language) understands that the present use of one’s language may add up to little more than that of  an advertising tool. This is when one makes the conclusion that one’s language has become a tool for advertising as such. In other words, the issue that the Latvian ultra nationalists have unintentionally raised is to focus attention on their use of the Latvian language. Needless to say, the jingoist effect of promoting themselves highlights a misuse of the language of their forebears.



How a photographer makes friends with a pile of wood 2.

 The misuse suffered by the Latvian and Russian languages is the dismissal (in toto) of their innate spiritual values.

It is not often that one hears in our day a discussion of the spiritual values imbedded within the language one speaks. An attack against such values has been a long and ongoing process, which runs parallel to the secularization and commercialization  of all Western languages and the communal values imbedded in same since their ancient past.

One may go so far as to say that the spiritual values embedded in the language one speaks goes back to the days, when implicitly and communally shared values were replaced with overt “religions”. The first such overt religion to impose itself over a native people was Western Roman Catholic Christianity. Instead of allowing the “endearing word”, which is imbedded in the use of one’s language to play an active role in community life, “religion(s)” began to deny such values as “pagan”, stressing the canonical values of “religion” instead.

It is interesting that both the Latvian and Russian languages are rich and bountiful in “endearing words”. The “endearing words” of both languages have suffered many centuries of open and surreptitious denial.

What is an “endearing word”? The academic world to this day knows these words as “diminutives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminutive ”. Essentially a misnomer by gramaticians, the diminutive does not diminism anything. What it does is to inflect just about any word [(it depends on the language) English being poor in such; whereas Latvian, Russian, and German languages are exceedingly rich in same].

For example, the Latvian name for “stone” is “akmens”. By adding to the word the inflection “(t)inshs”, re “akmentinsh”, one endears it. The adding of the inflection is often an involuntary and learned act of mimesis, whereby one ‘gets into’, so to say, the word. A similar effect in English is achieved when one readdresses “John” with an affectionate inflection, by which process “John” becomes “Johnny”; another trick of the English language (probably left over from days of yore) is to end the name by adding to it the inflection “-kins.” Thus, the word for  “baby” or "daddy"(arguably “endearments” and a “diminutives”, both) is sometimes heard pronounced “baby-kins” and "daddy-kins"..

By insisting that Russian is given official recognition in the Latvian Constitution, the Russian speaking public in Latvia necessarily reminds itself that Russian, too, has deeply imbedded spiritual values, which become manifest, first, in the language, second, in the behavior of those who use the language through yet further projection of mimesis.

Arguably, the root of mimetic projection is to be sought in the use of language by a mother when she is addressing or for that matter feeding her child. It is, thus, that a language acquires the meaning of being one’s “mother tongue”’. And surely there is no Constitution, written law, political party, or advertisement company  that can take from us the language that comes to us first through mother's milk and hearing.



How through a self-portrait a photographer makes friends with a pile of wood 3.