Ακολουθεί η απάντηση του καθηγητή κ. Μιχάλη Γκιόκα στη συνέντευξη του Victor Friedman περί των Σκοπίων στην ιστοσελίδα Balkananalysis.com
Η αρχική συνέντευξη βρίσκεται εδώ:
Victor Friedman on Macedonia: the Balkanalysis.com Interview
Η απάντηση του κ. Γκιόκα:
2-28-2009
Dear Mr. Deliso:
It has been a long time since we
have communicated by E-Mail or otherwise. From time to time I have seen some of
your reports. However I am writing to you today, because I am very upset with
you and furious will be a better description. I have in front of me the
Curriculum Vitae of Victor Friedman and next to it, Victor Friedman on
Macedonia:The Balkanalysis.com, Interview. Please note the following:
1. Question: Who in the name of God
you think you are, to play fast and loose, when interviewing someone, who is
simply a Linguist, yet he is pontificating and mixing linguistic and Historical
facts, concerning one of the notoriously complicated areas of the World?
2. This was not an interview by a sophisticated reporter.
You were not just interviewing. You
were making your own faulty statements and persistently agreeing with Victor
Friedman. In effect, you acted incitingly and with enthusiasm at that.
Example: CD: Interesting. Many Macedonians proudly claim to me that
in Yugoslav times they were on a much higher social and economic level than the
Greeks. THIS IS A PREPOSTEROUS AND GROSSLY UNTRUE STATEMENT AND YOU ACCEPTED IT
ON FACE VALUE, FROM UN-IDENTIFIED PEOPLE AND THEN REPORTED IT AS A TRUE FACT.
Let me show YOU how
enormously wrong was, what you reported:
PER CAPITA GNI PPP IN US
$
***********************************
1981 GREECE
$4,859……………SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO…….$1,671
1985 GREECE $4,481……………SERBIA
AND MONTENEGRO…….$1,623
1990
GREECE…$8,676……………SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO…….$1,574
1995
GREECE…$11,645………….SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO…….$1,571
2000
GREECE…$10,578………….SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO……..$1,057
2005
GREECE…$22,950………….SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO……..$3,280
2008
GREECE…$32,520………….SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO……..$3,280
.
[Data validated from the
Population Reference Bureau and other sources]
Do you know what this grossly untrue
statement you have made, actually does? Renders unreliable all of your
musings in this interview. Then comes at
least one remarkable error of Victor Friedman, that I
will describe it because that significant error destroys the value of
his interview, and I will mention only one, of several, because
it is very striking, especially when coming from
a Linguist:
–He says and insists in saying it :VF.”One
telling aspect, from a linguist point of view, is that Greek is the only
language in the Balkans that does not have a proverb to the effect that
languages are wealth or the more languages you know, the more people you are
worth. All other languages have some such saying that indicates a value placed
on multilingualism.
CD. Are you sure this is
true, that the Greek lucks such a value? Or could someone just invent one for
the sake of it?
VF. To the best of my knowledge, there
is no such expression And over the years I have asked every Greek friend of
mine for such a proverb and no one of them has come up with one.And I am
talking about linguists, experts on the Balkans who are not subjective. WOW. THIS IS GROSS. THIS COMPLETELY AND ABSOLUTELY
PREPOSTEROUS AT SEVERAL LEVELS. MAN, I LEARNED SUCH A PROVERB WHEN I WAS 10
YEARS OLD. SUCH A PROVERB IS WIDELY KNOWN BY GREEK PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT
LINGUISTS.
–IT GOES LIKE
THIS: OSES GLOSSES EXEI, TOSA KEFALIA ECHEI…..which is absolutely
beautiful, because it means; AS MANY TONGUES ONE HAS, AS MANY HEADS HE
HAS! [which of course means, as many languages he speaks, as many Brains
he has].
-AND HERE COMES A LINGUIST
FROM THE WINDY CITY, CHICAGO, TO TELL THE WORLD THAT THE GREEK LANGUAGE
DOES NOT HAVE SUCH A PROVERB, TO DENOTE THE VALUE OF MULTILINGUALISM? THIS IS
RIDICULOUS AND IT NULLIFIES ALL THE REST OF HIS STATEMENTS. IN MY BOOK
THEY MEAN, ZERO, ZILCH.
IN SUMMARY: Those are two
serious errors, which are quite striking and render your interview worthless.
If you were back home, and you were
working for one of the big Newspapers or a top TV Station, and you made two
such errors, you will be fired on the spot. I suggest that you become much
more careful for your own good. Remember, your are in the Balkans, the worst
neighborhood in this planet. Do your research after your interview and validate
your writings. And pay attention to details. Keep well.
Michael C.
Geokas,M.D.,M.Sc.,Ph.D.(McGill).
(Em) Professor of Medicine and
Biochemistry
UC,Davis School of Medicine.
PRESIDENT, the, Think Tank,
DEMOKRITOS SOCIETY OF AMERICA
Alamo California
Tel: 001925946-1985
FAX: 001925946-1987
URL: WWW.DEMOKRITOS.ORG
.