There are many influences in this world that want but one simple thing. It may sound trivial but that is something that we cannot touch or feel or really know much about. That is, power over each of us. Control is an insatiable hunger borne deep within the human spirit. This is a strange thing to say but it is true. This is a story about many people who played a part in life to understand how individuals try to manipulate you. A mother wants to control her son, a wife wants to control her husband and children, a boss wants to control his subordinates, and a priest may want to control his congregation. Of these, a father's desire to control a son could be the most treacherous of all. Some of these influences are intentionally good as well as bad. This is not to say these people are all evil but some of their purposes may not be as pure as one should assume. We need to look at these considerations very carefully. Alas, we may unfortunately lack the wisdom to fully grasp an unsuitable role model and think that this is normal. I am an Armenian. I had to understand how people acted to me as a child. This was something where people did not act proud about, because of historic events which did not achieve closure resulting in an unjust situation. When you grew up, you accepted this mentality because you were helpless against anything that happened bad to you. Moreover, when you went to work and lost a job, this was a familiar trend that seemed to become karma. Others taking away life and death meant nothing and no one cares. Is this the way society should be or can we change this mentality to offer light against this darkness and step out into the sunlight? The answer is yes but it is a long tortuous journey. When I was in the Army I went to war. Many decades later I served toward the end of my career in four wars at the Pentagon. No, I was not a hero. No, I did not receive acknowledgment for my achievements. I just did the best I could. I did what I was supposed to do. I did not have a clear understanding of what these wars were about although there was a grain of morality in each war. Without a doubt, my belief is that all of these wars were situations that prevented the strong from killing the weak. In my existence, I had to understand my own history as an Armenian. I learned some things about genocide. That is: Genocide has no conscience. Genocide has no morality, it has no memory. Genocide has no ethics or culture, it has very little history. Genocide takes advantage of innocence by cheapening the cost of human life. Basically genocide has no soul and is an evil avenue used to exercise hatred where a minority can be eliminated with some semblance of legality. Genocide killed Armenians, the holocaust killed Jews, Poles, and gypsies. The killing fields of Indochina killed Cambodians. The Rwandan genocide devoured 125,000 people in just over a single weekend, the Serbs killed Bosnians, and the Sudanese have killed Africans in Darfur. Genocide does not discriminate based upon religion; it swallows whole Christian Armenians, European Jews, Cambodian Buddhists, Bosnian Moslems, and those with no religious preference. Genocide knows no color; it devours whites, yellows, or blacks. Genocide is mindless; it devours the educated and uneducated. It thrives on ignorance and if it is not recognized for what it really is will continue to propagate because those that perpetrate it will realize they will not be held responsible for their actions. If it is not stopped, it will continue. Who will be next? Are these new victims the Turkish and Iraqi Kurds who want their own nation or is Africa ready to shed some more blood and tears? With these thoughts, stop for a moment and think about it. Consider how you, as a human being, can interact as a single human being. Now consider your influence in the greater expand of society. Do you have the courage to do this? Who is the crazy man hiding in your basement?