Are we really moving forward?
Progress. A single word which at face value has one definition – that of moving forward – but in truth carries so many connotations and potential meanings that it’s subjective to each and every individual.
This is the last editorial of The Malta Independent’s daily newspaper for 2023, so it is a good time to ponder and reflect on the last 12 months and to ask : are we really moving forward?
Sure in some areas you can certainly say that the indications are that we are moving forward : The economy has continued to grow, unemployment is at an all time low, and tourism is at an all time high, for instance.
But at what cost? The economy is moving forward, but to whose benefit? One will find that it’s those on the lower end of the food chain – the humble worker – who are being left behind.
Inflation is up – and the thing with inflation is that once the price of something has gone up, it will never come down, even if the factors that caused the inflation in the first place dissipate.
Any talk of increasing wages is met with complaints that prices will have to go up even further. The only reasonable conclusion is that the economy – which again, is supposedly moving forward – is relying on people living pay cheque to pay cheque, and any improvement to that comes to the same economy’s detriment.
This is without getting into the population issue. The concept that Malta’s economic progress is tied to its population growth has dominated discourse during 2023. The link is not exclusive, but it is more than tenuous.
And what is the cost of that? Third country nationals are imported into the Island as if they are some sort of disposable item : something to be thrown into a cupboard (because that’s effectively the accommodation that is being offered to them at ever more exorbitant prices), used until necessary, and then unceremoniously discarded only to be replaced by the next thing in line. It is treatment which strips them of their dignity as people.
It is treatment which has also made them the scapegoat, because while the economy has moved forward, other things have stalled or moved backwards. Traffic has increased, property prices have increased, quality of service has decreased, and infrastructures, such as the electricity grid and even the healthcare system at times, are struggling to cope.
It’s easy to scapegoat the foreigner who has come to the country – and the political discourse of significant figures such as the Opposition certainly hasn’t helped – but should they be the ones footing the blame? After all they are merely coming here to try and start a new, better life. The situation is not dissimilar to what the Maltese themselves did when they had emigrated to Australia, Canada and the US in their thousands in the mid-20th century.
Shouldn’t the blame lay at the feet of those who allowed and perpetuated the country to take this direction, without planning what was necessary for it to happen? Shouldn’t the blame lie in part with us who have closed an eye to this just as long as it lubricated the economic wheel enough, but at the same time didn’t cause us any undue inconvenience?
Then we come to society as a whole. Every year technology claims to bring us closer and to bring us convenience. Today you could argue that we are closer than ever, but at the same time further apart than we’ve ever been.
Society has become increasingly individualistic : it’s a dog eat dog world, and the only dog that matters is oneself. Basic values such as loyalty, kindness, honesty, love and selflessness have become increasingly buried by greed, selfishness, hate and mistrust. Those who don’t subscribe are left behind. Loneliness is on the increase; mental health issues are skyrocketing – but not a care in the world from society until a person is gone. Then it’s ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ and on with our day.
Is this the way that we want to live? Can we really say that we are moving forward? That there is progress? That things are getting better?
It’s not up to any person – or newspaper – to definitively answer those questions because, as already said, the word progress is subjective to every individual’s context and thinking.
So ours is really merely another voice into the void – but hopefully these last five minutes listening to it gives some food for thought, and some desire for change as the New Year dawns.