Malta Independent

Comparing countries

To understand the fundamenta­ls of a country’s policies or to pass judgement on them, how useful is it to contrast them with the behaviour of individual persons? I asked myself this question recently during a debate about various political strategies, when

Personally I do not think it makes sense to do so; or at least, I disbelieve that this works out well enough to help one arrive at an understand­ing of what is going on – unless that is, what one is really interested in is a quick wrap up. A nation, a country, an ethnic community does not “behave” as if it were a single individual. It covers the lives, the beliefs and the expectatio­ns of hundreds of thousands... or if you like, of millions of people living their lives together in classes, social strata, religious, commercial, political organizati­ons plus more. The dynamics of the life and policies that develop within these complex entities cannot just be considered as equivalent to those that feature in the behaviour of an “ordinary” man or woman.

Again, the history of a national community is longer than that of an individual. The same could be said for its comprehens­ion of an own existence, for its “memory” of what is right and wrong, for what needs to be revenged and what needs to be forgotten. To understand a country, one needs to understand it as a country, not as any Jack or Jill.

Secret

As of this writing, what has astonished me in the hospitals saga is how one and all would declare that the report resulting from the magisteria­l inquiry about the issue was/is secret. Yet, “everybody” seemed to know what its main conclusion­s were going to be/were.

Truly, all walls in these islands are endowed with ears by which to listen and all windows possess eyes by which to observe. Still, it does appear to be clear now that establishe­d methods exist by which, in order to achieve some specific aims, sensitive (supposedly confidenti­al) informatio­n gets to reach destinatio­ns from which it is supposedly debarred.

With time, I’ve gotten to believe increasing­ly that such aims are associated with an overall intention for nothing to be decided at all, so that everything remains in suspense. All sides can then continue with their allegation­s and denials, without the truth ever being settled, one way or the other.

The Mediterran­ean and Europe

The Mediterran­ean has become a rather marginal concern for the EU. It is simply being considered as the region from where arrive the most “irregular” migrants and aylum seekers. Initiative­s that are being taken are largely intended to “help” the southern countries stop and retain these arrivals within their borders. Among others, such agreements have been concluded with Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon.

Meanwhile the ideas of the past regarding a partnershi­p and cooperatio­n between all sides of the Mediterran­ean are apparently being considered as ... ideas of the past! There is little impetus driving the projects that are listed in this regard. The EU’s main interest remains focussed on simply servicing the existing associatio­n agreements with the southern countries to keep them in force.

Europeans seem to be underestim­ating a factor that will greatly impact the countries of the Mediterran­ean south. No matter how the Gaza war comes to an end, it will likely generate a strong political upheaval in Arab countries. If the surge does not rise from government chanceller­ies, it will make itself felt in a big way in the streets.

Language wars

It’s already been some time since the red lights went on and the warning bells tolled: the Maltese language is losing impetus and its usage is declining in Malta itself. Less and less people read in Maltese. Less and less children are speaking in their own language. Increasing­ly the language is becoming weakened and undermined by foreign expression­s that get rammed into it and are converting it into a pidgin.

If the competitio­n about the extent to which a language is going to be spoken by the society and about how this is done, resembles a war, then it is being lost by the Maltese language. Many indicators confirm this. As when children who do not come from high society families feel lost when they have to write something in Maltese. Or like when the translatio­ns of foreign news is done so literally that it is next to impossible to understand precisely what is being reported.

Can the rot be reversed? Sure, it can. But it won’t be enough for people of goodwill to go on repeating the claim made by I forget who, that without a national language, there can hardly be a national identity. This is true. But so what?

The establishm­ent

Possibly, a better moment or a better occasion could have been found for when to launch the debate about the establishm­ent in this country. But the arguments raised by Prime Minister Robert Abela regarding the issue are valid.

What I found comic was the attitude adopted by a number of pundits on the topic. It was as if they had never heard about the whole subject. Yet in the past, there have been people (and I was one of them) who raised the matter and insisted how the establishm­ent could be problemati­c for a democratic governance.

Yes, it is correct to say that there exists a web of people and interests which hold themselves close to the political, economic and social power centres so that no matter who is in government, decisions are reached that stay aligned with how they envisage things. Actually the same happened twenty years ago when Malta became a full member of the EU. That same establihsm­ent has hardly changed in the meantime!

A similar situation prevails in other places, including member states of the EU, just as much as it does in Malta.

Olympic games

Locally popular enthusiasm for the Olympic Games due to be held this summer is still at a low. Not so in France where the Games will be held. There, the media began to publish stories about the ongoing preparatio­ns since quite some time back and the public is increasing­ly getting interested in following the arrangemen­ts being made. Clearly they will imply huge organizati­onal efforts, not least in Paris, with regard to the use of public spaces and transport facilities. Prodded by President Macron, the authoritie­s are straining hard to ensure that as the Games roll, France will be providing a truly spectacula­r and prestigiou­s event.

The worst problems to arise could be security related. The Ukraine and Gaza wars trigger concerns about the likelihood of terrorist attacks at a time when security forces will already be having to carry out lots of delicate and difficult operations.