The events which have unfolded over the past days and the lack of proper address by those who were given a mandate to ensure such events are minimised, is truly a cause for great serenity for the perpetuators.
Our politicians know that the populace or pseudo-electorate, who actually elected them to office, is in disarray (at times they must be surprised themselves how they got elected in the first place) for a myriad of reasons which have been around for a good number of decades. Moreover, they are fully aware of the message, which is now clear enough, ie that the democracy deficit is so high that they can pull a fast one with no or only minor consequences.
Unfortunately such events reflect that the fundamental question underpinning the whole social debate, ie that of posterity, has been at best ignored. Often this statement is simplistically and very wrongly interpreted as keeping the status quo for the sake of the next generation, a kind of guardianship of the present state of affairs.
Nothing can be further from the truth. As one might come to notice, it is in fact, the exact opposite of what really needs to be done.
Mankind, through the societies/cultures created over the ages, inherently seeks order of one kind or another, since chaos is tiresome. It reminds the collective and the personal of their final state of being. Left unguarded, nature will reorder itself towards such a state as anyone who owns or cares for anything can testify by the amount of care he/she exercises to prevent such an object or relationship from changing its form into something unpleasant or useless.
There are mainly two ways of going about the required remedial action to counter such natural trends of decay; either continuously by means of a culture of perpetual renovation instilled and passed on to the future generations; or abruptly, usually ending up in either scrapping the object/relationship or else very nearly doing so. In the end, both will achieve the same goal.
A very good analogy, in every respect, is that of our Mount Magħtab. For years, those supposedly ‘responsible’, along with their supporters, ignored the problem, and remedial action is now very costly. The solution: planting some trees, will surely not go a long way in stopping the ongoing decomposition and toxic leaching: however it does prove the existing detachment from reality. In truth of fact, the solution to remove the millions of tons of waste from Magħtab will cost the taxpayer big money; money which should have been paid in much smaller amounts over the years, in the first place to stop such accumulation and set up proper recycling facilities. All this is not new; it is in fact cemented in popular wisdom, as the old Maltese saying goes: “aħjar uff, milli aħħ”. The same can be said of a lot of other matters, from parties which held a public mandate for 25 years, to the rise of the IS Group and the dangerous suburbs in the heart of Europe itself, such as those in Brussels and Paris. Cleaning up the mess will now require great resolve and patience, both of which are clearly lacking by both the populace and in turn their governments.
Focusing on the Maltese problem, one must admit that the choice put to the people in terms of who was more suitable to be trusted with the governing mandate is pathetic. Once again, due to the previous administration not tackling the posterity issue, the current incumbent has the excuse of comparing the scandals of the past to the current ones. Only this time conveniently forgetting that he was elected on the ticket to get rid of, or more realistically reduce, such instances! Starting afresh is very close to the only option. Thus the destructive phase of the creative or restorative process must be applied and once again the choice is clear for those who wish to see it: either admit a mistake and start afresh today, or keep holding onto the status quo and pass on a more poisoned situation tomorrow. The problem here is who will undertake this process of renovation and how? The answer to the ‘how’ question, is very much linked to the answer of ‘who’. Who will undertake this process?
Certainly not those who stand to profit from the current state of affairs: not the current government or opposing parties, not the several fanatics who feel as though they themselves are in power, even though they are treated almost to a worst degree than fanatics of the opposite side, and surely not by the retinue of contractors benefiting from the unprecedented spat of direct orders, they have in hand.
The same can be said on the international side of things. Not some Merkel, who sees the status quo as the only money-making mechanism for her country. Not the bankers, who are constantly cashing in on all fronts and certainly not an Icelandic or British prime minister, who (especially the latter) imposed various budget-cuts and led wars against corporate tax evasion, only to be caught stacking cash in tax havens themselves! So if these chaps are not up to it and no one suitable mechanism exists or is setup to educate the electorate on what lies ahead; the ‘how’ becomes unfortunately very clear; i.e. painfully through civil upheaval and/or another war.
Fortunately, we might still be in time. Other nations have come to realise that this is the way, we, in the European Union, are heading. In the light of this ever growing inequality on all fronts, be they social, economic, political or educational, various movements are appearing on the scene seeking answers. DiEM25, Democracy in Europe Movement 25, for one, is one such clear oracle. We are truly living a moment of great potential change. It would be a pity if we wasteed the opportunity! Let’s not be accomplices to the present mediocrity! Let’s think out of the box! It is our life that’s at stake!
The point which must not be ignored however is that we must start getting used to reduced stability for the years to come. In other words, we have to get used to paying a price to better the situation. How small this price will be depends entirely on how effectively and how early we act!
Hence, in conclusion, the ‘serenity’ experienced by the likes exposed by the Panama Papers should very well be the very reason for our anxiety!
James Borg Bartolo