One of the first things I noticed when I began to mature into a responsible citizen was that there were two versions of Maltese history. I had grown up being taught one of them, without realising that another version existed all along. I am of course talking about the two opposite worlds in which the PN and PL both live.
In one world, Dominic Mintoff was our saviour, making us secular and neutral. In the other narrative, Mintoff was our greatest misfortune, forcing people to smuggle toothpaste and chocolate into the country. Narratives are political battlegrounds. They must always be questioned and challenged, as often the dominant narrative is merely the one with the largest marketing budget behind it.
I find that the truth often lies somewhere in between. In politics and history alike, do not just focus on what is being said. It is always crucial to notice what people are not saying, too. Silence is a dead giveaway that they are avoiding something. Step outside the narrative. Where there is doubt, ask questions.
Politicians and businessmen use stories to divide us. If there is nothing to hide, why resist an investigation? Why do the key figures in the Panama Papers scandal insist on appealing, in Court, against an ongoing independent investigation into the whole affair? Why do they fail to even come up with a good excuse for why they are appealing an investigation? What startles me is that they have convinced many people not to care. It must all be a conspiracy.
While we must not play judge, jury and executioner, we must always hold our public servants to account according to the highest possible standards. They work for us. We pay their salaries through our taxes and we vote for them. That means that we have a right to ask questions and to get answers.
Sometimes, problems go beyond narratives. After all, while there might always be deep divisions between hunters and environmentalists, there should also be attempts to seek common cause. Hunters depend on a healthy ODZ to practise their hobby, and can therefore work with environmentalists against overdevelopment.
There are no magical solutions to everything in Malta – but it is clear once again that tribalism is holding us back. To be tribal in Malta is to accept your leader's word as Gospel truth. Instead, let us remind ourselves that politicians work for us, and they owe us answers to a lot of questions indeed. Let us try to understand one another and beat back the marketing budget designed to fool us one way or another.
The biggest sign that something is missing from the way we understand the world is that the other half of the country feels exactly the opposite way about something than we do, and on a very small archipelago, too. If we meet halfway, perhaps we will realise we are overdue for some change which will benefit us all.