The organs of government and of political parties are not the only social organs for defining or for realizing the common good.

There are other social agencies, from the family to voluntary organizations, and all across the spectrum that includes the media, the university and the religious denominations, which have the right and the interest to contribute to full and free social life. These social agencies, most of them voluntary, should be seen as the life-line of human liberty.

This explains why it is vital to the democratic process that these social agencies should engage actively in the debate on economic development.

Clear philosophic premises are needed to achieve concepts of the person, society, state, the common good, pluralism, dialogue and tolerance.

Political and institutional premises are needed to define how conflicting values and purposes could actually be met in practice.

Rights and Values

It is not enough to have philosophical premises and to argue logically. It is necessary to determine how, institutionally, all values and rights are respected, in due proportion, through the routine and regularity of everyday practice.

The design of such institutions calls for practical wisdom and a degree of maturity, beyond a capacity for philosophic argument..

To be sure, on many matters, civilized persons must agree to disagree. But social policy cannot go forward until there is at least sufficiently broad consensus on matters of practice.

Maintaining a civil conversation is, therefore, the essence of a free and democratic society. It is the medium for ordered progress and it explains how the economic base of society has been raised from its immemorial levels of poverty, ignorance, apathy and so on.

Of course, not all parts of the world have developed equally or at an equal rate. Indeed, the term ‘development’ has emerged at a relatively late moment in history.. It is a concept that has been tackled at different stages by different peoples. The process called not only for political wisdom and the embrace of concepts and institutions of human rights, but also for economic wisdom

Questions.

How is new wealth to be produced in a sustainable and progressive way? How are the capacities of individuals to invent and to create likely to be unleashed with optimum effect.? What sort of economic institutions yield the best results swiftly and efficiently?

Malta’s problem is to set up institutions suitable to its culture under conditions of democracy.

Isn’t there ample room for a broad and, if necessary, vigorous ongoing debate to establish sane parameters for a Maltese political economy of development?

Yet much of the academic world is muted. The business institutions tend to take the subjective, rather than the objective view. And there are no voices in the vanguard capable of bringing social thought to bear in the sphere of Maltese politics. The arena is practically taken over by the political parties.

Opinion makers would do well to open up a debate with reference to the social dimension of human personality inherent in the common good and the necessity of distinguishing between society and the state, and on the responsibility of the person and of its will and free intellect.

In a pluralist, democratic society this would lead to a better evaluation of government policy and to the search for alternatives..

A healthy debate would be in the public interest. Unfortunately, the audience has so far been more interested in listening than in debating.

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