Joseph Muscat tries very hard to camouflage his many tools and tactics by dumping them into the cannot-fail-to-please bag – the New Middle Class. If it wasn’t in the Taghna Lkoll billboard, if it goes exactly the opposite way of what was stated, if it breaks the rules and smells really bad, then it has to go into the new middle class basket and get certified.
As the general population swing from hot to cold and “maa how horrible” to “insomma, it can’t be that bad” , whilst looking over their shoulder to see if they are caught making some bread out of it, this fake economy and fictitious new middle class gives Muscat his get-out-of-jail-free card.
Now people start to doubt themselves and do a double-check to see if they are being snobs or depriving some lower class workers from having a chance to go on a cruise. Guilt is transferred to the doubter and the rest of the pack are quickly ushered on board the new class to enjoy their perks.
In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are portraits of all levels of English life. Following the high class are pilgrims whose high social rank is mainly derived from commercial wealth. Included in this group are the Merchant, who illegally made much of his money from selling French coins (a practice that was forbidden in England at the time); the Sergeant of Law, who made his fortune by using his knowledge as a lawyer to buy up foreclosed property for practically nothing; the Clerk, who belongs with this group of pilgrims because of his gentle manners and extensive knowledge of books; and the Franklin, who made enough money to become a country gentleman and is in a position to push for a noble station although it is evident he is not of the noble class.
The last group of pilgrims include those of the immoral lower class. Among this group of pilgrims are the Manciple, who profits from buying food for the lawyers in the Inns of Court, and the vulgar Miller, who steals from his customers. The Reeve tells dirty stories and cheats his trusting young master, and the corrupt Summoner takes bribes. Last, and most corrupt in this litany of undesirables is the Pardoner, who sells false pardons and fake relics.
Might we say that together, these two ranks form the bulk of Muscat’s New Middle Class?
New Middle Ages is probably closer to it. It is becoming more evident by tolerance levels, that people struggle to evolve and to choose alternative lifestyles that go beyond acquisition and status and to have confidence in themselves and their own mind.
They are only just getting out of lycra at the gym and into health food at the Golden Bay festival whilst baby-sitting turtles and killing birds. Santa Maria breaks in Gozo clog Victoria with cars and going to Comino’s Blue Lagoon with the boat within a pack of wall to wall vessels and bodies is getting to one with nature.
Judgement is in a flux. On the one hand we are now a country with divorce and all other permutations and making a distinction between moral and immoral is growing ever more murky. Pope Benedict XVI refers to it as the Dictatorship of Relativism. Having gone from field to city in a relatively short burst of time, travelled a bit further than Rome, London and Lourdes and watched the “teledram” enough to know that drama pays, the general view is that evolving must constitute material show and complicated lifestyles and the less you know the better.
Evolving as a person is no better illustrated than by the mother of the Hungarian teen who lost his life in Gozo. What a sensitive and inspired woman she has shown herself to be. Her words touched our heart and gave us a completely new perspective on grief, loss and motherly love. Her testimony reflects a really mature and spiritual soul. She is fully aware of the immense loss she and her sons have suffered but she never tries to avoid the truth or blame anyone. On the contrary, she is grateful and embraces this new home for her lost son.
We should work harder as a people, as a nation, to grow spiritually and civilly and stop doubting ourselves when we sense that something is wrong. Corruption, illegalities, mediocrity, failure to deliver, lies and fabrications, cannot be justified or turned into the modern lifestyle, able to please a crowd and silence the weary.
There is more to a nation than the economy, a Mediterranean cruise, fancy kitchens and the spa. The confusion around us is becoming too much to ignore and the attitude of “If you can’t beat them join them” is the only way for some people to cope with the crass lure.
Muscat has groomed his people well. Now they should want what only he can give them and be flattered that they can join his elite group.
The tanker that is as long as three football pitches and much more likely to cause harm to the villages and residents than the BWSC ever came close to is the price to pay for joining the new middle class. Utter one word against it or against Keith and Konrad and their Panama Papers and you are one of the negative ones, like Simon.
You may think you are emancipated and too busy to have an opinion that goes against the populist one or you may be really enjoying the ride. There is absolutely nothing wrong in being just middle class. What is to happen then to a whole rank of people forming the middle class? Do we just pretend they don’t exist? Do we exile them to a remote desert or be sure to never call the name of the One Who Cannot be Mentioned?
If more people, by definition of some increased income and new postal address have moved up the ladder, let them belong to the middle class. Otherwise you are discriminating against them by saying they are New Middle Class. What is that? I presume that they themselves are quite curious to know. Maybe if you are living on the 8th floor upwards of a high-rise block you are the Sliema new middle class?
We do not need a new middle class to sit on the old one. The stench is unbearable. All that is happening with this nonsense is that the owners of these mega constructions are trying to market their property and draw people up to the 38th floor.
Much in the same way that Joseph Muscat sells passports for Henley and Partners around the world he touts the new middle class so that they actually if not purchase, at least, support the new towers.
A salesman building his client list.