One tendency within the PN always carried a strong dose of snobism as well as classism. Others not. For instance it never existed as far as I know, in the discourse of political actors like the Mifsud Bonnicis.
Generally such snobism is manifested in expressions of disdain towards workers and their families. They are used in media pieces as well as by way of inputs at informal meetings. Expressions such as “the great unwashed” and “vulgar, lowclass” (ħamalli) – not to mention expressions that date from way before, such as “theologians in boiler suit”.
PN propagandists like Andrew Borg Cardona and Daphne Caruana Galizia would delight in this kind of expression. It got them the support of those who feel comforted by the belief that Labour supporters are beyond the pale.
Yet even on this front, they rather remained a minority even within their own party.
Today one can recognize a shift in how this tendency performs. It has not become a majority flow, but is becoming more active. It is using language (“justice”, “the rule of law” and so on) as well as a style of mobilisation that while giving it the outer appearance of holiness, remains full of disdain inside.
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Bali forecasts
During a number of meetings attended by my colleagues and I in Bali, Indonesia, with experts and executive directors of the International Monetary Fund (which was holding its annual meetings) one feature stood out: everybody seemed to be focussing on the possibility of a new economic recession, at global and regional levels, and in the short run.
It was certainly not by coincidence that in the same week, The Economist magazine ran as its front page story the same concern about a coming recession.
So among the queries that came up were: How dark are the clouds that seem to be gathering on the horizon? Or are they rather grey?
The possibility of a commercial war arising between the US and China was uppermost in people’s minds.
About the euro zone, the question asked was: Has the zone reformed itself sufficiently to be able to face any crisis situation that could arise? Not everybody replied yes.
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Sienkiewicz
A long time ago, I had read his renowned novel “Quo Vadis?”. However in his own country, Henryk Sienkiewicz is known mostly for his historical novels. They changed the course of Polish literature, giving it new life.
“The Teutonic Knights” is one of them, set at the beginning of the Middle Ages when Poland was split and disunited.
The Polish people were however already recognizing themselves as a nation. Under the leadership of their nobility, they were beginning to resist foreign claims on their territory. This is a major theme of the novel, laid out in a brisk and credible manner. The major threat the Poles faced came from the Order of German (Teutonic) Knights, who having returned from the Crusades, seized swathes of Polish and other territory, setting up their own kingdom.
It’s a very long novel but I went through it quite fast for it helped to pass the empty hours of a long flight. It was written at a time when a unified Germany with Prussia at the core was becoming a hegemonic power in central Europe.