In all that is happening around us in our daily life, whether it is do with the care of the elderly in the COVID19 pandemic, the safety of our children who return to their desks at school, of their teachers, of front-line workers, carers and amidst the political turmoil and tribulation constantly facing us, we can see that Malta is under great stress and probably broken. We are now a country of a thousand opinions but that basically fall into the biased, indoctrinated class intent on preserving the status quo and the free-thinking who endeavor for social justice and a nobler Malta.
In the absence of truth, there is only darkness which causes fear and insecurity that is compensated by bluff, bravado, aggression and individualism on a massive scale. The land is fertile for indoctrination and submission.
No wonder the success of One TV and the other Labour media outlets and its presenters and followers. Little to be surprised by the aggression levied against the memorial of the murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Totally normal, in that perverted sense, in which trolls rake the social media and approach subjects with venom, discrimination, false compassion, egoism and rage.
Having submitted to the materialistic, deceitful, power at any cost indoctrinations of Joseph Muscat there was nothing left for his followers but to trust him, adore him and above all, obey him. Starting from the weak, shifty, egoistic Cabinet with not one soul amongst them who was ever worth one vote that put them in their seats to the man in the street who bullied his way around and grew confident in abusing others, because they could.
We are now a country of enemies. A free for all, all-out attack on values and basic human principles. Nationalism replaced by tribal mongering. The whole country is no longer fit for purpose.
In ordinary circumstances, journalism should stand as the bastion. How many times in countries under oppression, whilst editors are being rounded up and taken to police stations, brave efforts are made to keep the newspaper printed and distributed. To defend the word that is mightier than the sword.
We have blogs, radio interviews and debate programmes. We have the Sunday papers and the chats in cafes’ (or we used to pre social distancing). We have public opinion. Or do we? What is shaping public opinion these days if not repetitive propaganda?
This was the week that saw Keith Schembri, Brian Tonna and Karl Cini brought in for interrogation by the police for alleged crimes that date back 4 years.
We also grappled with the staggering number of residents and staff at care homes that contracted Covid19 or that had to be quarantined. Besides numbers that are not showing signs of decreasing in the community.
Is it enough, in this stark reality, that we just hear the news? Today such a number of deaths, such a number of positive cases, so many who are recovered and so on. Who will be asking why this has happened, what is being done about it, who can intervene and who can advise the population on what policy the government is really following in the pandemic? When will the PM speak to anyone other than One journalists? Where is the Minister for Health?
Why did it take so long for the police to investigate and prepare their case, if at all, against those who break the law?
Why so much secrecy and self-defence in everything that concerns the whole nation? Who are we protecting? The Prime Minister? The Labour government? The voters?
People simply do not want to be disturbed. They want to enjoy their summer or get on with their jobs. They are by now used to having just a morsel of information, so that they can say this is a democratic country. There is no hunger for the truth. The only interest is short-term convenience.
Everyone needs to be held to account. From the cheaters to the criminals. From the flag-waver to the champagne drinker. From the fishing boat to the super-yacht week-ender. From the caravans to the out-beyonders. To have a right to know and to investigate wherever it may take you. There are no persons who are above the law, who have a special dispensation to be accountable only to themselves. No one gets to decide what information could cause unrest, meaning outrage.
Raise a point and then the false compassion sweeps in. The victims are turned. Heroes are made according to personal preferences. Talk of persecution or hounding becomes the legitimate cry from those who protest against the right to know.
If we do not have a will to go wherever the truth may take us, then we are doomed to remain in the same farcical, undignified mess we are in, sucking up silly stories, in submission to a culture of exhibitionism, egoistic greed and mis-placed pride. A nation totally alienated by self-interest and division.
Instead of conducting online polls, there needs to be the information basis on which opinions can be formed. Otherwise it is all sensationalism and speculation and leads to nowhere. Or do only clicks matter these days?
Social media has been known to have manipulated choices and opinions in elections and on serious issues by other parties who have a vested interest in shaping the result. Education is about more than results in exams. It should teach students how to think and about critical thought, fairness and to be able to tell right from wrong.
In politics, it is not enough to pay lip-service to the youth organisations. They are as valid as the established representatives and should be encouraged to participate.
We often noted the absence of youths at protest marches. They, too, need to be called to assume responsibility for the future of their country, unless they have no love for it and only seek to leave at the first possible chance. Last November and December, when the younger generation started to show up at demonstrations, it made a big difference. There was unity and a hope that enough people cared to see change.
It is not only corruption that is killing this country. It is the climate that allows it to happen with impunity and which always pushes aside any news that does not, in our mind, affect us directly.
People tell you not to open your mouth unless you have a member of your family in a care home. Your enquiries, they say are just politically driven. For four long years, you could not speak of corruption and Simon Busuttil was ridiculed for going forward with the evidence of bribery and kick-backs. But anyone who stood by him or by the conclusion of corruption all around us was being negative.
Positive, negative, Labour, Nationalist. Labels that are driving this country into the gutter.
The Archbishop inaugurates a shelter for young migrant mothers and the first comments are to accuse him of favouring the migrants over the Maltese. Ownership is driven into everyone’s mind. My country, my Church, my party, my generosity on my terms. I choose if you can speak and who you serve.
One is so tempted to say “So be it” and turn away from stress and conflict and just sit it out. Then we see an interview with Matthew Caruana Galizia and we are reminded that we cannot give up. His and his family’s fortitude and determination in uncovering the truth is a mission for life. The least we can do is sustain our faith, do our part and trust in a better future.