Naturally, the last week of an election campaign packs the greatest punch for one and all, as tensions rise. This happens even if everybody is aware of how things will pan out. It has been especially so in this campaign in which one and all behaved as if it were just a chronicle of a victory foretold. Even so...

In any event, we got clear and civil presentations of quite a number of big choices in the management of the islands, although certain important issues were evaded. Moreover, the campaign was overshadowed by the war launched by President Putin in the Ukraine. Even so, local... not to say parochial... issues were raised and drummed in.

Under the surface of events, votes will continue to shift between candidates competing on different districts. By this time, how things will progress would have become quite clear, not least given the opinion surveys that candidates have been commissioning as a campaigning tool. Even so, up to the final whistle, all efforts will be made not to let slip away any vote that could be gained to feed into candidates’ final personal tally.

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REFUGEES

Once again, Europe is experiencing a refugee crisis, this time originating in Europe itself. The countries which would refuse to take in refugees a few years ago, are now at the centre of a new wave of people arriving in total distress from the east. They’re giving them full support – as governments and as peoples.

It is difficult to predict how this tragic story will unfold. Likely, it will not follow the same pattern as when refugees came in from the Near East. Today’s refugees can surf, if that is the correct word, on a huge swell of sympathy. Let’s hope this does not reflect racist sentiments but a recognition that Putin’s war is really being fought at the heart of Europe. Many might be thinking that if today’s refugees are going to stay for long among “us”, they will find it easier in fact to integrate with European communities than their predecessors. However more than two and a half million Ukrainian refugees have arrived – which in terms of numbers is without precedent.  

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INDUSTRY AND MANUFACTURING

Not so long ago, when “industry” was being mentioned one would understand manufacturing, meaning the production of goods in a factory setting. No more. The word “industry” is today used to mean activities in different economic sectors, including financial services.

In the past that I’m referring to, there was a general understanding that the laws and regulations that were being introduced to promote industrial development – as it used to be labelled – were directed towards manufacturing. I do not see how the change that has taken place is for the better, even if one could reply with the formulaic “What’s in a name?”

Industry/manufacture then used to mean a complicated process by which a substantial number of workers would be employed in one enterprise, covering investments and the transfer of production skills that would result in significant value added. This can hardly be claimed for many activities, which have gotten to be called industries, and that are now carried out here in order to create wealth (?) that is purely financial.