In the past much political discourse used to centre on “ideology”. “Real” socialism versus christian democracy. Democratic socialism versus liberalism and laisser faire. Planning and state enterprise compared to the market economy.
Today political discourse (and controversies) revolve mostly about options for infrastructural projects, the environment and who is best competent to run a country. (Omitted from this list is corruption for this has been an issue that is perenially on the boil, in the past, just as much as today.)
The change has been happening for quite a while although I still do not know whether it has been for the better. One of the first signals recording how it was on its way was provided by the reply given, if I remember correctly, by the finance minister in the first Fenech Adami administration of 1987-1992 to a parliamentary question I put to him: When was the government going to publish its plan for Malta’s economic development?
The reply: The government did not intend to issue such a plan (basically because the time for economic planning was past... though this was not said in so many words.)
In many sectors, political action has been “reduced” to reacting to how the free market is moving.
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ATROCITIES
The claims and counter-claims about the Bucha atrocities could go one way or the other. Personally I am not convinced by the denials issued by the Kremlin. Firstly Putin’s Russia has lost much credibility after having spent weeks denying that it was massing its troops close to the Ukrainian frontiers in order to launch an invasion. But then in fact, that’s what it did.
And then, it has now become quite clear that the Russian troops – far from successfully achieving the victory they were meant to win in short time – were held back, suffered many losses and seemed not to be well trained for the bloody jobs they were sent to carry out. It is not the first time that inexperienced troops who feel trapped end up committing atrocities... Whether this formed part of a Russian plan to terrorise Ukrainian civilians can only be established by neutral investigators.
We shall see whether Russia would agree for such an investigation to be organised.
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MENTAL HEALTH
It has become necessary to highlight mental health as an issue about which new initiatives need to be taken. In Malta it has been quite a long time since we started such a discussion, without really advancing far. Recently the Labour Party organised a conference about what the aims of social policy should be to provide better support for those needing mental health care.
At the European Parliament, the group of socialists and democrats is preparing a policy document about mental health which carries a number of important proposals. Some major points of departure in the document cover the damage that the Covid pandemic did to families and individuals because of the isolation it kept them in; as well as with the increase in domestic violence triggered by the mental stress the pandemic induced...
The S&D document could perhaps have focussed better on the choices that need to be made by way of the setting of priorities in social policy. This has got to be done in a manner that places mental health at the centre of social initiatives. Still, a start has got to be made from somewhere.