The modern world is one where millions of people are living disconnected from reality. Each generation is acting on some kind of programming that they received; constantly creating the illusion of progress. Focused on the external material world, they completely neglect the other side of their existence as spiritual beings.
How much do we personally connect with life? Is our life nothing more than a set of programmes, beliefs, and perceptions that we inherited? These questions come to mind when one considers that millions of people spend an inordinate amount of time on the social media reading fake news, watching false reels, re-posting tonnes of misinformation, and accepting everything posted on the media without taking time to step back and look at reality.
But what is reality? Of course, this itself is an eternal question, but finding the answer is not as important as asking the question. My personal opinion is that every problem that we are faced with could be addressed by bringing back reverence for the mystery of life. The return of the Mystic experience could help us transform our existence.
I am writing this because I recently watched part of the performance by Patti Smith dedicated to Hildegard of Bingen at the Church of the Scalzi in Venice. It lasted just half an hour, but the concentration and austerity that Smith summoned were astounding. She brought to life Hildegard, the 12thcentury Rhineland abbess, mystic, composer, scientist, visionary, author of medical treatises, liturgies, and letters to the powerful of her age.
Actually, while writing this piece, I listened to "A Feather on the Breath of God," performed by the Gothic Voices with soprano Emma Kirkby - from an award-winning album worthy of the Hildegard craze.
Patti Smith's performance was part of the official opening of the Holy See Pavilion of the Vatican at the 61st Venice Biennale, with the exhibition entitled "The Ear and Eye of the Soul." The Vatican exhibition dovetails with curator Koyo Kouoh's concept for this year's Biennale, which is about "slowing the pace and turning into a quieter register."
Oftentimes, Mysticism is put in the same category as religion. Far from it. The mystical experience transcends any belief system. If you just wish to experiment, I suggest you visit the Mysterium Fidei museum and Secret Garden at St. Catherine's Monastery in Valletta. Here you will immerse yourself into the world of the cloistered nuns who lived secluded for over four centuries. The quietness of the complex and the intimate details of daily life evoke a sense of awe and reverence for a story of faith and isolation.
You don't need to be a fervent believer. Just sit in the garden, close your eyes, listen to the birds, and imagine a world where the nuns once cultivated herbs, tended fruit trees, and cared for small animals. In a few minutes, you should experience some of the harmony between solitude and nature that defined the nuns' lives.
But if you are a fervent believer, you can do it as a Christian, a Buddhist or whatever. After all mysticism isn't necessarily about miracles or altered stages of consciousness. Even the Christian mystics like Hildegard didn't just think about God; they wanted to identify the keys to a pious life and love for neighbour.
Fig-leaf tariffs
Donald Trump has reignited his tariff war with the world, imposing new levies on 60 countries, including Malta. The White House accused the countries concerned of violating rules against international trade in goods produced with forced labour. The move, which is widely seen as a response to a Supreme Court ruling which struck down Mr Trump's original "Liberation Day" tariffs, has been condemned by all countries concerned.
The Trump Administration is not accusing Malta of using slave labour to produce its exports. What it is saying is that our government is guilty of "failure to impose and effectively enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labour," and that this failure "burdens or restricts U.S. commerce." In other words, it is going to impose tariffs on Malta, not because Malta uses slave labour, but because China does, and it claims that Malta is hurting America because it isn't doing enough to stop those slave-produced goods from China entering our own market.
Absolutely nobody believes this story. There is zero evidence that Malta or the EU are worse at policing global slave labour than the U.S. is. I am convinced that the Trump administration itself does not even care about slave labour. After all, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin himself has stated that "Despite our nation's foundation in freedom guaranteed in our Constitution, forced labor exists and persists in the United States even today." In fact, according to the World Population Review's Global Slavery Index, there are over a million slave labourers in the USA.
In other words, Trump's new tariffs are nothing but an excuse for another attempted end-run around the Supreme Court's judgment and a massive insult to other democratic nations, including Malta.
Working too hard?
Thinkers ranging from John Maynard Keynes a century ago ̶ when he predicted a 15-hour workweek by now ̶ to AI enthusiasts today have concluded that, as the world grows richer and technology advances, people should have to work less. In fact, over the last few years there has been much talk about a 4-day working week, in Malta not least.
According to research by Amory Gethin and Emmanuel Saez of the World Bank, it's entirely wrong. The two researchers found no evidence that working hours fall for people of prime working age as economic development expands. Instead, they discovered that what affects hours at work are social choices such as schooling for the young, pensions for older people, the social and cultural choices different people make, and income support for everyone else.
Their research published by the International Monetary Fund shows that, on average, employed persons in 160 countries work 42 hours per week. In Malta, the average in 2025 was 37.2 hours, pushed down somewhat due to the reduced hours worked by part-time workers, mostly women. That compares with, say, 33.2 hours in Germany and 33.6 in Finland.
What is happening in most advanced middle-to-higher income countries, including Malta, is that the hours worked by males are going down and is quantitatively being offset by increases in female employment rates. Naturally, once female rates reach a high level, the hours worked plateau and may well start going down.
One might ask how this fits in with the idea of introducing a four-day working week. The Government has already shot this one down, no doubt mindful of strong objections by the business lobby. Given the tight labour supply situation in Malta, it is not easy to buy into the advantages claimed for a shorter working week.
As I see it, the shorter working week will come in time, as extensive use of AI and other technologies reduce the need for humans in industrial production and some services. But unless there is a considerable improvement in productivity, the economic justification for it will be dubious.
That first date
Today's youngsters are apparently finding it difficult to start dating. At least, that's what Jacke Jantos, the boss of Hinge ̶ a dating app which creates prompts to start chatting with a match ̶ told the BBC lately. According to Jantos, Gen Z daters want love but struggle to have the confidence to do so because they socialise less in person.
Jantos claims that Gen Z spend around 1,000 fewer hours a year in person with other people than those of the same age group two decades ago. I'm not surprised, when I see dozens of youngsters clicking away on their mobiles but hardly taking to each other. As a result, they feel lonely "often or always," according to research, and lose the skills required to date.
But some social psychologists counter that, while dating apps spare single people from the possibility of rejection by strangers, they do not provide the social cues that physical connections provide. That first date is always nerve-wracking and a struggle, but meeting somebody physically for a coffee, a walk or going to concert is surely a better way of getting to know somebody.
Elevating business
The infamous businessman Christian Borg, known for the predatory and fraudulent No Deposit Cars hire purchase saga, had a Court of Appeal claim rejected on the grounds that the case he filed was based on a private agreement featuring a signature that was likely forged.
The Court's judgment was the climax of a seven-year legal battle between him and the suppliers of two lifts for his showroom. Borg claimed that, despite paying in advance, the lifts were never fully installed, and he demanded the payment of €160,000 in penalties.
The Court described the case as "hopeless," noting several irregularities, lack of best evidence, failure to produce witnesses, and a signature which he claimed was the supplier's but in fact looked nothing like the actual signature. Borg lost the case hands down and was ordered to pay all legal costs.
He found the Court less lenient than the Inland Revenue Department which had earlier dropped criminal proceedings against him for tax fraud and money-laundering. The IRD case had led to a massive €52m freezing order. Borg benefited from a controversial financial crime settlement law introduced some months ago.
There is a joke that "elevators have their ups and downs, but they always rise to the occasion." Borg also seems to have a lot of ups and downs, but on this occasion he fell down. The tax evasion escape, on the other hand, could be said to be a case of "the elevator operator really knows how to push the buttons in the best way."