‘The best in Europe …’ for political arrogance – Arnold Cassola
For the last ten years, more or less, we have been fed the mantra by our political leaders that Malta is the best in Europe and the envy of the world. Such bombastic statements are then systematically greeted with a considerable number of ‘Congratulations minister‘,’ King ‘and other such comments, organized regimentally by party trolls.
Anyone who tends to disagree with such statements will then be branded a traitor to their country by the trolls.
I do not subscribe to such an empty governmental self-enlargement. First of all because I believe that great men and women do not self-proclaim themselves as such. It is others, and history, who pass such positive judgments on great personalities, events, architecture or something.
But the second reason why I do not accept such empty rhetoric is because, in my opinion, the Maltese reality is not as rosy as they would like us to believe.
Joseph Portelli might think that his 33-story Mercury Tower, soon to be followed by another 22-story one right next to it, could be a gift from God to mankind. In reality, a good number of us believe that – in its spatial context – it’s just a hideous monstrosity, with all due respect to Zaha Hadid.
Ian Borg may be in a state of ecstasy over all the mature trees he has cut down to give rise to his megalomaniacal projects and highways. He may be spending hundreds of thousands of euros of taxpayers’ money on drones to film professional footage of his work, but for the tens of thousands of Maltese stuck on the bridges of Marsa, Mrieħel or Kappara at 7.30-8am a day, thisThe Best in Europebusiness is becoming just a sick joke.
Chris Fearne may be right in pointing out that Malta is the best in the world in terms of vaccination rates, however, a look at all his colleagues gathered around him during the Budget debate, all of them not wearing masks, it simply goes to challenge the theory. whose behavior it is ‘Best in Europe’. At best, they can boast of being the best in Europe … in terms of political arrogance.
Even a micro detail, such as Ian Borg’s expansion joints or the three-inch open space manhole located in the middle of Psaila Street for the past three days at the time of writing, challenges the idea that Malta is the best in Europe.
And, unfortunately, I’m not the only one who thinks we’re not the best in Europe or the world. A recent EY survey highlighted that, despite the millions of euros in visual and paper propaganda being distributed by Maltese ministries, almost 60 per cent of young people in Malta prefer to live in another European country.
The Maltese reality is not as rosy as they would like us to believe– Arnold Cassola
This is absolutely tragic. Our young people, the most educated, the most qualified, are seriously thinking of leaving the country because they cannot accept that the country, in certain matters, is becoming a real rag.
Times of Malta reported “when asked in which part of the world they want to live and work, 60 percent of Gen-Z and 59 percent of Millennials declared another European country.” Gen-Z and Millennials are people born since the 1980s.
And more worryingly, this constitutes a 12 percent increase on last year’s results in millennials dreaming of moving abroad.
Unfortunately, it is not only the Maltese youth who consider the way our country is being cut off from its natural beauty and the natural manners of its courtesy as a real disaster. Our politicians boast that Malta ranks first in the world as a gay-friendly country. Ask the British X-factor personality, Lucy Spraggan, about this. She had to leave our country after three days due to the abuse to which she was subject. So much for progressive thinking and behavior.
Unfortunately, once again, the EY survey points out that Malta’s attractiveness to foreign investors has reached an all-time low, with more investors finding the country unattractive than attractive for the first time in 17 years. And companies are finding it difficult to recruit employees with the necessary skills, despite our self-proclamation that we the Best in Europe.
How did we get into this state? There are a variety of reasons, ranging from presumption and ignorance that lead to arrogance and impunity, to culminate in high subjective opinions about oneself.
But perhaps the media also had a serious say in all of this, uncritically reporting the self-proclaimed bombastic statements of greatness of our politicians.
Of course, no surprise here, when it comes to the servile channels of PBS, NET and ONE, which are ‘forced’ to portray the false and distorted image of Malta given to them by the hand that feeds them. We cannot change that.
But the independent media has an important role to play in contrasting such officially fueled non-informative.
It is good for independent media to write in the editorial tag[hom li Malta g[andha b]more political parties and that the political debate is prejudiced as a result of the great propaganda of the big parties[nahupreġudikatriżultattal-magnital-propagandatal-partitil-kbar
But then, the fact that small parties and independent candidates are left without support, without financial means to cover their campaigns, should be further emphasized.
Now that the elections are on our doorstep, can the independent media increase the space and visibility for third parties and independent candidates like me, so that the voter can be presented with alternative views and opinions that b are consistently being excluded from PBS State TV and party TV channels?
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