The sentiment on corruption
There is a growing narrative taking hold that, for one reason or another, be it anthropological or historical, natural or acquired, Maltese people are somehow comfortable with the knowledge that corruption is widespread amongst the political system and so
Rachel Borg is an independent columnist based in the tourism industry
How true is this? Is it simply a defeatist position, where the ability to voice concern and act against it has become weak and despairing, diluted by the heavy prevalence of it? Or is it because we take on a nonretaliatory mentality in order to sustain our own peaceful existence? Is it a survival instinct that causes us to conform and take advantage of the circumstances?
When businesses, in their own legitimate way set up activities that derive indirectly from a source of shady business, are they doing what it is perfectly normal for a business to do or should we apply moral filters to discern what is right and what is wrong to do?
It would be normal to apply capitalist norms and go for the profit. Maybe you have a rental flat or maybe you knock down a property in order to build a small block of flats disregarding the need for preservation. Without legal boundaries to define what is permissible and what is not, you will always find a stream making its way into the groove.
Unfortunately, it is this sense of what is for the good of society and the country as a whole, that has become dulled and murky. A country with moral fibre, a high standard of education and a concern for the good of every person, from whatever class or opinion will create a legitimate, fair and open society that builds its prosperity not on greed and ego but on honest activity that respects the common good.
When we see and know and understand that concept, we can identify our own limits and boundaries and although we may be benefiting in one way or another from the commercial environment presented to us, we still maintain a position of non-compliance and reject the corruption at the bottom of it.
At some point, we are called to defend that position, even at a cost to ourselves but because we are not self-serving but fundamentally we live as a group with moral references and the ability to choose, the pack will and should reject the foul element of corruption.
There is also a point at which that same corruption is in fact threatening the very livelihood of people as it diverts the wealth to the few and excludes the ordinary person from having their share.
There is, alongside the view that Maltese people tolerate corruption, also a growing sentiment that the balance is now tipping away from the ordinary person having a share in growth, towards the negative position where struggle is becoming evident and more widespread.
Jobs in the public sector try to plug this gap but when the son now has a job and the mother must compensate for it by having less pension, less hospital services, a lower standard of living and poorer quality life, what good is that?
Many were the mothers calling for jobs for their children who did not make it to school- leaving exams or who give up on working all hours for a low minimum wage. Again, today, these same citizens are receiving telephone calls and messages from ministers and agents, promising them more will be done to serve their interests if they give their support in return.
How can that materialise? Millions are being spent on frivolous and unbudgeted expenses by the government and its cabinet and every suckling front man, woman and apartment-building canvasser. It is the court of Marie Antoinette, the splurges of Gaddafi and the ruin of African nations. That same blood money that finds its way into the hidden accounts of Panama and empty mansions built on stolen land.
There remains in our society an element consisting of anticolonialists who are complicit and proud to see the government exploit the European Union seen as new colonisers, into getting back our “land” or our sovereignty over the country. If that means that selling citizenship, skyscrapers are built or privileged deals are made to realise that sovereignty, than there within lies a victory for those who equate colonialism with oppression and who never felt that they could obtain by right what they were entitled to.
When Malta achieved its independence, peacefully and began to actual succeed in running the country and seeing investment and growth, resentment grew and festered and is still driving the soul of those who are perfectly comfortable with whatever corruption is needed to have the foreigner kicked out and the rebel in charge.
Sette Giugno is still very much a part of the psyche of those who never felt confident that they could rise to the occasion and achieve independence. Till today, they continue to need the favour and nepotism of a political canvasser or unscrupulous minister. Is it another example of movements not deconstructing the old colonial framework, dooming them to repeat the same mistakes, which are both negative and dependent on a corrupt system?
To have another solution to this legacy of repeat hostility and anti-establishment, we need a Party that can deal with the past and assimilate the present. To do that you need a party that is both honest and strong at the same time, able to stand up for the weak and lead the whole country, not by selecting one group over another, one issue over another, but with a clear framework that includes the needs of the whole and the wisdom and strength of selfbelief and independence translated into realistic policies that excite and inspire and not simply pay lip-service to an abstract idea of success. A steady steering of the ship is needed.
Where we are coming from and where we are going need to be separate roads, albeit part of the same journey. As we are now, we are stuck at a crossroad, like some group of survivors who do not have what it takes to emancipate themselves and identify the means and path to liberation. We are perfectly susceptible to changing winds and fake leaders and whoever can claim to have the power to deliver a way out of history and change it.
The once Labour Party of Joseph Muscat put its finger in this wound and dug it in deep. But now the pain is acute and the solution of running with the hare and hunting with the hound is not helping at all. A new time in history is needed, for people to find independence not in land or asset ownership, or material gentrification at any price but in a clean political future, built on honest working people and strong leadership that is present for all classes and capable of investing wisely, creating rather than exploiting. Wealth does not a gentleman make.
“The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; .. a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe.” (John Walter Wayland – 1899).
What is the European Union really, if not a means of converting conquest, title, land/asset ownership and the ruling class into a united society, protected by laws and rights, built on a platform of a moral heritage and justice system that endeavours to address past mistakes and assimilate the energy needed to pursue a prosperous future for its citizens?
Unfortunately, it is not perfect and elements still exist that compromise its effectiveness. When people see that, they reject it and its proponents and it’s every man to himself, a good place for liberalism or even extreme ideas to take hold.
We have striven in the past to rise again from the devastation of war and found fortitude in our own potential and even religious faith to change our destiny.
We are called to do it again. Reject corruption and endeavour for truth.