The Good Death - Alfred Sant

It could have been because of the pandemic but there I was in the middle of a discussion about the good death. Or perhaps it was because some of those with whom I was arguing are seeing like I do, how near the moment is approaching when the final curtain will be descending. Though we tagged it with the adjective “good”, death as a subject of discourse remains a macabre choice.

There were a few who considered that a good death relates to that of a person who right through to the end continues to fully respect religious practices. Others believed that the good death is one which happens with little pain and without the feeling of too much fear till it is completely over, especially if the process takes some time.

One of us had specialised in the classics and came out with perhaps the best definition of the good death. He told us it was lifted from Solon, a wise Athenian lawyer. Nobody can be counted fortunate before he/she has died; which is what the good death stands for. At this stage, regrettably the discussion degenerated – was it Solon or Sophocles who said so? Personally I doubt whether there can be such a thing as a “good death”.

They’ll go on

Virtual meetings will still need to be organized, so it seems. The second wave of the COVID pandemic has arrived before the times that were forecasted for its arrival, and leaves limited margins within which people could meet more frequently face to face. To the contrary, there are those who now predict that restrictions on how work meetings should be held will become even more stringent.

Having gotten used to the routine of virtual meetings, I still do not appreciate so much their interactive dynamics. Apparently, I am not the only one to get this feeling.

Others to whom I have spoken and who can hardly be considered as elderly, express the same dissatisfaction with the meetings they follow. Obviously, virtual meetings constitute enormous progress on what would have happened if they were not possible. However, with them the sentiment that decisions are truly being discussed in depth and in the here and now, does tend to become less convincing.

Voting by Mail

In the US, preparations are ongoing for voting in the country’s presidential election to be carried out by mail. President Trump is disliking this option a great deal for it allows more and more voters who do not like him to participate.

He has proposed that less federal funds are allocated to the US postal service, which is already in dire financial straits, so that it will not be able to cope with the demand from voters sending their vote by mail, which would mean that it arrives late.

Such manoeuvres are ugly in and of themselves. Within the US, a superpower, the issue raises controversies which however only have a minimal impact on how political decisions get taken. Just imagine what would happen were the same approaches to be adopted in Maltese politics. From all corners, political forces and NGO’s would be mobilised to proclaim how the island is flouting all the moral and political values embedded in a democracy and needs to change direction, otherwise it will be ostracised.

That’s the difference between what happens to the big and the tiny....

Quotas

Where do we stand at present regarding the concept of quotas meant to ensure that more and more women reach leadership and decision-making positions?

I always concurred with the view that without quotas, it would be difficult to reach such an aim. In today’s Europe, a strong majority opinion prevails in favour of the idea, though its implementation has not been smooth. Among those which swing between being in favour, against or cool to the idea, one finds the right-wing German parties, the CDU and CSU. Unfortunately their off-on zigzag impacts negatively on other important centres of potential support in the European system.

In Malta, serious and valid proposals have been made. They need some fine tuning to make them fit for purpose. There will be opposition, including from some women who will argue that quotas promote the mindset that women do not have the ability to succeed on their own steam. This argument completely ignores the point that entrenched economic and social factors rein back women’s progress. However, when the argument is put forward by women themselves, it ends up as a very powerful tool in the hands of men who just cannot stand the concept of quotas.

Israel and the Emirates

The agreement reached between Israel and the United Arab Emirates gave a big boost to Prime Minister Netanyahu who recently experienced a huge decline in his political prestige. The agreement radically alters the geo-strategic map of the Middle East.

It undermines the Palestinians who up to now, had relied on the understanding that no other Arab country would be extending recognition to Israel before the latter began to put into practice the doctrine of a two-state solution. The UAE claims that the agreement reached will help the Palestinian cause for it obliges Netanyahu to postpone the decision to annex part of the territory which Israel has been occupying since 1967.

It is true that the Israeli PM has been harshly attacked by those who expected he would honour his promise to annex occupied lands. But a postponement gives no guarantee that annexation will not happen.

Genuine peace in the Middle East will not be achieved with “solutions” that give Palestinians the feeling they have been betrayed.

Astonishment

One cannot but feel astonishment at how holy flames have flared around some people who up to a few years ago, were not at all worried about what was going on, so long as the government was PN.

People who I know looked the other way when major cases of ... let me be diplomatic in how I phrase this... unacceptable political and social conduct were flagged, now can be seen as protagonists among the apostles of ethical behaviour.

People who as I know, manoeuvred with quite some cunning to abusively secure advantages for themselves and their relatives, now run crusades for the capture and punishment of people who they claim, committed abuses in past years.

Of course I agree that wherever scandalous behaviour occurs, measures should be taken and with no holds barred. But I get disgusted to see those who in the past were prime movers in such scenarios, now pose as the champions of light.