Rachel on Saturday
For many politicians these days, deception comes as natural as breathing. We read that trust in the government has decreased by five points, down to 51% from 56%. But I think it would be more correct to say that it is the government which does not trust t
Why else would they, the government and its politicians, need to lie or deceive on every occasion? A simple case: speaking during a party activity in St Paul’s Bay on 20th December, the Prime Minister returned to the economy, listing the water and electricity reductions, making the usual comparisons under the PN and said that fuel will get cheaper. A little further on in his speech, though, and you hear the real reason for bringing up the economy. Remember that huge disco and dance event that took place in Easter at Qawra and St Paul’s Bay and other locations? Right over Good Friday with the streaking DJs and sound blasting across half the island? A real resurrection, that was. Well, if the translation in the report is correct, Muscat is now calling it a Youth Gathering, like some Fellowship meeting rather than the dance-clubbing four-day bash that it was and went on to say that this event will be returning but this time with a different date because Malta was capable of filling beds at Easter time anyway. He said that taxis could not keep up with all the business and this is the way to give the economy a push. I wonder how many under-aged patrons there were at this event? Will the 2016 party also be subject to the new laws that are being enacted for Paceville clubs with the higher fines and police checks? Perhaps Official patronage is needed, as with Paqpaqli and similar unregulated events in order for it to happen.
Another sales pitch for another event that normally would be organised by the private sector but for which Muscat is perfectly willing to dedicate his Sunday speech time, to promote. And of course, to strip it of any possible anxiety for residents of St Paul’s Bay and beyond, it is called a Youth Gathering. Believe it. It is good for the economy and it is an innocent, almost like prayer, meeting.
I am not judging the partygoers who may be quite innocent indeed. But why then, the need to be deceptive? The problem here is that the people already knew the truth about the nature of this event and so they had a previous reason not to believe him if he said it was going to be a good thing.
But by nature, human beings are meant to be believers so we are drawn to the deception that will ease our anxiety and give us a new opportunity to be right in believing. Muscat gets his 8,000 party revellers, the taxis and the decibels lead the way to pollution and the economy gets a push! We want our version of the truth.
In Political Animals: Why Our Stone Age Brains Get in the Way of Smart Politics, the author, Rick Shenkman, says the public doesn’t care if there is a cover-up while they are inclined to believe, so a politician can lie. But at some point, he gets caught so many times that he develops a reputation for lies, and that’s when he’s got a problem.
But Labour have an even greater advantage when it comes to deceiving the public and that is the Party business card - to put the good of the people before the law. The Deputy Party Leader, Dr Toni Abela, said as much when he said that he would go to any lengths to make people rich. This is interpreted as arguing that the democratic majority should not be hindered from executing its power. Anyone who goes against this view is almost branded a traitor – in the case of the PN and MEPs, they have actually been labelled as traitors, as with the Citizenship vote in the European parliament and on the objection to the loan for Electrogas, if not even on the opposition to giving Sadeen the Żonqor land and Cottonera premises. It is also the reason why the Nationalist party are held more accountable to the law, with outrage on any shortcoming, while Labour cruises through corruption and cover-up without shame.
Who the people are is another matter. Party supporters? Those many interest groups who were offered pledges of jobs and cooperation to get above the law? The foreign cronies leaning in on the spoils? The 500+ positions of trust?
The Labour Party goes on to defend individual rights, embrace minorities and put universal justice before common solidarity. Cyrus Engerer is flaunted to represent this role. It is now up to L-Istrina and Her Excellency to salvage national pride by flying the flag for the rest of society. Donors file in with their over-sized cheques because people want to be seen and heard and not have to face up to the fact that they have been duped. The result is more of a carnival than a noble cause and the balloons and screams confirm a new victory for the Maltese in the way of more zeros.
The “South” is a footstool to Muscat. A launch pad. From there, all the lies stem and all the people’s anxieties are calmed. A tanker for a chimney, a hotel-school on ODZ land for jobs for the south, Arab legal immigrants for illegal African immigrants, high-rise towers for the rich, a strong economy in return for passports, secrecy above all because no law should get in the way of getting rich by Labour. Keep it simple.
It is up to the ordinary thinking person to realise they are being taken advantage of. Instinct must give way to reason and beliefs should be subject to scrutiny. At the time of Malta’s decision to join the EU, the people had to really evaluate the choice, think about it and what they wanted to have and what direction they preferred to embrace. They chose the EU but then quickly began to revert to form, allowing their anxieties to thrive on the constant barking of Labour’s opposition, its Super One clan and those who did its bidding. They went into the tent and settled on their partisan instincts. They found what seemed like a good bargain. A get-of–jail-free card, a buy-one-get-one-free scheme and all the sound-bites they needed to press the ‘OK, sieħbi’ button in their mind.
As Brussels tries to lay down the law, Britain is looking to get back some powers from the European Union, in which it is a law-abiding member. They are one of the few countries who will try to use reason to do that, not stoneage fear and partisanship. Other countries are more and more drawn to have a change in government, leaning towards the “outsiders” on the ballot paper. Here, in our country we have a kind of “separated but living at home” situation with our EU membership. It’s ironic, when divorce was one of the instigators of the change in government, to see how we have regressed and gone back to being a society of pretend, afraid to speak out. The truth is that having a government that stands on being above the law, really is like having a rock tumbling down the hill, blocking your path.
The “South” is a footstool to Muscat. A launch pad. From there, all the lies stem and all the people’s anxieties are calmed. A tanker for a chimney, a hotel-school on ODZ land for jobs for the south, Arab legal immigrants or illegal African immigrants, high-rise towers for the rich, a strong economy in return for passports, secrecy above all, because no law should get in the way of getting rich by Labour. Keep it simple It is up to the ordinary thinking person to realise they are being taken advantage of. Instinct must give way to reason and beliefs should be subject to scrutiny