A constructive proposal - Alfred Sant

Prime Minister Robert Abela’s suggestion for schools to remain open during the Carnival “holidays” and for the “lost” holidays to be recouped in the summer or in some other manner, was interesting and constructive.

As it happens, there is general agreement at this time that it would be better till the pandemic has abated, for people to keep back from celebrations. So, allowing schools to continue in service and not shut down for Carnival holidays is a proposal that makes sense. Especially this is the case after the furore triggered by allegations that in private villas, the rules about social distancing that should be maintained as well as other precautions were flouted during the Christmas break.

It’s a pity that (if I understood correctly) the teachers’ unions immediately shot the idea down. Either we stand united to ensure that our society is best arrayed to contain the tough conditions generated by the pandemic, or we continue to checkmate each other out, sector by sector. Not so long ago, PM Abela was being criticised for not taking seriously enough the challenges set by the pandemic.

Once he demonstrated that this was not true and came out even now with a concrete proposal, the put down was immediate. To be clear, the remit of a trade union is not that of always saying nay to everything.

Winners and Losers

All too often, economic discussion focuses excessively on competition issues – whether Malta or some other country has remained competitive in market terms... or what needs to be done to remain in competitive mode and “win” over competitors...

The free market ideology, by which we all compete with each other and the winner takes all... has infiltrated mentalities not just for economic operators but also for those active in other areas of activity, from sport to culture to... so I would imagine... religious practice.

A claim that arises – one which perhaps is not being given enough attention – proceeds as follows: Does whoever loses in this never-ending competition deserve to be wiped out and discarded? Or is competition... by discarding the “losers”... making us lose as well the valid contributions they, the “losers”, could have made to our economy, society and the rest?

Book Fair

Is it true that this year’s book fair, if it goes forward once the Covid-19 restrictions have hopefully come to an end, would have to share the Mediterranean Conference facility in Valletta with the Circus “of the Sun”?

If this is what’s going to happen, the Book Council chairman would be quite right to unleash his brand of fireworks. For it is obvious that two events on the same days in this venue would create a total confusion in the projection and impact of the Book Fair. That would be of minimal concern to the Circus operators. They would – thank you very much – have spent some time in Malta, which they would consider as a tiny market from their perspective, and then have left for somewhere else.

Another issue to consider of course would be the disruption in traffic caused by two activities being held simultaneously. After all, a big dilemma for the Mediterranean Centre always has been the insufficient space for parking available close to where it is situated (in Valletta).

In the end and as I see it, this story highlights the point that the Book Fair needs to depart from a location where traffic problems are so acute and should migrate to a facility where parking space is available.

Swing

In how the Covid-19 pandemic has spread in Europe and the rest of the world, there is an outstanding feature. Over the months, all countries got a big hit, though not all in the same way or at the same time. Time after time, countries which had managed to control the wave of infections and were praised for the achievement, ended up soon afterwards getting knocked up as much as had been those which initially appeared weak, undecided and worse.

Recently Germany and Portugal, which not so long ago were considered to have succeeded in navigating through the pandemic undercurrents, featured among the worst hit. Germany had been the country which practised the strictest protection and enforcement approaches.

The temptation is to conclude that there’s no difference in outcomes between introducing strict control rules and loosening up. Yet such a conclusion might be premature.

For one would have to check whether the initial success against Covid-19 brought complacency in its wake, which then cancelled the benefits accrued by the original strict appraoch.

And one would also have to take into account whether political considerations took hold in the leadership of the country concerned, which loosened the grip by which it previously was implementing tight controls.

Navalny

For many years, I have followed with scepticism the anti-Russia and anti-Putin (or anti his management of Russia) campaigns that were mounted. I believed they carried major manipulative elements that sought to assist mercenary forces in Russia, backed by obscure political influences, as well as to help “Western” state and private interests which believed they had a vested interest in keeping Russia weak.

In no way did this mean that I assumed the Putin administration was being run by angels. But it seemed evident to me that there was every interest in certain quarters to maintain the demonisation of Putin. I still believe this.

However the Navalny case exceeds all limits of how one can support the stand taken by the Putin administration. The version it gives of the facts cannot be believed. The way by which street protestors have been repressed is unbelieveable. Russia is not some Burkina Faso, with all due respect to this latter country.

Poverty

In Europe and beyond, it is obvious that poverty is increasing and will continue to do so. In the “poverty” category, I would include those “at risk of poverty”.

If the income of so many economic sectors and enterprises has declined so much that many are close to the brink of collapse, if people are spending less... is it not clear that disposable incomes will have contracted overall, and that those who were netting lower incomes, will have now been receiving less? No government – of left or right – can be held directly responsible for this result.

The real challenge should not be that of insisting that poverty has been kept at a distance – whether this is correct or not. It is to discover where poverty is really present, openly or under cover. It is to discover how to compensate for it most effectively.