THE BIG DIVIDE
This is Mark Sammut’s latest blog-post, which is excellent. I’ve put a link to the original down below.
THE BIG DIVIDE
– Mark (Anthony) Sammut
The older I get, the more I realize that the greatest divide in our country lies neither in social nor in economic classes. It lies in politics. And the deepest differences in our political rivalry lies not merely in colours and flags. It is ingrained in our mentality.
Labour’s General Conference last week saw a resurrection of the Mintoff personality. Joseph Muscat never misses an occasion to compare himself to the “Great Saviour”, from contesting on his district, to bringing over Mintoff’s daughter to address the delegates.
We also endured a number of candidates, from ‘experienced’ ones to the new young ones, hailing how great Mintoff was and how Gonzi has ruined their lives. This led me to question: how is it possible that people in their twenties actually believe this?
Undoubtedly, Mintoff’s declared plan to “create a socialist generation” succeeded in its entirety. The traditional Labour voter still believes that he depends solely on the state. He still lives in the tuna price budgets, and feels eternally indebted to the Saviour for giving him pensions and bonuses.
He still measures a government’s performance by how much money he hands out. He still awaits the Budget to calculate how much he is going to get. And he has managed to ingrain this philosophy even in his children.
That’s why today we have 25 year olds who take our free education, open University, and free scholarships for granted. That’s why we have 25 year olds who take the infinity of open opportunities which are today at our disposal for granted. And that’s why we have 25 year olds who still think that “Gonzi has ruined our lives”.
Take the water and electricity rates as a modern day example of this mentality. Labour promises that it would re-introduce subsidies. The “Laburist” claps in awe at his Leader’s declaration, which means that his €100 bill will be reduced by, let’s say, €10. He doesn’t realize that this means that the €500 bill of the swimming-pool villa owner will be reduced by €50, and that these have to come from his taxes.
On the other hand, PN, whilst removing the subsidies, introduced a solar-heater grant scheme. Instead of subsidizing your bill, you are being given the opportunity to invest in a renewable energy product with the help of the state, which will practically reduce your bill by approximately 50% for years.
The intelligent citizen takes this opportunity to reduce his dependance on Enemalta rates and to reduce his dependance on the government’s budget.
The traditional Labour support does not fathom that this is a measure in his favour. He prefers a one-time €400 cheque, rather than a one-time €400 investment which will benefit him in many years to come. Similarly, he would prefer a €7,000 cheque which he would spend in a few months, rather than a €7,000 scholarship which will benefit him for his whole life.
Mintoff created a generation which depended on government charity. He took away all the fishing rods and closed away the sea, so that he would be the only one distributing fish. That’s why traditional Mintoffjani still attribute to him a god-like status. He dumbed a generation into believing that we should owe everything to politicians.
And even today, behind the mask of a flashy new emblem and blue scenography, this squalid socialist mentality is still very much alive in the new generation of ‘progressivi’ and ‘moderati’.
I believe differently. I was always taught to work hard so that you never have to depend on any politician’s charity, but only on yourself. I am thankful for Eddie and successive Nationalist governments because instead of giving us fish, they gave us the fishing rods to let us catch as much as we want ourselves.
I am thankful because today, the youngsters of my generation, can say that we are where we are and we can all achieve what we set our minds to, thanks only to ourselves and our parents’ work. We do not need to feel indebted to any politician for what we achieve daily. We are indebted only to our hard work.
That’s why we only want a government that gives us good fishing rods and ensures a supply of fish in the sea, not a government that promises us fish without any clear policy on how to give us the freedom to go fishing ourselves.
In reality, this is the big “us and them” divide trickling through generations. There is only one way we can stop this bi-partisan mentality: through a proper and fair electoral reform. It’s a real pity that Labour walked out of the committee working on such a Constitutional reform at the beginning of this legislature.
A real pity. And I cannot for the life of me understand how they seem to back Franco Debono on such reforms, which need a two-third parliamentary majority, when they were the ones who walked out on them. That is where, in my opinion, Franco badly missed his target.
The one who stopped these fundamental Constitutional and electoral reforms and party-financing laws, with which I whole-heartedly agree, was not Gonzi but Muscat. At least by yesterday’s vote, he realized that handing us a Labour government was only going to guarantee that these reforms would stop from being discussed for a long time.
One last thing: please Dr. Muscat, spare us the “I’m the son of a working family” classist crap from your Prize Day speeches. We are all the sons of working families. And we are all workers. Mintoff’s class envy should by now be dead.
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It is so refreshing to see that there are still young people around who think (and write) the way Mark Anthony Sammut does.
And so refreshing to have someone to counter Andrew Azzopardi.
Hear, hear.
Mintoff’s propaganda worked so well, that even Nationalist voters speak of “il-kaxxa ta’ Malta”
It does feel like Labour, read Joseph, is being sat down and made to do his homework.
I couldn’t agree more regarding the reforms saga, Joseph had jumped onto Franco’s bandwagon as soon as elected leader, calling repeatedly for constitutional reforms, agreeing to setting up of the committee, only to walk out.
Funny how he missed what that requires of his role as leader of the opposition, and why he failed to deliver on his promise to work with government to these.
Franco’s issues started soon after, could it be that his disappointment arose from Joseph’s volta faccia? Why did Joseph halt that process? Were some of the proposals too radical for Labour?
JPO went through a similar story with divorce, following Joseph’s flrting with the electorate. Only that he found Evarist Bartolo willing to take it on. Joseph’s response was to poach Deborah Schembri’s popularity, AFTER the result was announced.
Concurrently, when Libya was getting rid of Gaddafi, Joseph was nowhere to be seen. George Vella was the impromptu spokesman designate, considering he’s the bridge between the Mintoffjani and the Sant hierarchy within party structures, one shouldn’t be surprised.
Then we had John Dalli and his Sargas proposal, only a couple of weeks after he was on TV moaning to the PM’s scepticism, Joseph presented it as HIS idea to reduce energy bills.
And finally, something which is now blatantly obvious, Joseph’s playing Mintoff to his followers, the utter inconsequential mentality determining this decision and the risks it carries.
What we have here is a poseur. When he’ll lose control, which he will, he’ll go one better, given that he’s managing to precipitate events at a much faster rate. Maybe Joe Grima, Karmenu Vella and Joe Debono Grech should restart their excuses to the ‘marmalja isolata’ which damaged the partit. They don’t have the excuse the leader has an intimidating character this time.
He’ll obviously come up with something about freedom of expression this week. It’s what he does best, react.
This blog hits the nail on the head. Brilliant stuff!
Fair enough Daphne. But just in case you didn’t notice today its the PN who is a socjalist skwallidu. We have a budget of over a billion euro spent on social services. Gonzi, Mifsud Bonnici and Dolores Cristina are a few of the socjalisti skwallidi found within the PN. The PN needs change and a big one.
[Daphne – If you want a far right party, Malcolm, set one up. Oh I’d forgotten, you had done that already.]
We will see after the election, Daphne. I hate socialism more then do you do.
[Daphne – I don’t hate socialism. I hate the Malta Labour Party.]
I think you are mistaken if you think that the PN doesn’t need a radical change. The people will vote Gonzi out of the office because he went to much to the left. We have thousands abusing from social services. The middle class will probably vote for Joseph just for the sake of changing and hopefully in the 5 years in opposition the PN will change.
I accept anything from gays, single mothers, divorced people etc. My only issue is that the state should not interfere in peoples lifes, but the individual should pay himself for his way of living.
[Daphne – A country run by people like you would be terrible to live in. In fact, such countries are. There is a happy medium, and the Nationalist Party has pretty much found it for the needs of the present, at least.]
I think the nationalist party found the happy medium when it was led by Eddie Fenech Adami. Now that happy medium is being lost day after day. Remember Gonzi won by only 1600 votes against the worse political leader which the country had for decades ( Alfred Sant). That should be an eye opener that people are not happy with GonziPN. There are much better people within the PN who can be excellent ministers. By Gonzi prefers some taliban catholics.
[Daphne – No, Malcolm, it is an eye-opener on how irrational some people can be. ‘I don’t like Lawrence Gonzi, though I can’t stand Alfred Sant, so I won’t vote at all and then if Alfred Sant becomes prime minister it won’t be my fault because I won’t have voted for him.’]
Correction, Mr. Seychell. Judging by what I’ve seen of your comments on the Times of Malta’s comments board, you don’t even ‘tolerate’ a baby delivered on a patrol boat after its mother was rescued from a dinghy miles away from Malta:
MALCOLM SEYCHELL
Jan 15th, 08:35
Send them back Malta, now we have a good relationship between GonziPN and the new sharia friendly transition government in Libya. Seems Gaddafi was right again. He is not to blame about immigration” http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120115/local/68-migrants-being-brought-to-malta-after-rescue.402307/comments:3
“I accept anything from gays, single mothers, divorced people, etc.”
No, you don’t. You don’t even want them to exist. If we’re going to take your argument to its rational conclusion, who is going to pay for your ignorance and stupidity?
Means testing, Fiscal consolidation, Retraining and redeployment as a condition for unemployment benefits, the removal of closed caste systems, the removal of sanctioning of abusive buildings, the elimination of subsidies.
These don’t sound like squalid socialist proposals, I consider them centred. What is happening in reality is that Labour’s trying to coalesce extremes. When was the last time you heard them propose something?
Malcolm Seychell is a denizen of vivamalta, a vicious far right forum run by Arlette Baldacchino, Norman Lowell’s sidekick. His nick there is ‘Malsey’. He uses the same nick in other fora and foolishly identified new photographer Ben Borg Cardona as some sort of spy, and uploaded video footage to ‘prove’ it.
I have no problem in saying that I am against illegal immigration. I have nothing against black people as long as they come here legally. If most illegal immigrants are black its not my problem. They should leave with other white people with an expired Visa.
[Daphne – The people you see walking around, Malcolm, are by definition not illegal immmigrants. Otherwise they wouldn’t be walking around. I have nothing against thick, strange, not particularly useful Maltese men, even though it would be infinitely better if they left the country with their EU passport and left the space clear for replacement by more pleasant and intelligent individuals.]
I have to agree with you that some Maltese are also useless and it would be a better country without them. However if they are born here the country has a duty (unfortunately ) to keep them here.
Malcolm, you miss the point that Daphne’s last reply could well apply to you.
On the matter of being a vivamalta denizen, that is disturbing in itself, and that’s before we even get to what you say there. As to your views on illegal immigration, they are nothing more than ill-disguised racism. Yours is the sort of view that usually begins “I’m not racist, but…”
@ Malcolm Seychell:
“I have nothing against black people as long as they come here legally”.
Then I suppose you would find no problem in opening up immigration to any and all black people. As long as it’s legal, I suppose you wouldn’t mind, would you?
Bigotry comes from ignorance.
The Nationalist Party administration are fools if they are still thinking that Joseph Muscat wasted a whole Sunday morning talking about his childhood memories etc.
He does not need to preach policy to his followers. He was just reaching out to the Mintoffjani, to win their compassion and yet the PN media is still harping on a wasted Sunday morning speech.
He can’t have it both ways. By reaching out to the Mintoffjani he may well have alienated another section of the electorate. Those who thought that Mintoff’s creed had been laid to rest.
But I’m glad he’s showing his true colours at last. Now we just need him to start hinting at policies and the Nationalists may well be back in the running again.
Ironic though that the author is speaking about a divide with possibly a negative undertone I am to imagine, and yet he still takes a stance of us and them throughout.
As long as in this country we discuss party policies instead of issues, we’re doomed to remain in the middle ages.
[Daphne – We do discuss issues, Albert. Labour doesn’t. In fact, Labour hasn’t even given us a policy we can discuss. Get on the phone to Aaron Farrugia pronto. Maaa, how scary: an electoral programe written by a barely literate twerp in his early 30s, collecting university degrees while remaining completely uneducated. http://aaronfarrugia.com/about%5D
Daphne, I was one of those who did not vote the last election. I was maybe angry and had my reasons. I can say that I was happy with the result of having PN in government with only a few votes difference.
Sort of I used to say, forsi jitghallmu. Today I’m angry with myself for not voting because I say to myself what would have happened to my country if the result had been different, all because of me and others being so stupid not to vote.
I learned my lesson and I know who is best to be the prime minister of Malta.