A fantastic comment – so right and true
Sent in by Matthew S:
One week in and I am absolutely sick and tired of people who, even at this very late stage, are making the switch.
I keep hearing people who voted Nationalist last weekend say that they voted with a heavy heart, that maybe the loss is for the better, that maybe Labour aren’t too bad (they haven’t burned or beaten up anybody yet, you know) and that Simon, Tonio, Mario and the rest are not as good as they thought they were. What utter hogwash.
It’s like people are ashamed or scared of being in a minority. Well, I’m here to say that THERE’S NOTHING WRONG WITH BEING PART OF THIS (BIG) MINORITY.
Majorities, in and of themselves, don’t mean anything. Being more does not make them right.
It was a majority who once decided that Barabbas should be crucified instead of Jesus.
It was a majority who decided that certain women should be burnt at the stake for alleged witchcraft.
It was a majority who decided that Nicolaus Copernicus should be persecuted for suggesting that the world goes around the sun and not vice-versa.
It was a majority who thought that Charles Darwin was a loony for suggesting that humans are apes’ descendants. It was a majority who once thought that Adolf Hitler was a great leader.
Majorities, in and of themselves, mean zilch and people with full analytical faculties should base their decisions and opinions on more weighty matters.
Here are a few recent elections where, had I voted, I would have loved to be part of the minority.
In France, I would have voted for Nicolas Sarkozy.
In Italy, I would have voted for Mario Monti.
In Kenya, I would have voted for Raila Odinga.
In Malta, I voted for Lawrence Gonzi.
None of these would have been last minute decisions taken in the polling booth but decisions taken long before the electoral campaigns had even started.
I believe in a free and open market (Francoise Hollande doesn’t).
I don’t approve of politicians accused of tax evasion and sexual misconduct (Silvio Berlusconi has been accused of both and found guilty of the former).
I don’t approve of politicians who think that politics is a joke and fails to realise that people’s future depends on it (Beppe Grillo).
I believe in human rights and freedom of speech (Uhuru Kenyatta has been indicted by the International Criminal Court).
I believe in the European project (Joseph Muscat’s cabinet is made up of people who have been campaigning against it for the last 40 years).
These are my long standing values and they’re not up for sale. I’m not trying to develop a plot of land illegally. I’m not looking for a cushy job with the government. I’m not asking Manuel Mallia to drop legal proceedings against me.
I vote according to my principles and what I believe is right. If that means being in a minority, then so be it.
Anyone who does otherwise should be ashamed of himself.
47 Comments Comment
Leave a Comment
I’m in
Hear! Hear! It’s good to know there are people who still believe in certain values. I voted PN and proud of it.
I voted PN and proud of it too.
I’m also proud to be in this GREAT minority.
To all those switchers out there I say this – you’ll soon realise how wrong you were even though you won’t admit it in public, but deep down you will.
Soon the PN will have a new leader and slowly this minority will grow and grow,ntill once again it will be a majority.
Lawrence Gonzi was a great prime minister and Malta is reaping the fruit of his sacrifices and honest leadership and for this he paid the ultimate price.
Now we have a Labour government which is struggling every day to keep up with its selfish promisess and hunger for power.
Time will heal and time will tell.
Where are the ideologies nowadays? Unfortunately both parties are closer to the left nowadays and unfortunately (again) the idiots vote for benefits and not for an atmosphere where entreprenuership thrives.
It is not what you can ‘get’ from the country but what you can ‘contribute’.
These days there is no meritocracy, the lazy get rewarded.
Mario DeMarco and Chris Said should be the new candidates for PN leadership.
Me too
Amen to that.
Not voting with the majority does not make one stupid.
Pope Benedict XVI – “Truth is not determined by a majority vote.”
I think that if I join Matthew S in his minority we might just make a majority.
Well said, Daphne!
[Daphne – This is a reader’s comment, not mine.]
I agree!
Well said Matthew S.
Amen!
It’s not the quantity but the quality..
But yes unfortunately certain people’s minds are still laid back.
Perfect in every sense – well done Matthew S – you voice the thoughts of many.
If I was still living in Malta, I’d probably still believe in the European project too.
Alas, after 10 years in Germany, I see a Brusselian dictatorship aptly nicknamed EUSSR and a German parliament where all parties are alike.
Anyone going against “political correctness” and asking critical questions is automatically put into the right corner before being automatically branded right extremist, hence Nazi.
You may still have a European dream in Malta, over here however it turns into a nightmare.
I voted for Dr.Lawrence Gonzi and proud.
Well written, Matthew. You air my sentiments.
Couldn’t have put it better.
I’m going to print this and distribute it to the “switchers” in my office. It’s epic. Well done.
Well said, Matthew – I voted PN, and I am very proud that I did.
When people stopped me and said to me “xi tkaxkira hadna”, I answered that time would tell.
Thank you, Lawrence Gonzi and the rest, for the work that you all did for Malta.
Tkaxkira il-pajjiz ha jiehu nahseb. Ha naraw x’ gej.
Per ezempju dan kif Edward Scicluna ha jghaddi il-budget ta’ Tonio Fenech meta dan il-budget ma kienx haseb ghall-ispiza kbira tal-ministeri il-godda (karrozzi min jaf bhal xi Volvo, ghamara min jaf minghand il-Loft ta’ Keith Schembri, u lista shiha ta’ spejjes biex inpaxxu l-iswitchers)?
U jekk din l-ispiza mhix inkluza trid tonqos l-ispiza minn x’imkien iehor – min jaf, mit-turizmu? Mis-sahha? Mill-progetti? Mill-edukazzjoni? Alla biss jaf s’issa.
@Hannah – when people stop me to tell me “Xi Tkaxkira Hadt” I tell them il pajjiz kollu hada it tkaxkira. I voted PN and am proud !
Kudos to that.
Who ever said that we are a nation of wusses was right. There are far too many spineless individuals in our society who are more concerned about being popular and being thought of as agreeable than standing up for their principles.
The ‘Nationalist voters’ mentioned are trying to rationalise and justify what took place much the same way old people try to justify misfortunes as acts of divine retribution or conquered serfs try to come to terms with accepting the yoke of their new lord and master.
There might be a socio-biological reason for this general predisposition – however, I personally never had time for those who befriended me as long as I followed the latest fashion trends and went along with the rest of the crowd.
I do not need the reassurance of the herd and numbers to feel secure about what I believe in.
I have always been in minorities and it has made me unique .
I form part of that minority and convinced and proud of having voted Nationalist.
Well said!
Me too, proud to have voted PN. I do not recognize myself with the Facebook/Twitter/Teleprompter politics that so many right now see as cool. As someone said before me here, time will tell who was on the right side of things.
Proud to have given Gonzi number 1
Well done Matthew S.
Risposta perfetta.
What a comment! This man is worth his salt, just like you, Daphne. I think that such writings should be featured in newspapers to enlighten the public in logical thinking.
The problem is that the majority of the public wouldn’t recognise logical thinking if it hit them in the face with a brick.
I’m proud I didn’t vote with the majority who voted for two gas bombs to be build next to our doorsteps.
I’m proud to have voted Nationalist too…always have..and always will
For the record, Matthew S.
It was not Copernicus who was persecuted for his ‘world round the sun’ theory – but Galileo Galilei.
Thanks for your contribution. I agree wholeheartedly with your choices in the recent overseas elections you listed.
And it was the great Tony Blair and Co that screwed up the U.K.
Very well said! And part of the MLP campaign was ‘I’m in”; therefore psychological one would feel that they are following the latest trend.
However, I also voted Nationalist and I am proud of having done so. As some of the above commenters have written: time will tell.
A court of law is not perfect, and sometimes an innocent person is found guilty by a jury.
Democracy is not perfect and sometimes the goverment elected may prove to be the wrong choice given by the electorate.
But, I would rather live in a country which may produce such imperfections then the alternative scenerio.
We should all be happy that we live in such countries. Look at Syria, Libya, Korea, even China which is becoming a superpower but the people are oppressed under the Communist yolk.
And there are of course many other countries where the people are oppressed and enslaved. Democracy begs that every so often, a change of guard is needed, necessary even. In opposition and in goverment, the people have won the day.
May God Bless our beautiful island and may the people of Malta continue to live in this great democracy!
Well done, Matthew. You have put it very eloquently. Unfortunately, many (dimwitted) people feel ashamed of being in a minority. Perhaps it’s because of opportunism.
Labour supporters may not have burnt or destroyed Nationalist Party clubs (1976) but in just a week the manipulation of facts that we have been fed is typically Mintoffian.
With such people in charge it won’t be long before these Mintoffian traits will surface back to ‘shine’ in their ‘glorious’ horror.
Spot on!
Proud to have given Gonzi my no 1 vote. No regrets.
Proud to be a Nationalist, always was, and always will be. My husband comes from a Labour family. He started voting for the Nationalists in the early 80s, and has been doing so up to this election.
I must say he’s more of a Nationalist than I ever thought he could be. This is because he understood what the Labour Party is.
He worked at the Malta Drydocks and the things he’s seen .. my God, what are these Labour followers? He didn’t want to form part of a political party as dirty as Labour. So yes, we’ve both voted PN, and immensely proud to have done so.
Matthew S
Re your reasoning about the majority, so are you saying that whenever the PN won with the majority of votes it didn’t necessarily mean they were right to govern?
It is quite obfuscating.
[Daphne – Yes, well, it is a little bit complicated, isn’t it, especially for those who vote for change. Think of it this way: there are two separate issues here: which group is the majority, and which group is right. Sometimes the two coincide and sometimes, they don’t.]
The first time I voted was way back in 1987. I still remember voting for PN at the Cospicua Primary school.
I am proud to say that I have voted on the right side of history ever since, yes that includes the defeat in 1996, when PN lost to Alfred Sant – those who voted him in quickly realised their mistake and voted wholeheartedly for the PN in 1998.
I am proud to have once more voted PN and form part of this large minority. Some would say that for this once I am on the wrong side of history. Only time will tell, but I’m convinced I will be proven correct once more.
Vox popoli vox dei.
[Daphne – Yes, David, and they also threw slaves and Christians to the lions. So please keep things in perspective. In any case, that saying predates parliamentary democracy as we know it by centuries, and the people who coined it viewed women as chattels, so spare me the cliches.]
Well said, Matthew S.
I am very proud to be part of the minority and I have been shouting it out loud every chance I get.
This election has made me even prouder of my beliefs and it has made me rethink my choice of “friends”.
You may disagree with me but I cannot be honestly loyal to my ‘switcher friends’ anymore.
I cannot even look them in the eye let alone have a conversation with them.
I cannot forgive what they did and most of all, why they did it. They have been trying to blame what they did on everything and everyone except themselves, to ease their conscience.
Daphne once wrote that it is almost impossible to have a married couple with two diffrent political beliefs living in harmony, if those beliefs are real and firmly held. The same goes for friends.