Few people seem to understand that Joseph Muscat’s promise was actually a threat

Published: May 20, 2013 at 1:19pm

Read it again:

tista’ ma taqbilx magħna, iżda tista’ taħdem magħna

And again:

tista’ ma taqbilx magħna, iżda tista’ taħdem magħna

Once more:

tista’ ma taqbilx magħna, iżda tista’ taħdem magħna

Now spot the flaw in that reasoning – or rather, the threat implicit in that statement, which you probably missed in the euphoria of the election campaign, and in the immediate electoral aftermath.

Maltese makes no distinction between ‘can’ and ‘may’, which makes this statement even more ambiguously sinister.

You can/may disagree with us, but you can/may work with us.

The threat implicit in that statement is this: we have said we will work with you, therefore if you refuse to work with us you have declared war on us and that leaves us free to declare war on you.

The statement itself is morally wrong because it does not take cognizance of the fact that nobody in his right mind (and certainly nobody principled) wants to work with people with whom he fundamentally disagrees, doing things he fundamentally disagrees with.

It is nothing short of an invitation to acts of amoral pragmatism, the sort of behaviour Muscat and those who surround him take for granted as normal, purely for the sake of survival.

The message embedded in that statement will be new to younger people. It is not new to others, who can already feel the beginnings of the return of the atmosphere of malevolence, fear and negativity that permeated the 1970s and 1980s, when people routinely lived their lives with a knot of tension in their stomach, wondering when the next thing would come out of left field to harrow their days, leaving them powerless to defend themselves.




12 Comments Comment

  1. Calculator says:

    ‘Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.’

    I think this is a problem of not having learned anything from the recent past. Young people – and I can be counted among them – today would probably would never respond in the positive if asked to vote someone like Hitler into power, but they are just too uninformed to know and understand how he came to power and sustained his position through propaganda.

    They just can’t seem to be able to read between the lines where it counts, and this is what we get.

    I’ve taken enough interest in the past to know where the present is going, but most people my age seem to be more willing to be swept up by grandiose ideas of movements. It’s a shame, really, but when most people can’t be bothered with a little history (not just dates and numbers), I hardly expect them to get a sense of déjà vu they should.

  2. Candida says:

    Tista ma taqbilx maghna izda tista tahdem maghna kif nghidulek ahna.

    Yes it means exactly what you have interpreted.

  3. Ara fiex hejna says:

    The Times of Malta, Monday, May 20, 2013, 13:34 by Kurt Sansone
    Politics paralyse the University council

    It has been two months since the general election but the University council is still not functioning after the Government appointees resigned.

    Instead of letting the council get on with its work until new councillors are nominated, all councillors were immediately forced to resign.

    The situation was flagged by University lecturer Arnold Cassola, who said academic and non-academic decisions were blocked because the Government has not yet appointed its 13 council members.

    The Government commands a majority on the 24-member body that has the ultimate say on decisions that affect the University’s running.

    The councillors appointed by the previous administration resigned after the election and the Education Ministry has so far failed to appoint new ones.

    Prof. Cassola told Times of Malta that all letters of appointment, pending promotions and decisions related to the introduction of new courses had stalled.
    The council has to rubberstamp such decisions.

    “Instead of letting the council get on with its work until new councillors are nominated, in keeping with the usual tribal priorities of this country, all nominated councillors on the government-dominated body were immediately forced to resign, thus blocking all possibility of having the University carry-ing on with its essential academic (and non-academic) work,” Prof. Cassola said.

    Questions sent to the Education Ministry on the subject went unanswered despite repeated reminders.

    Prof. Cassola said he looked forward to the day when “Banana republic approaches” were substituted by civilised ones.

    “While now waiting for the Government to oust the PN nominated councillors and replace them with the new tagħna lkoll PL nominees, the council is in rigor mortis,” he added.

    • Jozef says:

      Evarist just slashed research funding.

    • Francis Saliba MD says:

      This is the same MLP/LP that kept the Constitutional Court in suspended animation as long as it suited it to deprive the citizen from the possibility of having recourse to that supreme court of law.

      This is not the promised”change”. It is a horrid relapse to the bad old days. The optimistic, risk-taking “switchers” must be wringing their hands in anguish for swallowing the lie of a promised change.

  4. Victor says:

    These people are revolting. Is it possible that a person with a bit of brains can actually read this editorial without gagging?

  5. C.Portelli says:

    L-Orizzont should rename themselves to Izvestia. I’m sure you’re aware what kind of newspaper “that” is. What I don’t think you know is that it’s published by a company named “Inews”.

    You see, Maltese socialism and Russian communism are closer than they want us to know.

  6. And if you don't? says:

    You can bet your bottom dollar that a way will be found to have you ‘ignored’ – at best.

  7. Alf says:

    I suggest one listens to what Joseph was preaching about before the elections (and that was only just over two months ago):

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwhVsrz6U6E

    After listening carefully to what he had to say, read the following news item carried a few hours ago on maltarightnow.com

    http://www.maltarightnow.com/?module=news&at=Approvat+numru+kbir+ta%27+transfers+politi%26%23267%3Bi&t=a&aid=99847312&cid=19

    How right you were in stating that Joseph Muscat’s promise/s was/were actually a threat.

  8. Harry Purdie says:

    Time to form a Maltese branch of the NRA?

    You know, in order to protect one’s property, oneself and freedom of speech?

  9. Lomax says:

    I HAVE asked the question to myself: what if I don’t want to work with you?

    That is the question.

    I guess the truth will soon be out.

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