Comment of the morning
This came in from Kevin, as a comment beneath today’s guest post.
I wouldn’t stop at “gullible.” The Maltese take everything literally and have absolutely no interest in anything that involves critical thought.
Everything is taken at face value and, therefore, as true.
Why are we surprised that the cult of Mintoff remains strong among young people?
All that matters is their “selfish pockets.” Anything beyond selfishness and immediate financial gain does not matter. It is primitive culture that prizes material acquisitions and the material symbols of riches more highly than the sophistication, manners, conversation and general knowledge that in societies far more advanced and older than ours are parallel requirements to wealth.
In addition, the feature of literal meaning is one of the cultural heritage dimensions that many seem hell bent on protecting from “foreign interference”.
The Nationalists attempted to work against this kind of mentality through the introduction of overseas education and work opportunities for all. Labour avoids these kinds of opportunities and tries to deter or prevent people from taking them, because keeping people stupid and literal-minded works against their vision for Malta.
The creation of the new middle class is really about homogenising social classes to think without measured reasoning and act on the spur of the moment.
Perhaps this is why the PN always struggled to gain a governing majority but has always been highly successful in attracting talent to its ranks.
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How true, it was always the Nationalist Party that was successful in pulling Malta out of the depths of economic disasters.
It was always the Labour Party that offloaded Malta into the depths of socialist worker unemployment qeues.
This will be a repeat and the PN will be back in power because of the ensuing disaster.
If China bankrolls the PL, it will be even worse.
I disagree with Kevin’s praise for the Nationalist Party, and some of his statements are factually wrong.
It seems to me that in the decades following 1987, the Nationalist Party fell into line with the general Maltese credo that money is status. Even worse, that a man’s worse is his monetary wealth. We never heard a word about being a good citizen, or being a Renaissance man and all that.
The rationale for ‘overseas education’ (he means scholarships, which were handed out to some of the most undeserving individuals) was never intelligence or the creation of an intellectual class, but career advancement, i.e. monetary gain. The government was to be found (and seen) hobnobbing with real estate developers and other magnates far more often than it did with intellectuals.
You could argue that it was just marketing – ‘I am among the nation’s heroes’, and that intelligence was never held up as a virtue by the Maltese. But I thought the PN was the agent of change?
As for attracting talent to its ranks, that’s simply not true. PN ranks were filled will all sorts of subliterates, with politicians whose horizons extend no further than the village square, who can’t speak, write or think properly. The list of incompetents who were propelled to positions of power in state councils is endless.
There were a few exceptions. Richard Cachia Caruana and Josef Bonnici come to mind. Or Simon Busuttil himself. But in the main, there was, and there still is, a dearth of talent.
I’m afraid Baxxter is 100% right. Look at some(most?) of the lot we have now.
Or how the decent and intelligent (the Mark Anthony Sammuts and the Karl Gouders) were snubbed by the electorate and not promoted or given publicity by the party propaganda machine. This against the likes of the Clyde Pulis and the Robert Cutajars. I’m afraid the future isn’t looking too rosy.
Couldn’t agree more.
HP, Your analysis of the transformation of the PN is essentially correct. In that, my comment stands corrected because you mention fundamental truths that I failed to capture.
However, there is one fundamental point that you miss. Admittedly the point does not emerge strongly in my original comment.
The Nationalists created an open and liberal environment conducive to individual and national progress. On the other hand, MLP create a different environment. The latter is more repressed and oppressed.
Ignorance, emotional outbursts and conforming to party norms and mores are the dimensions that are reinforced through both utilitarian and social means. Capability of independent thought, action through reason and educational accomplishments are punished. (And I here the use the terms “reinforced and punished” refers to the application Skinnerian conditioning techniques to the design of cultures.)
This point lies at the heart of my entire argument.
You are correct in saying that the PN did fall into the “Maltese credo that money is status.” However, this was not the original intention. As time progressed and as certain kinds of people consolidated their power, more sub-literate and unscrupulous opportunists emerged to milk the system.
That said, however, there was always enough space for legitimate enterprise and for merit. I could easily pack my bags and work in another country. Before 9/11 changing jobs and remaining in Malta was an easy matter even for those who sought betterment on merit.
Financial services and gaming laws ushered a new era of economic prosperity both for the opportunists and for those who favour a more honest approach. Contrast the situation now where most appointments are iced buns – a far cry from Muscat’s and Debono’s meritocracy.
With respect to overseas education, I do not mean only scholarships. I mean opportunities to be treated like EU citizens and to pay EU rather than international fees.
I also mean university expanding its repertoire of courses beyond law, engineering, medicine and business management. I also mean upgrading the crazy system where many University lecturers did not have a PhD and imposing upon them the onus of getting one (for free but bound by contract). I mean the small influx of foreign universities setting up limited campuses locally – Leicester, Grenoble and Maastricht spring to mind among others.
You are right. Local scholarships appear to have been rigged. At least however you could go away and finance your own way to get your schooling. So one way or another you’d get your credentials.
With Labour it was and is not like that. In 1986, the courses for law, accounts, economics and physics were non-existent at University. Children who were educated at private schools had 20 points less than those who were educated at government schools. The injustice and inequality fostered by Mintoff and KMB screwed up the career paths of many youths. The present indicates that somehow Muscat will create an environment that functions in a similar way.
You are correct in saying that the Nationalists had many sub-literates among their ranks and these people were propelled forward.
However, Is this a sign that the PN does not attract talent? (No. I can give you a rather long list of very capable and honest Nationalists who worked within the system. People who are not prominent like RCC or Josef Bonnici or Roberta Metsola. (Also, let’s not confound talent and intelligence with leadership skills. I believe that the election of Simon Busutill is a mistake – he has intelligence and talent but lacks leadership).
The presence of sub-literates and unscrupulous opportunists within the ranks of the PN is only a sign that the leadership allowed opportunism to GRADUALLY proliferate over merit. (Sorry for the CAPS, but I want to emphasise the word “gradually”)
At face value, Muscat may be accused of committing the same mistake as the PN. However, Muscat’s crime is significantly worse because it is an intended design. The appointments made by the present government are payments for services rendered. Opportunism and prostitution (metaphor) replaces merit IMMEDIATELY as the standard. The tone is set at the top – Malta is an environment for opportunists. Merit and qualifications do not matter and will not flourish anywhere.
Even if our respective analyses do not agree, we do agree that the future for the average citizen is not promising.
I don’t know where to start. I would need a whole blog to myself for a proper answer.
But I’ll just say that when I pass judgement on Lawrence Gonzi, or the Nationalist Party, you can be sure it’s because I’ve had professional dealings with them. And I can say I’ve been let down badly every single time.
I am not rich. Nor am I an entrepreneur. Nor can I boast of titles to my name. Nor am I the son- or boyfriend of-. To them, I am nothing.
I do not expect preferential treatment. But I do expect a level playing field. After all, that’s justice, which is in the PN’s credo. Or so they say.
For years I watched real estate developers getting preferential contracts. I watched the owners of illegal buildings (boathouses) get away with it. I watched public money being given to the worst hamallagni. I watched people being given posts in state councils without so much as a call for applications. D’you think Lara Boffa was the first to be given a plum post without an interview?
The trouble was there was no way you could get these things across. The PN, and PN politicians including Gonzi, were used to two things: hatred by Laburisti, or fawning praise by their own side. Anything else, they just didn’t respond to.
I mean literally. I had a discussion with Lawrence Gonzi once, and I never saw such a blank stare in my life. It was as if the man didn’t even acknowledge my presence. I felt like telling him that I’d vote for him anyway, so the least he could do was switch on his listening neurons.
Ah now, if I were ic-Caqnu, or some shrill harridan complaining about electricity bills, it would be different.
So I don’t delude myself that the PN cares for me any more than Labour.
In the final analysis, I voted PN to keep Labour out, and I’d do it again. But they can kiss my arse.
In the early and mid 90s I had similar dealings with Dalli and friends much to the same effect. The look you describe so aptly is hateful. It implies “I have access to the bigger picture which you, as a mere mortal, would never be able to grasp”.
I too am neither an entrepreneur nor connected in any way. So people with no or little qualifications would enter an organisation at the lowest levels and within months would rise to top management.
Unfortunately, Dalli and friends remain. I cannot explain this without resorting to conspiracy theories or hidden agencies.
Like you I voted PN because I knew that Muscat was/is not government material.
For what it is worth in this mad world, I appreciate your position and empathise.
All totalitarian organisations, including established religions and sects, and the Malta Labour Party, fear education – and that is why they repress or hinder anything that means the education of the masses and the loosening or loss of their grip on people.
@H.P.Baxxter,
fil-kaz ta’ RCC u Simon Busuttil ghandek ragun pero f’ ta’ Josef Bonnici nahseb li qieghed zbaljat. L-inkompetenza f’ certi decizjonijiet meta kien ministru kienet cara wisq u batewhom ta’ warajh.
Yes there are certain people who were mistakenly considered as talented by the PN and therefore relentlessly pushed forward – be it by giving them the opportunity to be seen by the leader’s side or ensuring that decisions on by-elections favoured their election when they didn’t make it on their own steam in the election. Josef Bonnici was one of such individuals. A total disappointment.
A good analysis. It is a sad truth about the part where this gentleman referred to the media: all seem to be unbothered with the China-www.josephmuscat.com agreement. And this is very, very serious. We are back to the MLP-North Korea secret agreement of the 80s. And while on the subject, few journalists bothered to report extensively the recent agreement signed between TVM and the Chinese Central TV.
People are thinking I wrote this piece. Go figure. It’s highly embarrassing.
[Daphne – He’s Kevin. You’re Kev. Tell them to take it from me: Kevin Ellul Bonici didn’t write this.]