Yes, by a grand 16 euros a year
Published:
May 9, 2014 at 1:52am
Please explain to me why people are supposed to select their representatives in the European Parliament on the basis of domestic policy – or more pertinently, on the basis of the government having raised students’ stipends by an awe-inducing Eur16 a year, which works out at 31 cents a week or 4.4 cents per day.
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Notice the subdued hues. There isn’t one primary colour in the entire Labour campaign. Fascinating use of subliminal cognitive control.
http://maltarightnow.com/news/2014/05/08/muscat-jghid-li-ma-ddikjarax-l-assi-tieghu-ghax-kien-iddikjarahom-sena-ilu/
From syllogism to defiance.
Not that it could ever become anything else, but the duality is turning sinister at a much faster pace lately.
Last week was the other threat, that the vote has to be one of confidence. He was also on radio the next morning challenging the soldiers of steel to get to scratch and vouch absolute unquestioning loyalty.
At 2.00.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHROLhQDt7o
Compare.
http://toritto.wordpress.com/2014/04/09/the-red-years-and-the-murder-of-matteotti/
The piece is pretty accurate.
‘…By 1923 Mussolini’s fascists would brazenly murder the head of the Italian Socialist Party, Giacomo Matteotti after his rousing, impassioned speech openly defying the fascists in the Chamber of Deputies. As he was leaving the house chamber he said to his colleagues “Now you can prepare for my funeral!”.
Matteotti stood in the way of fascist dictatorship. His words, his pen, his daily activity were a daily reproach to tyranny. He had no fear of the Fascisti; the fascists were afraid of him. He had a way of enraging Mussolini.
So they killed him.
Five men were arrested for his murder, three were convicted and then released under amnesty granted by the King. Socialists were after all, anti-monarchist.
Mussolini would speak to the nation in January 1924 virtually admitting responsibility as Duce of the Fascist Party and daring the nation to put him on trial. His threat was civil war betwen the fascists and the army. “Italy wants peace and quiet. Work and calm. I will give these things with love if possible; with force if necessary.” The King again did nothing. The speech is considered the beginning of the dictatorship….’
I would add that’s when ‘Me ne frego’ was coined.
Glad you liked my post on the death of Giacomo Matteotti.
Regards
Alfred Sant used primary red. It figures.
Does it make a difference? (This is an honest curious question)
To you it doesn’t, because you saw right through it. I can tell that since you asked the question.
To thousands of others, it will make a difference. The glib answer would be that Labour wouldn’t be spending money on brand design if it didn’t.
But I’ll try to flesh out my answer.
Cognitive process are very complex things. You don’t make up your mind on voting choices on the strength of one poster. But that poster shapes the way you process information, along with countless other sensory inputs.
The colours on that poster might, for instance, determine your answer to the question: “Is Labour fresh?”
Now in itself, the question means nothing. I mean what is fresh? But then you’ll find yourself at a party, say, and someone will be saying that the PN are old and stuffy, and you will not contradict them, because in your mind, Labour=fresh > their opposites are the opposite. At some point down the chain, you will decide to vote the PN out, and therefore to vote Labour.
Why do you think Labour went through all that trouble to change its party logo? Look at the old logo, and look at the new one. Which one says “fresh and exciting”?
Here’s one anecdote about colour and decision processes. Back in 2003 or so, when it was clear that Coalition troops would be in Afghanistan for the long haul, the French were trying to make up their mind about which camouflage they should issue. Everyone else was using some form of desert camouflage, while the French were still in the Central European camouflage. There were various argument for and against. But in the end it came down to this: the preferred target for insurgents were US troops (who were using their 3-colour desert pattern back then), and French desert camouflage (so-called Daguet pattern) is quite similar, at least from a distance. So insurgents were hesitating for that crucial split second before opening fire on French troops. And so they kept their CE throughout. Later on, insurgents adapted and no longer made the distinction between the nationalities of Coalition forces. But for a few years at least, that difference in colour provided a slight edge.
Now look back at that poster. It could be a Nationalist poster from the heady days of 2003, couldn’t it? After all, there isn’t that much difference between Nationalist and Labour, is there?
I’ve no doubt that Labour will change their tactics by 2018. You cannot use any single marketing tool forever. But right now, colour is giving them the edge.
One can play this game once but not all the time.
Coincidentally a few days ago I watched this programme on ZDF (German TV channel) about how we see colours differently:
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek/beitrag/video/1715902/Siehst-du%252C-was-ich-sehe%253F#/beitrag/video/1715902/Siehst-du%252C-was-ich-sehe%253F
It is fascinating programme, but unfortunately it is in German.
Very enlightening indeed! Explains a lot and makes me worry what kind of ‘warfare’ the PL is engaging in.
It was originally produced by the BBC, here is the link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/legacy/tv/2011/08/horizon.shtml
I expected the billboard to say:
“ZMIEN IL-PARTITI SPICCA”
Labour.
last PN budget it was proposed for stipends to be increased by 10 euros per month plus COLA
And more importantly, what state office do you think the poster girl will get?
A billboard like this is set up near MCAST in Paola…..
And near University too.
Actually, since stipend is paid monthly, most students would calculate their new earnings that way, such that it amounts to about 1.30 euro. To quote a student friend of mine, that means they can “buy a 2hr bus ticket or a packet of sweets very for weeks. Yippee.”
That should read “every four weeks”
Because to Joseph Muscat’s way of thinking, it is not about the actual amount of money, but about electoral promises being delivered. 4.4c per day stipend increase, 2c saving on litre of petrol, an illusory saving on W&E.
It all adds up – never mind that while amounting to insignificant gains to the individual as citizen, these kept promises amount to very significant costs to government and so to the individual as taxpayer.
Matters such as transparency, meritocracy, responsible government, and suchlike are above the heads of too large a proportion of Maltese voters. The ‘but tal-poplu’ mindset rules.
Four cents a day for students and two cents off every litre of petrol. Such riches.
Unfortunately, both actually insignificant “facts” ignore meaningful context: the actual cost of education or the actual amount of petrol consumed.
Also ignored are significant contexts such as insufficient job creation upon graduation or near 7% unemployment rates; or more cars being added to jammed or gridlocked and fuel-wasting roads all of the time.
Questions, such as what is really needed for significant investment in human development, education, health, welfare, infrastructure, are entirely absent from these such decontextualized sound-bites of attempted governance by marketing. The approach is entirely dishonest–and intentionally aims to be dishonest.
What is even more or equally despicable and immoral is the parallel expropriation of public finances (far greater than 2c or 4c) by the government to reward itself personally or its political appointees (ultimately multiple millions of euros), which are lost to genuine public benefit and investment, except for Government’s interest for firmly holding on to the reigns of power.
Baxxter, they use neuro science for marketing in all their marketing visuals. They test the visual effect on the brain of all the colours and manipulate and change it to create the desired effect and ‘want’.
A local specialist: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20120923/thezone-careers/the-exciting-field-of-neuroscience-what-it-s-like-to-explore-the-human-brain.437992
I couldn’t really resist…
http://imgur.com/sWiHxe5
Il-bierah mort ghand Tal-Lira u wara dritt ghand il-Lidl u t-2c li frankali Jowsef fuq il-petrol ma stajtx nahlijha.
Oh I see, that is why some people have Eur 500,000 in cash at home.
Collect water from public fountains and you will save even more.
As a student myself, this ‘żieda’ is really starting to feel rather contemptuous.
The message I’m recieving is: “Ħa, ħuduha u agħlqu ħalqkom waqt li aħna ntellgħu kemm Alla ħalaq billboards fuqha”.
Very well said. Our wicked prime minister is enjoying the ride.
Muscat’s ‘Zieda Fl-Istipendji’ is still a running joke among students from 6th form upwards, and also their parents.
Reminding people of it with bloody ridiculous billboards merely keeps the joke topical, therefore extending the widespread ridicule.
But one has to remember that Labour are happy about giving up these peanuts to us peasants. Muscat himself said it that let the PN mock us about these reductions, when speaking about the 10% reduction in the price of uniforms.
My feeling is that people will still feel that they’re grateful for these reductions or 5c daily increase in the stipend.
I am a university student and the marvellous stipend increase the government is flaunting is a mere €1.45 per month (last year I used to get €84, now I’m getting €85.45. But, I must remind you all, I’m not a Minister’s Chinese wife who enjoys €13,000 a month.
Excellent comment, Dave – I’m very curious to know to which board that lucky billboard girl will be appointed.
The girl in the poster will not be able to afford the blow-dry she has with the yearly stipend increase.
izidlek l-istipendjlu u ma ssibx job jew issib job li ma jhallas
Kieku l-flus tal-billboards uzahom ghall-istipendji kien jiflah jaghtihom 31c ohra.
Stipends should be scrapped anyway. They were necessary when the PN were trying to educate a populace purposely kept ignorant by the ‘socialists for others’ i.e. not for themselves; they of course sent their children to good schools/universities.
Now that people have been taught to value education by the PN, they should scrap this outdated system. People should just count themselves lucky that education is even free. But paying people to do so is beyond ludicrous.