Political trivial pursuits

In the days before Facebook and Youtube were invented, ‘What if? history’ was one way to while away the time without getting twiddle blisters on one’s thumbs. It involved conjuring up hypothetical pasts that could have come to pass if this or that hadn’t happened.

In spite of the blind spots and all, we live in a country where work is possible and pockets are far from empty- Mark-Anthony Falzon

For example, one might reasonably ask the question: What if the Order of St John had never set up home in Malta?

Would we now be saying that St Paul was once shipwrecked in southern Italy, or that Maltese is an Italian dialect with strong vestiges of Arabic?

I believe a visiting historian once gave a lecture on this at the Aula Magna, even if I’ve quite forgotten was his answers were.

Well, what if Franco Debono were a more consistent man? What if he had followed up his tirade against the Prime Minister with its logical outcome, that is, a vote of no-confidence?

We would now probably be looking at elections within a few weeks. Question is, which of the three parties would stand the best chance of winning?

Let’s leave out Alternattiva Demokratika. That’s not because I think its members are irrelevant or inept.

I actually think AD has been and continues to be the source of much sensible politics. But I suppose that not even the most optimistic and Vod-Bombed of AD diehards would seriously entertain the possibility of running the country anytime soon.

Which leaves us with the usual suspects. I know many Labour­ites who spent hours praying that Debono would do the ‘right’ thing last Tuesday.

That’s understandable. They probably think it’s high time they had a stab at being form prefect, and that chances are that whenever the day of reckoning comes, their party will win. If anything, statistically.

I’m not so sure about that. In fact, I rather think the Nationalist Party is yet again well placed to win. By another narrow margin perhaps, but to win nonetheless.

Since I feel no allegiance to or love for the PN, my hunch cannot be down to wishful thinking. I must therefore look for other reasons.

The one really strong hand Lawrence Gonzi’s government holds is the economy. I am not an economist so don’t expect me to roll-call the numbers. By ‘economy’ I simply mean my experience of the general standard of living.

That sounds and may well be unpardonably biased. If it helps I might add that I spend most of my time in a not particularly rich part of Malta. Quite outside the bubble, shall we say.

Let’s first get some qualifiers out of the way. Two days ago the European Commission said that the size of our budget deficit is uncomfortable, and that we need to put into place effective fiscal measures to remedy that.

There are thousands of people in Malta who work for a pittance with absolutely no job security. Whatever the green or other logic, high utility bills have hit people’s pockets hard. Of that and more I’m aware.

Somehow, however, I still feel people in general are living comfortably. Fortunately or not, that usually means we’re consuming to some satisfaction.

Of course, we all complain about prices and burdens (the famous ‘piżijiet’). But then the black magic of consumption is precisely that the more we consume, the healthier our appetites get.

Examples are probably more odious than comparisons in this respect. But it’s hard not to notice that people are shopping and spending with a vengeance.

Sunday mornings have become national shopping time. I’ve now lost count of the markets and car boot sales mushrooming around Cottonera. Our cars are newer and bigger than they have ever been. And so on.

Some might object that ah, that’s only possible because people are working themselves silly – two, three, even four jobs seems to be the norm around here. Well, in that case my argument gathers strength.

Every other day I get an e-mail from some highly qualified person (I mean dottorati) somewhere in Italy, asking if our University department offers in­tern­ships. That’s because the Italian job market is so dire that the cream of the crop are prepared to work anywhere for free, as long as they do something.

There’s very little of that here. The huge majority of us are gainfully employed, and there’s even room for thousands (exact figures are hard to come by) of foreigners to join the club.

One of the main complaints put forward by adolescents in a survey recently is that their parents work too hard. I doubt those parents include many interns.

I am not saying two things. First, that the streets in Malta are paved with gold. Rather, it’s a case of people working hard and playing hard.

The second thing I am not saying is that GonziPN is the one and all-giving bearer of the cornucopia. Honestly, I don’t know how much of it is directly down to government decisions.

But all of that’s beside the point. Which is that, somehow, in spite of the blind spots and all, we live in a country where work is possible and pockets are far from empty.

The Maltese, in other words, live well.

The new buses may be a dog’s dinner and the PN’s stand on divorce may have been as foolish as it gets. But I still feel the one thing that most people really, really care about when voting is their standard of living. Anyone in doubt could do worse than google ‘consumerism’.

In sum, my little ‘What if?’ piece fails to produce the clear answer one might expect after 14-odd years of PN rule. And that’s not even taking into account the massive potlatch likely to be unleashed on us this time next year.

Fortunately or not, it may well be that Debono has just thrown away his chances of being part of Malta’s next government.

mafalzon@hotmail.com