George Orwell’s Animal Farm, 1984 and many other of his works have become classics in their own right, giving us such everyday terms as Big Brother (is watching you), Newspeak and Cold War, to name but a few. I was reminded of the current validity of Orwellian literature during a recent meeting I had. This was with a group of people who, like myself, are quite concerned about the political developments taking place, with secretive manoeuvring and manipulation being the order of the day.

Animal Farm was probably the first piece of political literature ever brought to my attention, although, being a teenage student, I was probably not yet fully aware of all its allusions and real life parallels. It is a profound yet simple exposé of the worst that the Soviet system had to offer, and uses a parable style, based on farm animals, to illustrate how totalitarian governments achieve, and subsequently discharge, power.

There are two specific incidents in this novella that have a particularly strong relevance to the government under whose power we are living today. The first is one that I am sure that most of us are familiar with. The pigs in the story had originally published seven commandments, the most powerful of which was ‘All Animals are Equal’. This translates into the Malta Tagħna Lkoll mantra that hypnotised so many just over a year ago.

As the story develops, Orwell has the original seven commandments being amended, or outright erased, to suit the convenience of the boss pig, Napoleon. It finally ends up with just the one, famous line – ‘All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others’.

The other incident, also worth pointing at, is to be found at the very beginning of the tale, just after the animals come to power. The pigs immediately established themselves as the innermost, powerful rulers of the farm. One of the most successful arguments they had used to ensure the support of the other animals for their cause was that of the fruits of their labour being exploited by the farm owners.

Immediately after taking power, the first morning saw the cows being milked producing five pails of milk that they all assumed were now to be shared, as the pigs had promised. The pigs, however, sent the other animals out to work, telling them that the harvest was very important, being in the farm’s interest, and to never mind the milk.

Although the chickens had been used to having some of it mixed in with their daily mash under the previous administration, by the time all the animals came back from their toil, all the milk had disappeared, having been taken by the pigs, the innermost circle of the new power.

The recent hiring and firing of Cabinet members, so soon after their appointment, speaks volumes

The parallels speak for themselves. As we have so clearly seen over the past year, the promises of Malta Tagħna Lkoll, and ‘tista’ ma taqbilx magħna imma tista’ taħdem magħna’ have become punch lines to the jokes that appointments to positions of public trust, public service and public cost have become.

And what about the milk analogy? The milk in our case is the lucre of public appointments for friends and family, and other handouts. One does not really need to look far beyond the Prime Minister’s personal/official car and the money it generates for him, his wife’s business partner’s salaried appointment in the United States, her place of business, and the Health and Energy Minister’s wife’s €13,000-a-month posting in her home country.

One could keep on listing the various instances of similarity between the Orwel­lian animals and the real life government we are all labouring under today. A quick read of the story does not require any explanation, as the parallels to be drawn are so starkly obvious. The resounding victory achieved by Joseph Muscat & Co came after a plethora of promises, accusations and, most wicked of all, the abuse of genuine grievances suffered by some people.

Once their goal was achieved, these promises were soon thrown out of the window with the proverbial bath water, with the focus being turned inwards at the expense of employment figures, safety of residents and the dignity of our nation. Even the recent hiring and firing of Cabinet members, so soon after their appointment, speaks volumes. It could not be any clearer that the quantum of the victory has gone to their heads, making them believe they are infallible rather than incorrigible, and there to stay for good, or for worse…

It is therefore time to send a message, a strong one. The European Parliament elections are a golden opportunity for the Maltese people to tell the government that this cavalier attitude of dealing with the helm of our country is beyond unacceptable. I am sure that a show of a decreasing support for this heavy-handedness will go a long way to cutting down to size the arrogance of our steamroller Prime Minister and his government.

www.facebook.com/roberta.metsola
Twitter: @RobertaMetsola

Roberta Metsola is a Nationalist Party MEP.

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