Tomorrow’s Dar tal-Providenza telethon brings to a close Malta’s end-of-year orgy of charitable showmanship, that includes the telethons of the two major political parties and the gargantuan L-Istrina. The total for this holiday period is likely to top €8 million, almost double what is netted by other major fundraising marathons combined throughout the rest of the year.
Is charity in a social democracy such as Malta a good thing? Should it even be necessary? Well, it depends. Historically, private (including religious) charity has always been more nimble than the State in identifying and addressing the symptoms of poverty and exclusion. On the other hand, the State is much better placed to institutionalise the alleviation of suffering, through the raising of taxes and systematic redistribution of wealth. And only the State can tackle the underlying causes of injustice through legislation.
Then again, charity in its original meaning fulfils a spiritual need beyond the precepts of any religion and the power of any State. In its derivation from the Greek agape, which refers to unconditional love, charity creates a transformational bond between the giver and the receiver that no amount of tax-paying can emulate.
Agape charity has a distinctive profile: it is humble and often hidden. It is not boastful or self-regarding, nor does it expect recompense. It distinguishes itself not by the amount given, but by the spirit of the act itself, its meaning for the givers and its power to make them review their lives and priorities. Agape charity does not leave the receiver beholden to the giver, except in gratitude for what has been freely given and freely received.
Cynics may scoff that much of telethon charity has nothing agape about it, that it is nothing more than feel-good self-therapy. But there is such a thing as generosity in and of itself, even for the sake of a political ideal, as in the PN and PL fundraising marathons. It is revealing that since the scrapping of prize-giving in 2009, L-Istrina receipts have actually continued to increase.
At its best, telethon charity can sensitise viewers to marginal realities. It allows viewers to become agents of change, however virtually and fleetingly, to causes that matter to them. And it does address particular needs that may ‘fall through the cracks’ of officialdom.
I feel like telling the MDA: keep this small change from your profiteering. You are staining the spirit of L-Istrina
On the other hand, there is much in Malta’s national telethon culture that provides rich pickings for the cynics. And I am not referring (only) to the toe-curling renditions of The Beatles’ cover versions by impromptu bands of mix-and-match politicians.
I suppose nothing much can be done about the mind-numbing succession of 15 seconds of fame during the PN and PL fundraising marathons as their acolytes queue up with their offerings for their high priests. But the way L-Istrina is used by much big business as an ego-boosting-cum-PR event is not much less nauseating.
Every time the Malta Denuders – sorry, Developers – Association (MDA) triumphantly presents its six-figure super-size cheque, as it has done in recent years, I think of the planning regulations that are being manipulated like so much putty. I think of the spaces that have been obliterated and uglified, the countryside that our children will see only in virtual reality. And I feel like telling the MDA: keep this small change from your profiteering. You are staining the spirit of L-Istrina.
But thankfully, for every MDA there are many smaller acts of Christmas-time altruism, such as the yearly fun-day by the White Taxi Service for children in care. There are countless other groups of workmates, friends and families who in small but significant ways get together for others, and not only during this feel-good period, not only for a one-time event.
In the facelessness of their agape charity is the true spirit of the season.
A perfect time for peace
’Tis the season to be sorry. For the state of our splintered and poisoned nation. For our hollowed-out institutions barely holding together with a gossamer sheen of nostalgic respectability. For the triumph of the popular will for a quick buck, the butchering of a crusading journalist, and the ongoing assault on press freedom. For the screwing of the environment by the two major parties in their race for special interest votes.
Beyond our shores it has been a year of mass migration, rising xenophobia and spreading terror across Europe, coupled with new twists in the Gordian knots of the Middle East and the Maghreb. Across the Atlantic we saw the rise of Trumpian moral bankruptcy and isolationism, and beyond in the Koreas the mounting hysteria of nuclear sabre-rattling. While all around reverberates the quickening drum-roll of worldwide environmental disasters.
Therefore, it is again the perfect time for the Christ Child. Time for the healing balm of His implausible peace that only comes with an act of foolishness: belief in the sanity of agape in the midst of madness.
sandrospiteri1965@gmail.com