Few, if any, readers know that February 20 was World Day of Social Justice. The celebration of the day designated by the United Nations in 2007 would have gone almost unnoticed had it not been for an insightful report released jointly by the Church’s Justice and Peace Commission and the Emigrants Commission.

The description of Maltese society the two Church commissions make is far from complimentary, at least for those who treasure the dignity of the human person as the measure of all political, economic and other decisions. The Church’s commissions believe that Malta is:

“A society which is increasingly using economic gain as a measure of success, and which strives incessantly, and often at all cost, to generate wealth. Perhaps as a consequence of this, our society un-ashamedly favours the rich, because of the real or perceived benefits their wealth brings to our economy.”

There is nothing wrong with wealth or with the fact that ours is a booming socie­ty. On the contrary, this is a very posi­tive development, a feather in the government’s cap. But it is very wrong if the amassing of economic wealth takes precedence over the needs of the human person or if segments of the population are left out of a fair share of this wealth.

The two commissions believe that this is happening and that there is ample evidence that poverty is real in Malta. In fact, some among us are struggling to survive as “not all are benefiting equally from the wealth being generated and that, at this time of economic prosperity, there are many who live a life devoid of dignity and stability”.

When the god of money takes pre-cedence over the human person, then, in the words of Pope Francis, we have an inversion of values.

The belief that individualism is more important than communitarianism is the root of most of the world’s ills

What these commissions say about Maltese society is, unfortunately, true worldwide. The neo-liberal mentality has contaminated economic and political theories and practical decisions. The belief that individualism is more important than communitarianism is the root of most of the world’s ills.

This mentality, as old as Cain, who believed that he was not his brother’s keeper, is getting worse. The American philosopher Ayn Rand has elevated selfish­ness into a virtue. Her teaching gives the theoretical basis to the political ideology of the American Right.

Unfortunately, this same mentality has now spread to politicians who once believed that the centre-left ideologies provided a more dignified way to conduct policy. For strategic reasons, today these politicians move from the gratification of the egoism of the individual to the satisfaction of the egoism of significant groups. By significant groups I mean groups that can help these politicians achieve power. Such groups can be numerically in a minority but for various reasons are in a position to influence the outcome of the popular vote.

The truth of the matter is that common people – albeit many times unknowingly – pay the price for this inversion of values. Isn’t it a massive inversion of values, for example, that our common home is being pillaged by the few for the benefit of the few? Those in power are in cahoots with a few rich families to make them mega-rich. They steal our views and pay a pittance for our land. These families try to make us believe that they are our benefactors, claiming that they are ‘investing’. What actually trickles down from this investment is like the proverbial crumbs under the table.

Malta’s policy on citizenship is one example that the document gives of how our country is privileging the rich over the poor. Applications for citizenship by refugees who “have become part of our community, in fact if not in law, and they contribute to our country in so many different ways, not least through their work and their taxes” are favourably considered after 10 years of residence. On the other hand, millionaires can buy a Maltese passport without living on the island. The document rightly notes that “a more people-centred approach to the granting of citizenship would look beyond mere financial contribution”.

There were several journalistic reports showing that some of those buying our passport are not the kind of people one would love as neighbours. By mere coincidence, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has just published a report about the citizenship schemes existing in Malta and other countries. The OECD states that such schemes “can also offer a backdoor to money-launderers and tax evaders”. It says that information released in the marketplace highlights the abuse of these schemes.

The two Church commissions outline four areas which should be addressed in order to ensure that our laws and policies on migration and asylum stop being “driven by the demands of the ‘god of money’ which views people only in terms of their utility”.

But that is a subject for another commentary.

joseph.borg@um.edu.mt

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