Archive for the “Thoughts” Category

The boats continue to land upon Maltese shores. Whether the vessels be made from wood, steel or inflated rubber, and whether the vessels are ultimately seaworthy or not, the nature of their cargo remains the same – African individuals making their way into our territories illegally in the hope of a better life. The sum of these individuals encapsulate both a significant as well as a major crisis facing the Maltese Islands today.

In a previous micro-step I had stated that in the context of any crisis the first thing to do is to ensure that the crisis cannot become worse, entailing either the removal of the victim from the vicinity of the problem or to shut down or prevent the source from further contributing to the problem. Such therefore suggests that preventing the entry of further shipments of illegal immigrants is the logical initial step in any serious attempt to tackle the crisis at hand.

In order to illustrate the importance of this revelation, let us take a brief look at the situation of the coast of the United States of America where they too have a problem with illegal immigration. In particular I would like to home in upon Cuba. In other words, unlike the situation of Malta, facing immigration from a vast continent, I’d like to look at a vast country facing immigration from a very small country.

The Americans have their own way of tackling illegal immigration. They deploy patrols and survey the separating sea in an effort to intercept any would-be immigrants. Any individuals successfully intercepted are sent back to Cuba. In this much the American example does reflect effective crisis management. However in spite of these efforts many Cubans still attempt the hazardous crossing in the hope of making it to shore. You see, while American policy is to return those individuals caught in the sea, any and all individuals that actually make it to shore are automatically granted asylum status and become naturalized American citizens, which would explain why there is a prominent Cuban minority community in Florida.

In other words in spite of the apparent efforts by America to keep illegal immigrants out of the country, they still suspend a juicy carrot of citizenship. As a result of this contradiction tens of thousands of Cubans have attempted the crossing and still attempt the crossing to this day, in-spite of the thousands who drown and the many more who are intercepted. The carrot remains suspended and so the tragedy is perpetuated year after year.

In the case of the Maltese Islands we too suspend a carrot. While it may be less certain than the one suspended by America, our carrot is potentially every bit as tempting and, without even a solid return policy in place, African numbers are rising on a yearly basis. To persist in our folly would be akin to a small boat rowing into the vast crowd of survivors following the sinking of the Titanic. A few more souls would be saved only to be swamped by the crowd, not caring about little things as capacity. Malta does have a capacity and whether it has been surpassed depends entirely upon whether the observer holds the welfare of the Maltese people at heart or not. I say that we are excessively low in the water and need to act fast, but those who should feel responsible for the welfare of the Maltese Islands are not acting. Remove the carrot and not only should the in-flow ebb away but the consequent loss in human life should similarly diminish.

While I do not consider myself nature’s child by any means, I do greatly appreciate the wonders that nature presents to myself and everybody else in the vicinity. I appreciate the first rays of light filtering through the curtains and, if I happen to be awake early enough and happen to be in the right place, how the sky upon the horizon gradually shifts from a deep navy blue to a deep cyan to a dusky green and onward to more solar colours as the flaming sphere peaks steadily over the sea’s edge. I appreciate the clouds and their ever-changing nature as well as the relatively constant lap or rush of a breaking wave. I appreciate the droop of the Eucalyptus tree and the way that the wind interacts with its leaves and other objects. I try to ignore the litter that gets blown around – it does not belong within my picture. I enjoy the experiences provided by the moon, the lightening, the rain and, if I am really lucky, the rainbow in almost any shape, condition and form that it may present itself.

While it would be nice to lie down on a beach somewhere after dusk or perhaps revisit the childhood years and sit at the water’s edge scooping up moistened sand in the name of indulgence within a mid-summer’s dream, the truth is that the beaches are more often than not unfit for such activities, especially so in areas meters away from significant tourist traps, such as the artificial beach in St George’s bay (although to be fair it is not due to any negligence on the part of the caretakers). You just don’t know what you might find or hurt yourself on below the grains of sand.

It all comes down to cultural education really. If individuals were to carry away their spent bottles and trash then others would not only have a cleaner beach to inherit after those preceding them but they would hopefully also be more inclined to emulate their predecessors’ example. It would also be nice if accessibility to more remote beaches were improved so that both the physically fit and not so physically fit may both enjoy the natural heritage of the Islands. A particular beach in the vicinity of Ghajn Tuffieha comes to mind.

Yes this has been a relatively light-hearted post. If any readers have visited any Maltese beaches this year then it would be appreciated by not only myself but also others if they could comment on the state of the beaches that they visited and whether they have any specific suggestions for their improvement. It is a small step but it takes only a moment and perhaps something positive will come of it.

In a previous contribution I had referred to a component within an alternative perspective on relative moral quantification. I had spoken of a hierarchy based upon the degree of internalization or externalization of any conceivable concept. This time I would like to expand upon the relevance of such a hierarchy to the construction and function of any moral system set within the structures of logic.

Returning to an old question, why is it wrong for one person to kill another? Is it wrong for one person to kill another? Why, or why not? These are questions that religious texts do not answer to satisfaction.

Does an individual have the right to kill? If that question were to stand alone then the answer would be yes. The reason why the answer would be yes is because there is no conflict of interest involved. No target is defined and therefore there is no reason why an individual should not kill within the context of such a vacuum. This is why a large portion of the gaming industry features guilt-free killing. Puncturing a 3D image full of similarly virtual holes consists of acts upon the level of expression rather than action. It is acted out but not performed and the interests of no living organism come into play.

Lets turn the question around. Does an individual have the right to live? The answer is yes, because the individual has an interest staked in living. So if an individual has the right to live and an individual has the right to kill then how does this play out in the context of an individual wishing to kill another? The moment that the rights of one entity cross and contradict the rights of another entity, then one enters into the realm of responsibility – the prioritization of rights.

Rights and responsibilities. That is what this boils down to. The previous contribution outlines the basis for determining a moral hierarchy and it may now be appreciated, serving as a yard-stick by which the moral engine of rights and responsibilities is able to function.

Returning to the old question, an individual has a right both to live and to kill. However to live is to be while to kill is to act or do or choose. In the previous contribution it was proposed that the hierarchy should run via the adjectives to be, to think, to express and to do. Therefore while an individual has a right to be alive and the right to perform the act of killing, an individual also has the responsibility not to perform the act of killing as it contravenes another individual’s right to be alive. The right to be alive of one individual nullifies the right of another to perform the act of killing.

The news carried by the Times of Malta would be interesting if it weren’t so grim. Apparently, after having turned an election around partially on the premise that a vote for Gonzi is a vote for not only stable finances and peace of mind it turns out that our deficit has since swelled to a heart-stopping € 3.4688 billion, which amounts to approximately € 15,000 per working individual, give or take a few thousand depending on how optimistic your view of employment figures is. The Times of Malta also reported that in all of this government spending relative to revenues continues to rise.

OK so it is nothing new. Malta has been running on a deficit for years. This is not what primarily concerns me about the news, though I would like to see the deficit disappear. What I cannot understand is how all this fits into Lawrence Gonzi’s pre-election vision to reduce the deficit to within European Union standards? How does this fit with his campaigning on the ticket of financial stability and peace of mind? Is it possible that he does not have a clue, even as recent finance minister, about what is going on for as far as the economy of the country he is leading is concerned?

Either way it is clear that the Maltese Islands are slowly but surely becoming further mired within a swamp of debt. It is also just another example of the dishonesty of Nationalist campaigning during the election. Why is it that roses always wither into ashes after the outcome of any election is decided and known?

Actually, let me take this opportunity to tell you why. But first a few more questions. Why is it that the electricity surcharge was all but forgotten in the last election? Why is it that the number of illegal immigrants entering the Maltese Islands decreased sharply in 2007? Why is it that the privatization drive slowed prior to the election and now we seem to be back on the privatization track (with the recent strike being a direct result of it – cause and effect)?

What if it was all tied in with an electoral effort? What if our political elite are intentionally placing the Islands through a 3-year lean period so as to cover their tracks in the run-up to the election? What if the population is gullible enough to fall for it? Would this not explain the roller-coaster ride that is the Maltese economy, so intricately tied in with the political calender?

The question on my mind is, why should the Maltese people, so clearly deceived, put up with such a government? Why should the people not take a stand and tell the Nationalist government where to shove their new-found post-electoral deficit and surcharge and demand their right to reconsider their votes cast in a fog of lies? Are the people afraid of their servant, the government?

As readers may or may not have by now noticed, by steps I actually refer to micro-steps. I have long since concluded it both unnecessary and risky to condense too much information into too little space as it is clarity, rather than wordiness, that is of importance when conveying ideas. This being said, this particular micro-step refers to the importance of prioritization in crisis.

In any hazardous emergency situation the first thing that any survival manual recommends is to first and foremost ensure the survival of your own life. You have to save yourself before you can save the life of another. This advice makes a lot of sense. If a would-be rescuer were to squander time with other persons then it is more than possible that he or she would become too weak to complete the task, collapsing and becoming yet another victim in need of rescue. In such an event the would-be rescuer not only fails but worsens the chance of survival as resources have to be attributed to the rescue of more individuals, complicating matters.

Similarly if an individual is an electric-shock victim or has collapsed within a burning house then treatment in both scenarios is extremely difficult and hazardous not only to the victim but to the rescuer. In such situations the main is switched off or the victim relocated to a place outside the burning building before any first aid treatment begins. It is common sense.

So too also should this legacy of common sense apply to the Maltese context for as far as our handling of the illegal immigration issue is concerned. Before serious consideration of how to properly deal with immigrants already within the islands can begin we need to look at ways to prevent further immigrants from entering the country illegally and hence causing the problem to grow.

In this regards the European Union is proposing the return directive, which is a step in the right direction, although it does not actually address the problem with the same brand of common sense present within crisis-management materials. Locally it was only Norman Lowell who offered a compatible proposal which could be succinctly summed up as “14 miles out”. Unlike all other politicians he actually proposed prevention from entry, which does bear resemblance to shutting off the electricity in the event of an electrical hazard. Sure he may not have expressed his ideas on the matter in a fashion that was palatable to many people’s ears, but he remained consistent enough in his proposed solution. Of course he received both grudged respect and thinly-veiled vilification, and still receives both to this day… but that doesn’t change the fact of the matter, that turning immigrants around at the border would be a method compatible with crisis-management practice. Reasoning supporting this upon the conceptual level shall be expanded upon in another micro-step.

With the recent public transport strike concluded and the prominence of the event rapidly on its way to becoming little more than just a hazy memory to the forgetful populace, the general flow of things has mostly returned to normal. However the underlying malady that plagues the islands still yet endures.

No, I do not speak of dishonest political entities that dispense eleventh-hour electoral promises that they either have little idea how to fulfil or have little intention of fulfilling to begin with. Neither do I directly speak of the general inefficiency, inadequacy or pricey nature in the service offered by the public transport sector (particularly with certain taxis with the last of these), although both of the aforementioned problems do require address by competent authorities.

The malady that I speak of is ongoing and is fully integrated into our daily lifestyles. It leeches upon our limited resources to an ever-increasing degree… and by this I do not directly refer to wither out fuel-guzzling power stations or the government’s doubling of the very same surcharge that the nationalists succeeded in making the people forget this last election.

I speak of the 280,000-odd registered vehicles that circulate within the second-rate infrastructure of our islands, a catastrophically sad figure if one were to consider it unlikely that the overall population of Maltese individuals capable of or willing to drive exceeds 320,000. Yet upon all levels we fail to realize that more is less. The roads are growing more congested and travel times are growing more lengthy. Seeking parking space is becoming more of a problem and one can occasionally note a faint haze that looks suspiciously like smog hanging over well-traversed low-lying areas such as Regional road in the vicinity of St. Venera.

And in the meantime the government is now speaking of plans to introduce a tram service. In all truth the idea is a good one, in principle, but this greatly depends upon the competence with which it is implemented. Furthermore a tram service is no solution in and of itself, although it is respectable enough as part of any solution, which is why I anticipate this year’s 2nd Valletta conference for sustainable urban transport “towards a new culture” in urban mobility.

While I do not consider myself an expert in the field of transportation I do possess some understanding. Put very simply I am of the belief that I have in my possession the key to Malta’s transportation woes. The problem with my key is that it actually solves the core problem of the issue at hand – dependency – and would entail a degree of economic restructuring that some would not appreciate… but it would solve the issue. In the run-up to the previous election I stated that my goal was to gradually slash the number of registered vehicles in Malta by over 90%.

I do realize that this contribution has been more of both a lament and a tease than a true contribution. It is unfortunate that suspicion should rule within a situation of such great need. I do however take this opportunity to appeal to interested entities to make themselves known as with a collective effort I have reason to believe that we could take over the transportation sector and simultaneously make the islands a much better place to live in.

For many pregnancy is a joy. It is a climatic point within almost any stable and lasting relationship. It represents a continuation of the self, the ultimate union of the partners and the prospect of forming a new branch of the family. For such individuals the news is not only welcome but cause for celebration, neatly fitting in with their imagined prerequisites for their ‘happily ever after’.

However there exist others for whom the news or prospect of pregnancy is not a joy but a fear or a nightmare scenario come to life. For these the prospect of missing a period cycle is a heart-stopping moment, a harbinger of foreboding times ahead and an end even more cataclysmal than the prospect of being seriously gored in an accident. Of course the latter category of persons tend to be young or at the height of their careers, dancing upon the knife’s edge in the game of presumed love.

For such individuals a pregnancy could spell disaster. The loss of one’s job, career and livelihood for the working woman, being abandoned by a deserting boyfriend to face a mountain of responsibility on her own, and I am not even going to get into the psychological anguish in the scenario of the impregnation having been involuntary. For all of these scenarios and more, the pregnancy is akin to a single card within a house of cards suddenly collapsing and bringing the rest down with it.

In the Maltese Islands one of the more prominent support groups goes by the identifier of Gift of Life with Paul Vincenti a lead spokesperson for the group. They strive to socially and psychologically support single mothers, rape victims and other persons who have been less than joyous about having fallen pregnant. Their priority has been the protection and preservation of all new forms of life from conception.

Prominent on the choice front, on the other hand, has been Dr. Emmy Bezzina whose stance from the outset has been the permitting of would-be mothers the choice to abort a pregnancy in order to release themselves of the shackles of circumstance and to regain control of their lives. Of liberal persuasion, he has steadfastly argued in favour of the sanctity of choice for the would-be mother in situations where there exists a conflict of interest.

While these two individuals may regard each other as opponents and perhaps also a threat to their own outlook, it is interesting to note that both individuals genuinely feel that they maintain the moral high-ground over the other, that their rival is unable to or unwilling to understand their own respective viewpoints, and that their opponent’s respective outlooks are in fact a recipe for disaster. However neither individual possesses a monopoly on common sense and it is to be expected that their on-going struggle will be superseded by revelations that neither individual may fully concur with. Both individuals’ contributions are necessary but for as long as they work to each others’ exclusion, life after pregnancy will continue to seem like a grim scenario to the unexpectant.