Viżjoni

Artikolista f’gazzetta lokali kiteb li l-gvernijiet f’Malta ma jkollhom l-ebda sens ta’ viżjoni għall-futur, b’eċċezzjoni waħda: dik tal-amministrazzjoni ta’ Fenech Adami meta telqet bil-kumpass li ddaħħal lil Malta fl-Unjoni Ewropea bħala membru sħiħ.
Ftit tista’ ssib eżempju aqwa ta’ kif l-elitiżmu lemini f’pajjiżna jfittex li jikteb l-istorja skont kriterji u valuri klassisti, u barra minnhom xejn ma jeżisti. X’ridikolaġni!
Il-kittieb involut jidher li ma jafx, jew nesa, jew ma jqisx li kienu jeżistu: l-gvern Laburista tas-snin erbgħin, li telaq biex idaħħal il-welfare state; lill-gvern Laburista tas-snin ħamsin, bil-viżjoni dinamika li jimmodernizza lil dil-gżira; u l-gvern Laburista tal-ewwel nofs tas-snin sebgħin, bil-viżjoni biex Malta ma tiddependix aktar fuq il-ħidma ta’ bażi militari barranija.
Nesa wkoll, min jaf għaliex, l-amministrazzjoni Nazzjonalista tas-snin sittin, li bid-difetti kollha tagħha, kellha l-viżjoni li tagħmel suċċess mill-Indipendenza.
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WIRT URBAN
Naħseb li qed jagħmlu tajjeb dawk l-għaqdiet ċivili li qed ifittxu li joħolqu kuxjenza dwar il-wirt urban. Madankollu, għal ħafna minna, l-ambjentaliżmu jirrigwarda l-aktar l-ispazji naturali li matul is-snin, baqgħu jonqsu u jinqerdu.
Imma l-ħtieġa li nikkonservaw is-sabiħ treġi wkoll għall-mibni storiku. Veru li l-għajxien tal-bniedem hu storja ta’ bidla li xejn ma jista’ jwaqqaf. Min-naħa l-oħra, li neqirdu biex nibdlu sakemm kull ħaġa li naraw madwarna tispiċċa tirrifletti r-realtajiet tal-lum fl-ikrah u fis-sabiħ, ma tidhirlix mira aċċettabbli.
Il-bniedem hu annimal li jgħix bil-memorji tiegħu. Mhux biss dawk li jsostni fil-kuxjenza tiegħu, imma wkoll dawk konkreti li jgħix fihom u madwarhom.
Kieku l-ispazju urban kellu jinbidel bla waqfien, il-bnedmin se jsibu li donnhom reġgħu lura għaż-żmien tan-nomadiżmu.
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BRATISLAVA
Fi ftit ġranet oħra, il-mexxejja tal-Unjoni Ewropea se jiltaqgħu fi Bratislava biex jaraw kif se jilqgħu għall-isfidi futuri, mhux l-anqas dawk ikkawżati mill-Brexit. Fl-aħħar ġimgħa fi Brussell, smajt għadd ġmielu ta’ nies li jafu xinhu għaddej, ibassru li l-laqgħa mhi se tasal imkien.
Laqatni l-pessimiżmu tagħhom. Qed ibassru żmien ta’ immobiliżmu għall-Unjoni Ewropea għax mhux se jkun hemm kunsens bejn il-mexxejja dwar id-deċiżjonijiet li għandhom jittieħdu.
Imbagħad jidħolli suspett li min qed jgħid hekk għandu l-preferenzi tiegħu għal x’deċiżjonijiet jeħtieġ jittieħdu. Pereżempju x’aktarx issib li l-istess nies li qed jgħidu dan, jilmentaw li r-Renju Unit imissu minnufih japplika ħalli joħroġ mill-Unjoni Ewropea.
Donnu hemm min irid jgħaġġel. Irid juża l-ħruġ tar-Renju Unit mill-Unjoni biex jimbotta ’l quddiem aġenda ta’ miżuri ġodda federalisti fl-Unjoni Ewropea. Niddubita kemm din tista’ tkun strateġija għaqlija.

English Version – Vision

A pundit in a local newspaper wrote that Maltese governments have had no vision for the future. There was one exception according to him: the Fenech Adami administration which kept to the compass of making Malta a full member of the European union.

One can hardly find a better example of how right wing elitism in this country tries to rewrite history according to its own classist criteria and values, outside of which nothing exists. How ridiculous!

The columnist involved either does not know about, or has forgotten, or deems not to have existed: the Labour government of the forties decade of the previous century, which launched the welfare state; the Labour administration of the fifties, whose dynamic vision was to modernise the island on all levels; the Labour government of the first half of the seventies, whose successful goal was for Malta to cease its dependence on the presence of a foreign military base.

He also forgot, who knows why, that a Nationalist administration of the sixties, for all its defects, still had a vision to make the independence of the island a success.

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Urban heritage

Those NGOs which are seeking to create awareness about the importance of our urban heritage merit support. However for many of us, environmentalism should really concern the preservation of the unbuilt open spaces which over the years were destroyed or have shrunk.

But the need to preserve what’s “beautiful” must extend too to historical constructs. It’s true if platitudinous that human life is a story of unstoppable change. On the other hand, allowing the destruction of all we see about us in the city, till everything ends up reflecting the realities of today, good and bad, seems to me an unacceptable approach.

Man is an animal which lives off its memories. Those it carries in its consciousness, as well as the concrete ones in and around which it lives.

If our urban environment were to change all the time, people would feel as if they had reverted to the life of nomads.

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Bratislava

Shortly, EU leaders will be meeting in Bratislava to consider how to cope with future challenges, not least those provoked by Brexit. In the past week in Brussels, I heard quite a number of people who are in the know, predicting that the meeting will lead to nowhere.

I was impressed by their pessimism. Their take is that the EU will be treading water for a while because there will be no consensus among its leaders over the decisions they need to take.

However the suspicion soon prevails that those who are talking this way have their own views about how decisions should be taken. Let us say that you will find the same people claiming that the UK should immediately register its application to leave the EU.

Some seem to be in a hurry. They want to promote an agenda of new federalist proposals for the EU by leveraging them with the UK’s exit. The wisdom of such a strategy is less than clear.