In ‘The German Ideology’, Karl Marx argues that for the working classes to achieve their material emancipation, they need to gain consciousness of their own condition. In other words, there is no material freedom unless you free your mind.
This thesis was enthusiastically adopted by most theorists of colonialism: the colonised will only free themselves from the shackles of colonialism once they rid themselves of the colonial mentality instilled in them by their former masters.
The colonial mentality reduces the colonised to aliens in their own land. It creates a servant mentality, where the colonised feel that whatever they own is by the grace of the master, who might revoke it at any time if he feels displeased in some way by the behaviour of his servants.
This distorts the notion of time in the mind of the colonised, a sense that time is the here and now, that the future is always too unstable and unpredictable to take into consideration in order to mould aspirations, and, as a consequence, maximising upon the present takes precedence over future concerns.
Upon independence, the process of decolonisation in Malta remained stilted. Perhaps the urgency to build an economy where there was none and, consequently, eradicate the widespread poverty that characterised the 19th and good part of the 20th century left little space (and time) for the decolonisation of the mind.
The lesson imparted by Marx went unheeded.
Dom Mintoff’s efforts to create a culture of savings and future planning was interpreted as thriftiness and the newly created middle class voted out such policies to embrace unhinged liberalisation and the culture of living beyond one’s means. The servant mentality of instant gratification asserted itself with a vengeance, never to be challenged by any government since.
After nearly 60 years of independence, this country barely speaks of its colonial past anymore. There is no national conversation happening about colonialism and the extent to which it still shapes our society. The younger generations don’t consider it at all. For them, colonialism is just a chapter in a boring history book, stuff for antiquarians and geeks.
Yet, just because we don’t talk about it, it doesn’t mean that colonialism no longer pervades our thinking and (consequently) our living.
Forgetfulness isn’t a cure. It’s like an ailment that doesn’t simply treat itself if you just choose to ignore it.
The systematic destruction of this country by overdevelopment, the stubborn refusal by the authorities to adequately regulate and enforce and the general compulsion to accumulate wealth in the shortest time by any means possible are symptomatic of our open account with our colonial past.
It is the materialistic embodiment of the servant mentality. It shows that we still haven’t achieved mental emancipation.
We still behave as if this is not our country. As if our existence here is still a concession by grace of some distant master. As if it’s only a matter of time before what we have is taken from us. We still behave as if there is no future, there is no heritage to leave behind.
If we don’t feel angry at the decades-long rape of our country, then it’s not the colonialist’s fault but ours- Aleks Farrugia
Of course, this applies only to the public sphere because, like servants, our thoughts cannot overcome our petty domestic concerns; like servants, we fret only about leaving the little we managed to put aside for our sons and daughters, altogether blind to the important fact that the master of the mansion has left for good and to our children we will be leaving much more than the pittance we slaved to pile up.
Yet, because of our blindness, what we’ll leave behind will be but a mansion in ruins and – because of that – the meagre inheritance written in wills to our children shall be devalued too.
We cannot keep blaming the colonialists for our still colonial ‘servant’ mentality. In 60 years, we should have worked our way out of it. If we haven’t, it’s not the colonialist’s fault but ours.
If we still feel that this country is not our present and our future, if we still behave in a way as if this is not our land, our home, then the fault is ours and ours only.
If we don’t feel angry at the decades-long rape of our country, so angry that we actually decide to do something about it, then it’s not the colonialist’s fault but ours. It’s because we are still not emancipated, we are still enslaved to a servant mentality.
This shows how superficial and shallow and inane are all the ludicrous proclamations of Maltese national pride. Proud of what, exactly? Proud of destroying – or allowing the destruction – of our own heritage, our own land, our own home? Proud of our servant mentality, of remaining colonised in our mind 60 years after we supposedly gained independence? Proud of scoring little goals because we can’t get ourselves to believe that we belong to the A-team? Is that what ‘proud to be Maltese’ means?
A really proud nation believes in itself. It believes in the public good because it is aware that all that’s within the confines of its territory belongs to the whole nation, not to individuals. And, for this reason, it legislates with an eye to the future, because it holds a concept of heritage, because it understands the idea of legacy.
It upholds the laws it enacts and the public understands their necessity and value because it understands the value and necessity for the master to keep his mansion in order and treat it with the care it deserves. Only when we get into this frame of mind will we be truly independent.
Changing our servant colonial mentality requires that we start a national conversation, which is objective and sincere. This is of crucial importance for the future of this country. It is an urgent matter. Time is not in our favour.
Aleks Farrugia is a writer and historian.