Sorry to disappoint if you’re hoping that this article will turn into a rant against one political party or the other. It’s not! But I hope you do realise in the end that we’ve all thrown our country in a rut.
The fact that we can easily separate the individual from the collective only helps us sleep at night with a clear conscience. You know, I wasn’t part of it; it was their fault! Taking minor actions like separating waste or using fewer plastic straws might make us feel better but the planet is still dying in reality. So, what’s the solution?
It’s pretty easy. Ditch all those politicians who are not ready to listen—those who are servile to their interests and crave a lust for power – the know-it-all ones who believe they have the gift of infallibility. We need humane politicians with one intent, to serve their own country and who dare to bring forth real change.
One might wonder how to recognise this rare breed of individuals.
It’s also relatively straightforward. One should not vote for the pretty face, the famous personality or the generous donor who supports the local band club. Voters should look beyond and ask these people what they intend to do if they are elected.
And, of course, once they are in office, keep them accountable. We need ideas with substance that will change this island and prepare it for future challenges. Let me give you some examples of positive initiatives which I’ve encountered in the past years.
Good local quality food is hard to find. When we shop, it is not always clear what is local and what is not. Quality is sometimes a shot in the dark. Branding is almost non-existent and left in the hands of small companies that struggle to sell it to their customers.
We should value local producers, help them achieve consistent quality using modern technologies, support them in their rebranding and make sure they become the people’s natural choice.
If we peep to the north of us, we realise that this is what they’re doing in Sicily. I’ve seen some Km-Zero projects, which only serve food produced in the surrounding fields. The presentation in these places is divine and makes you want to eat with your eyes. Innovation permeates every corner of their shops, helping them preserve their local traditions while also giving them a modern twist.
Appropriate branding shines the spotlight over the local produce; its value automatically increases, thus adequately sustaining the small businesses. We should elevate our products and not abandon them in favour of cheaper but inferior alternatives. If Italy can do it, why can’t we?
The time has come for change. Academics should stop whispering and start shouting
Our country boasts of its advanced water production technology. Yet, even though tap water is safe to drink, very few people do so because of its taste. We’ve seen a drive to improve it in recent years but we’re still far off. Water is a precious resource and costs a lot of money to produce, yet we’re constantly throwing it away.
First, we starve our farmers to death, get them to sell their arable land and uproot the few trees that adorn our landscape. Then we plaster that land with tarmac and build on every corner. This approach is, of course, a recipe for disaster because the rainwater has to go somewhere. The solution for the problem we created in the first place is to build more expensive rainwater tunnels that divert the water to the sea.
We use a similar approach for sewage water, which is treated (at a cost) and then thrown back into the sea. Countries like Singapore value their water, they don’t throw it back in the sea but they turn second-class water into ultra-clean, high-grade reclaimed water and send it back into their water system to furnish almost 50 per cent of the country’s water demands.
France goes to great length to make its water enjoyable even for drinking by using technologies (such as ozone and UV) which kill most bacteria without using unpleasant chemicals. Then they make it easy for their citizens to drink good water. If we take Paris as an example, it has more than 700 free-drinking water fountains. If these big countries can do it, why can’t we?
On an island as big as a pebble, it is pretty strange that we worship the car god. We could easily walk or bike but we might lose our number one spot on the European obesity chart if we did. So, to solve the traffic problem which cars create, we are constantly building more roads. As if throwing more fuel on fire will help to extinguish it. We are opening more fuel pumps in an era when diesel is facing an impending ban and the world is moving towards electric vehicles.
It’s either pure madness or lack of planning. If we take a peep at what’s been happening outside of our bubble, it is evident that the solution is mass transport. We must free public spaces and turn the places reserved for vehicles into living green spaces. Just think of Paris, the Champs-Élysées, the heart of French traffic. The municipality took the courageous decision to eliminate half the space currently used by vehicles, turn roads into pedestrian or green areas and create tunnels of trees to improve air quality. If Paris can do such open-heart surgery, why can’t we?
The truth is that, with urbanisation, we have become disconnected from the needs of our planet and, ultimately, from our own needs. In the process, we are slowly killing ourselves and ruining the future of our children. We are using the same old thinking (that created the problems in the first place) to try to solve them. Quick fixes seem to be more palatable than long-term solutions because our democracy is based around a five-year time frame.
I believe the time has come for change. Academics should stop whispering and start shouting. Citizens should shed the electoral shades which blind them and start demanding real change. Politicians should open their ears and start acting.
And, next time you are called to vote, ditch the politicians who are not delivering, do your research and choose with your brain. Then vote for those candidates capable and willing to grab the bull by its horns and transform our country for the better.
Alexiei Dingli, professor of artificial intelligence