In the last decade or so we have witnessed greed steadily infiltrate the vacuum left by our eroding values. And there is nothing to stop it from spreading.
Every day reveals another shocking revelation of greed, corruption and bribery.
We are reassured that everything is fine, that the institutions are working, that the government has a zero-tolerance approach, in reality, fewer people are buying into this rhetoric. But it pays many others to retain the status quo.
If you are one of the greedy, you may want to believe that all is well, that what you are doing does not break the law. Or you don’t mind just bending the law a bit.
After all, who is going to stop you if no one has stopped the person that infected you?
The latest scandal involved a policeman subletting a cockroach-infested Sliema house to 16 tenants.
We have heard dozens of similar stories where foreign workers are treated like commodities. Mattresses are stuffed into rooms and corridors, with the intention of packing in as many tenants as possible, without a care in the world for hygiene or safety.
If greed means that we have allowed people who come to work here to be exploited and abused, if we force them into a situation where the only way to survive, pay off debts or send money to their families back home is to share accommodation with a dozen other people, then you can hardly expect any of them to raise a red flag.
What made this scandal even worse was the fact that a policeman is actually there to uphold the law.
He has now resigned from the force and, bang on cue, we have been reminded that existing planning regulations limited occupancy to six people per dwelling, but there are no penalties. From the end of October, landlords caught renting to more than 10 people will be fined up to €10,000. Will this be a deterrent?
The fine represents only a few months’ rent for many abusers. And we have yet to ascertain the extent of the abuse: the report claimed he had a ‘company’ with more than 250 lease contracts on the Housing Authority register.
What makes someone like the former policeman decide to break the law?
Perhaps he heard the story last year about an apartment housing 40 tenants. Perhaps he knew of family, friends and neighbours who had undeclared properties rented out as short-lets or with too multiple tenants. Perhaps some had bought properties with their fraudulent disability benefits. Perhaps he felt he knew he could get away with it until the media exposed the scandal.
Why should the landlord, a policeman nonetheless, not get his snout in the trough, when so many others have done so? One thing we do know: he was subletting the house because he “just wanted money”.
It is an open secret that there are tens of millions in corruption money sloshing around. The letting sector is just a cog in a wheel of corruption that prioritises profits over the welfare of people and allows exploitation to flourish unchecked.
We used to be brought up knowing right from wrong and understanding the consequences.
What is the deterrent when those who break the law are given paltry fines, pardoned, allowed to turn State evidence or have evidence misplaced?
We have a responsibility to examine our own choices – and to make the right ones. Even if people who are meant to uphold the law are breaking it.