Nothing has changed

Evarist Bartolo was right in his piece ‘The Maltese were nothing’ (March 31). The various speeches he quoted are evidence of the matter-of-fact way Malta was treated by its masters.

He then moved on to speak of the virtues, etc., of neutrality – a subject debated intermittently in the past. People speak of neutrality as if simply being neutral builds a defensive wall around you. Ukraine was neutral.

You might say: “Who on earth is going to invade Malta?” True, nobody is – nothing worth invading for. Malta’s strategic position is no longer relevant. I remember Muammar Gaddafi rattling sabres over oil drilling rights in Maltese waters. I often wonder what would have happened had he persisted. Would our fighter jets have taken to the sky and would the Maltese fleet have weighed anchors and sailed into battle? Would our armed forces have been standing-to to repel the madman?

It’s a bit like two people trying to get to each other and you are standing in between. How do you stop being trampled if you, or an ally of yours, cannot intervene? Malta’s only ally is the EU, who throws the odd crumb now and again to help build a (badly constructed) new road in exchange for adding an insignificant piece to the EU’s jigsaw. In return, Malta gave up its independence in exchange for a bunch of unelected commissioners (USSR style). The only common factor, as Qatargate proved, is corruption; so it’s back to pre-1964 status, however way you try to dress it.

Malta’s neutrality is an empty irrelevant gesture. Remember, your present masters have already started advocating removing vetos from ‘irrelevant EU states’ and leaving major decisions to the big boys (France, Germany, et al).

As Bartolo’s article denotes, “The Maltese were nothing” and nothing’s changed.

Paul Brincau – Uxbridge, UK

E-scooters ban

Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

A very big prosit to the people of Paris for finally banning e-scooters from the city.

In Malta, the situation is different, very much to the detriment of residents who are finding pavements unsafe to walk on because of the irresponsible way e-scooters are being driven and parked in front of residences, blocking exits.

How about the government asking for a public vote from the Maltese public so that we might find a final solution to this disgraceful problem affecting the peace and tranquillity on our roads?

Michael Vella – Sliema

The spider’s web

In his write-up entitled ‘No rule of law without the prosecution of Muscat’, David Casa observed that “tax-evading butchers and fortune tellers are the scapegoats while the real criminals parade around with their ill-gotten gains, too big for the law”.

His comment reminded me of a poet’s adage in ancient Greece: “The law is a spider’s web. It catches the small flies and lets the big bugs escape.”

Injustice has existed since time immemorial in all cultures.

In The Way of Chuang Tzu, Thomas Merton rendered a saying by the Chinese sage Zhuangzi in contemporary idiom as follows: “A poor man must swing for stealing a belt buckle but if a rich man steals a whole state he is acclaimed as statesman of the year.”

John Guillaumier – St Julian’s