Where does one begin to grade all the scandals that are revealed with sickening regularity? Where does one start from when new depths of depravity are registered with such alacrity that one tends to forget the scandal everyone was talking about just a few days before?
Journalists, politicians, private persons and civil society compete among themselves to reveal more scandals, worse scandals. When we erroneously believe we have reached the bottom, we discover that it was just another storey on the never-ending spiral to hell.
I do not think that there are established metrics to grade scandals. Should it be the amount of money involved or the number of people participating or the type of people with their hands in the till? Should we have a quantitative or a qualitative approach? Perhaps the viler the concoction, the worse the scandal would be.
If the main criterion is the amount of money embezzled and the status of the persons involved, then the first batch of competitors for the Prime Medal of Filth would surely include the heist of our hospitals, Electrogas, Quad and a legion of compromised tenders for large projects.
All these scandals involved big money, distinguished people and a latter-day version of the three proverbial monkeys. My vote would go for the hospital heist, which is the vilest of them all. The courts declared it to be fraudulent, adding that this corruption was enabled by a “web of support”.
If the main criterion is the number of people involved or directly affected, then among the second batch for the Prime Medal of Filth there would be the scandal about phantom government jobs, abuse of disability benefits and the falsification of identity cards. The worst is the latest one: myriads involved, big money exchanged hands, there are many victims, and the effects could be very bad for the nation and for many individuals.
The criteria for choosing the first and second batch of scandals are valid ones, indeed, but a worse criterion, I believe, is when society does not consider a scandal to be a scandal. When scandals are not called out by their very name, it means that society has lost its social conscience.
Consequently, my choice for the number one scandal is one recently brought once again to the nation’s attention by the Central Bank and by KPMG. Unfortunately, because the national conscience is in tatters, hardly anyone took any notice.
On August 2, the Times of Malta reported that a study by KPMG revealed that the gap between high and low earners is dropping across Europe but not in Malta. Malta’s income inequality is well above the EU average. It is no consolation that out, of the 27 members of the European Union, only Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia and Portugal have a worse record than Malta.
Worse still: according to this report, while income inequality has been steadily dropping across the EU over the past decade, Malta’s has been increasing particularly since 2019.
A recent report by the Central Bank also confirms that wealth inequality in on the rise. The wealthiest 10 per cent own 44.8 per cent of the total household net wealth and also own practically 90 per cent of Malta’s business wealth.
How did a country that boasts of 2,000 years of Christianity manage to sink so low?- Fr Joe Borg
The net household wealth almost doubled between 2010 and 2023. But this massive increase has not been fairly, justly and equitably distributed. The top 10 per cent continue to pig out more than anybody else. Just keep in mind that several in this group are up to their necks in the filthy mega-scandals that perverted the soul of this country, corrupted politicians and public officials, raped the environment and exploited the rest of the population, particularly third-country nationals.
Add to this the obscene reality that, in 2023, the number of persons at risk of poverty or social exclusion stood at 105,466 – an increase of 36,000 persons over 2011.
This scandalous situation, more than any others, undermines the very essence of being human: solidarity, compassion and equity.
I reviewed three categories of scandals. The first batch shows that this country is corrupt at the top. The second batch, involving so many people, is a sign that the rot is widespread. The third category of scandal shows the country has lost its social conscience so much that it is now not able to recognise a scandal when one stares it in the face. Such a country is rotten to the core.
How did a country that boasts of 2,000 years of Christianity manage to sink so low? Corrupt politicians led the way and facilitated the process. But the fact that so many enthusiastically put their snout in the trough is an indication that the fabric of society was already tainted by the pestilence of corruption. Besides constituting a political problem, this involves a pastoral challenge of immense proportions. Such a situation challenges the Church as much, if not more, than it challenges other institutions.
Faced by this dire situation, many people are blinded by their anger and lose hope. They take a cynical approach to politics. Such an attitude solves nothing. Saying that politicians are all the same is plain stupid. Justifying your inaction by complaining that your favourite politicians are not doing enough is just a cowardly cop out.
Participation in the political process, not its abandonment, is the solution.
Pope Francis, in his prayer intention for August, acknowledged that “politics does not have a very good reputation: corruption, scandals, distant from people’s day-to-day lives”. He, however, acknowledged that many politicians carry out their duties with a will to serve, not of power. There are many such politicians in Malta. They deserve all the support honest citizens can give them.
The descent into this abyss has been rapid. The ascent will be difficult. But it can be done. It will be done.
Just saying that the country is rotten to the core gets you nowhere.
Light a candle instead of just cursing darkness. Stand up to be counted.