Literally millions of words and concepts have been used to describe and analyse the mess that is Malta currently. Although it has been many decades in the making, the scale and depth of that mess has reached new levels since 2013.

Despite the country being awash with laws, rules, and regulations, they remain a fiction that mocks Malta’s democratic credentials. There is some highly selective enforcement for mostly very minor stuff but in effect complete immunity on the really big stuff.

An important gauge of the depth of the problem is that everyone knows about it (it is the stuff of daily conversation) but hopes (or prays) that by some piece of magic, it will not affect them, or it will disappear.  

The country is visibly tearing itself to shreds but the band plays on.

The government (can it really be called a government?) orchestrates the mess while powerful local and (and opaque or dark) international forces control it. Often, we get glimpses of those forces and the sources from which they emanate.

We have declared war on our environment while issuing the odd public statement about solar panels or tap water conservation. We sell Malta as a ‘jewel’ in the Mediterranean while stealing or flogging off the jewellery. 

We talk of planning and heritage, but literally loot everything in sight.

We talk democracy while practicing its opposite – our institutions are increasingly fake (except in their cost); our dominant politicians fundamentally dishonest at almost every level (even those who appear to be less dishonest) and our polity deeply compromised. 

We profess ourselves to be a modern state but engage in the most primitive civic life.

Worst of all (and utterly unforgivable) is the fact that we feed ourselves and our young people lie after lie after lie. And we expect them to ignore or swallow such blatant lying and now, to the amazement of some, a majority want to leave.

This reality alone should engender deep dismay and intense anger among Maltese, but this is not yet publicly visible at the levels necessary to propel any change. 

Through a combination of manufactured ignorance, bribery, tribalism, clientelism, intimidation, and fear, the dismay and anger that clearly exists is controlled and then neutered.  The passion that many profess for their country is converted into passion for ‘money in our pockets’, a job, a ‘favour’ or a deal. 

These are, on the surface, deemed far more important than the future of our young people.

How can this be? Is there any realistic hope for the future?

There are many who publicly claim that ignorance, selfishness, and corruption are natural Maltese traits – an inborn condition. This view is self-evidently utter tosh; there is not a screed of evidence to suggest the average Maltese is somehow more corrupt or uncaring than the average European, especially about their kids.

We need to be reminded of this daily.

A related argument is that the mess that is Malta is inevitable given the small size and familialism that characterises these islands. Again, for me this is utter nonsense; size and familiarity may exacerbate things but as an explanation, utter drivel. 

While Malta’s small size may be a challenge, it is also immediately an opportunity.

Finally there are many who say what has happened is irreversible; somehow Malta is in some way ‘doomed’. Some go so far as arguing that Malta and the Maltese can’t handle independence.

Again, yet more tosh; just as this situation has been carefully and strategically created, so too can it be recreated…very differently.

Very considerable resources, time and planning have been dedicated to creating the corrupted country that Malta has become. It is a result of human agency applied with criminal and often evil (yes, evil) intent. 

And just as it is the result of human agency, so too can that same agency craft something very different. 

What is required initially is a critical threshold of public disquiet and alarm (much already exists), creative and honest leadership (already evident in certain sectors and strands of life) and a lot of hard work.

Malta is not uniquely corrupt or corrupted, many other societies have or have had similar (and far bigger) obstacles to overcome. Our situation is not a ‘one off’; we have much to learn from others.

As in many other societies (my own included – the recent positive history of Northern Ireland attests to this), it begins with the first step when ‘ordinary’ people acknowledge and publicly assert that they have had enough.