Licence to abuse

'Big men' play fast and loose with facts - and their supporters mimic them

Sat, Jul 27th 2019, 21:49 Last updated on 27/7/19

For just a second, let’s set reality aside.

Imagine our EU Commissioner-elect Helena Dalli was heard to comment, Donald Trump-style, that “grabbing men by their p…ks is ok”.  

And imagine such comments were then defended by her colleagues and friends.

“It’s just locker room banter,” they might say.

Would you be shocked, offended or insulted? I would. 

I do not know Helena Dalli, nor do I carry a torch for either tribal political grouping in Malta.  But I am fairly sure she would never make such a comment. I think she is better than that and she is aware that as a representative of the Maltese people, she is expected to behave in an appropriate and responsible manner. 

And besides, we don’t expect women to sink to the abysmal standards unfortunately set by too many ‘big’ men.

Sadly, we appear to be passing through a phase where abuse of others has become the norm for many of our self-styled political ‘leaders’. 

Led by Trump and Putin but joined by Salvini in Italy, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Modi in India, Erdoğan in Turkey, Orban in Hungary, abuse of others has now become a hallmark of male political ‘strength’. 

What was deemed laughable and unacceptable just a few short years ago is now considered ‘normal’ even ‘honest’ or ‘brave’.  Many times it is praised as charisma, ‘speaking the truth’ or giving the middle finger to ‘political correctness’ or the ‘intellectual elite’.

"

Attempting to elevate ourselves by attacking or demeaning others and by seeking to exclude them is a symptom of deep-seated weakness

"

While they pursue their semi-hidden agendas of wealth and power (or, more likely the agendas of their unaccountable billionaire sponsors), such ‘leaders’ revel in abusing others with no thought for its consequences for individuals or groups.

Care and restraint in public office is no longer required.  Playing fast and loose with facts, history, identity and culture (with people’s lived lives) has taken centre-stage in many countries.    

Black people, Mexicans, migrants, women, gays, Asians, Muslims, ‘the Germans, French or Irish’, the ‘Bangladeshis, Pakistanis or Nigerians’ all become targets.  It’s now open season and anyone is fair game if it fits the agenda.

I don’t expect much from the Trumps, Johnsons and Salvinis of this world. Their personal biographies tell me much of their agendas and priorities.  So much of what they represent and do is pathetic to me and would be laughable if they didn’t have positions of power and influence.

Public service or ideas of the public good do not feature much. Instead we witness a lack of self-confidence, ego, narcissism and personal weakness - ‘bigging myself by littling others’.

But what I find most disturbing and dangerous about their agendas is the licence they give to their followers to mimic and amplify their views and behaviour. And to do so with an arrogance and confidence that is scary. 

Social media – that platform of inanity and irresponsibility – now provides everyone with a grudge the means to apply that licence.   

Mainstream media also plays a key role. 

Even the pages and online comments of the Times of Malta are by no means immune to this virus.  In recent days and months, we have been treated to ignorant but always hostile diatribes about Muslims, migrants, lesbians, Germans, French and even in the context of Brexit, the ‘Irish’. 

We have been treated to recycled c-grade histories and re-runs of old black and white 1950s war movies on issues as diverse as slavery, colonialism and World War 2 complete with xenophobia, racism and a suffocating nostalgia for an imagined past. 

When given the opportunity to challenge these dishonest and facile views of history and the current world, too many of us simply choose to recycle and mimic the lies of the ‘big men’. We search around for available scapegoats in the hope of ‘bigging’ ourselves at their expense. It helps us feel important, even exceptional, in some imagined bigger picture.

At the end of the day, attempting to elevate ourselves by attacking or demeaning others and by seeking to exclude them is a symptom of deep-seated weakness and a debilitating lack of confidence in who and what we are.

However, in our quieter and more reflective moments, we also know deep down that this it is a self-defeating journey. We can be much better than this should we choose. 

Locker-room views of the world have no place in real life.