Food classification

Are we witnessing a new distinction in society: the pastizzi-eaters and non-pastizzi eaters?

To comprehend the underlying message in this question one needs to go beyond its wording.

This is not about eating or not eating pastizzi. Pastizzi are our local fast food and most of us love them, even though doctors advise us not to indulge regularly, to keep the ‘silent killer’ at bay.

Neither is the issue here about snobbishness. I do not subscribe to classism. This question goes beyond the much ado about nothing when our Prime Minister entertained his distinguished guests to a snack of pastizzi.

This query tackles a core issue. It questions our social inequality and disparity, that is, about those who have and those who have not, in our society. Are we all on an equal footing? Do we have the same opportunities? Are particular citizens living on pastizzi while others are being entertained at ‘lavish banquets’? Are some treated more equally than others?

“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” These are the opening lines from the classic novel A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It recalls the social and political disparity between two capital cities, Paris and London, before and after the French Revolution. In Malta, are we living in two separate ‘cities’: the ‘city of those who have’ and the ‘city of those who have not’? Are some enjoying the ‘best of times’ while others the ‘worst of times’?

Previous governments sought to tackle the social disparity by providing a level of standard of living. Over the years, we have successfully built a sound welfare state. Through investment in education and making the right social policy decisions, governments have sought to empower citizens to embark on social mobility and avoid the poverty trap. This is our success story. Although great advancement has been registered, regretfully, there are still citizens, particularly the elderly, families with low income and people with mental health issues, who are still experiencing social and financial vulnerability. Recent data and studies confirm this. Although the Labour government spins about the current economy boom, sadly, this is not trickling down to all levels of society. This success story is not being shared and told by all.

Ironically, contrary to its own political roots, the government is encouraging further social disparity, something the great Labour tradition did not formerly stand for. The Labour Party has now morphed into a liberal neo-capitalist party. While some ‘posts of trust’ are paid exuberant salaries, others have to live on a minimum wage or on an inadequate pension. While some have clout or even perhaps leverage over Castille, others are considered outcasts. These are just a few examples of what social inequality entails.

Now that the general election is fast approaching, it is becoming only too evident that the Labour government is trying to appease its core voters by giving what many consider to be alms, compared to the government’s generosity to some, particularly greedy ‘fat cats’.

Clientelism, accommodation of policies, engineered vacancies, numerous disputable direct orders, amnesties and everlasting sleaze allegations are all façades of social disparity. This leads to social injustice, which, in turn, widens social inequality further. Thus, the vicious circle is formed. This is socially repulsive. My political determination and that of the Nationalist Party’s new line-up is to work to break this vicious circle.

Politics is all about upholding and safeguarding the common good. Politics is not about the ‘I’ but about the ‘we’. Politics is not about the interests of the few but that of the many. Politics is not about pastizzi or some hollow buzzwords. Politics is about giving all the right opportunities to succeed.

It is about making our society a better, fairer and a just place to live in.

(This article was published on Times of Malta – 22 April, 2017)