Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1358359
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 4 APRIL 2021 INTERVIEW obstacle to national unity are, in any case, just myths. True identity arises out of the creative struggle between dif- ferent narratives; and culture provides us with a civilized platform, from which some- thing creative can emerge. It is not the only platform, naturally; but the other plat- forms that exist are not really 'civilised'. Go on social media, for instance, and you will see that there is no real 'civiliza- tion' there. There is no creativ- ity; no construction… there is just the wildest instincts of op- posing narratives, all trying to simply annihilate each other. Culture, however, can be a platform for the emergence of an identity: but not in the sense of creating a monolithic dis- course. I don't like monolithic discourses, myself; I would feel very uncomfortable with that. And identity doesn't have to be monolithic: people are, by their very nature, different; and I myself tend to appreciate oth- ers, not for the ways in which they are similar to me… but rather, for the ways in which they differ. What is important, however, is that something new – some- thing creative; something that can help the country to grow together, with all its internal differences – does eventually emerge, out of all this creative tension. That, ultimately, was the point I was trying to make about culture. But I also acknowledge that not everyone will agree. In fact, I was criticized for being 'too idealistic'… That pre-empts a question I was going to ask anyway: do you consider yourself to be an idealist? And – given that the opposite of idealism is ulti- mately cynicism (much more than pessimism, or nihilism) – do you feel that Malta has, in fact, become very cynical in its approach to such matters? First of all: I do believe in idealism, yes. I think that if we were to discard all our idealism, we would be very… 'empty'. Because human beings need to somehow believe in something. It could be God; it could be 'the party'; but whatever it is, there is an underlying need to believe in something that is 'too per- fect to be true'. But I also think that there is an element of cynicism that is, in itself, also part of 'being Maltese'. And this comes part- ly from our history. Through- out our history, we were always servants; and servants, by defi- nition, do not have the luxuries that the masters have. So they have to make ends meet, some- how; they have to 'make do'. This is where that very Maltese notion of 'tirranga' ultimately comes from: it was our way of coping – or surviving – the old servant/master relationship. And yes: this gives rise to cyn- icism, at the end of the day. To be fair, however: I do think that there were moments, after In- dependence, when we tried to get rid of that cynicism. But each time we tried to climb out of that hole… for some rea- son, we always ended up falling back into it. At this particular moment in time, however – when all the structural deficiencies that have existed for decades, all seem to have suddenly implod- ed around us – I think that cyn- icism has taken over complete- ly. From my own point of view, for example: I find that I am struggling against myself, not to be a cynic. There is a sense of betrayal, all around us, that makes disillusionment – and, ultimately, cynicism – more or less inevitable. And it is for this reason that I think that the antidote has to be a healthy dose of idealism. Be- cause if we were to let go of all sense of idealism completely… … let me put it another way. Some of the criticism I re- ceived ran along the lines that: corruption has always been there… and it's everywhere, not just Malta… there is always going to be social conflict… there will never be a 'classless society'… and so on. There may even be some truth to all that: even though I personally do not believe in any form of absolute truth… not even in what I myself am saying right now. But if we use all that as an excuse to abandon all sense of idealism completely, then… we're dead. We're not moving. There could be no progress; nothing would ever change. And right now, there is an urgency for things to change. Right now, we find ourselves at a critical historical con- juncture: where the political class has been, I think, de-le- gitimised. The same could be said for parts of civil society… as well as parts of the media. So when we look around our- selves: what else remains? If there is no idealism left, any- where to be seen… how can we ever extricate ourselves from this predicament? Some, however, would argue that we've already reached that state of complete cynicism. When it comes to the environ- ment, for instance: there seems to be a growing sense of hope- lessness, in the face of rampant environmental destruction for pecuniary gain. Some might even argue that it is simply not worth fighting to safeguard the environment any more… be- cause here is too little of it left to even bother saving. Would you consider that perception, too, to be one of the 'minority narratives' that got 'excluded' from national discourse? It is debatable whether we have 'already reached that stage'… but yes, we are cer- tainly on the verge. And the environment is a good exam- ple of this: I think we have al- ready done an excellent job of dismantling any sense of the natural environment that there ever was. Even our ideas of what the en- vironment actually is: our no- tions of 'wildlife'… or of nature flourishing in an untouched, unspoilt way… that is all al- ready gone. And this is reflected even in initiatives that claim, in themselves, to be 'environmen- tal'. When, for instance, we say that 'we have done something for the environment'… what would we really have done? We would have built a park, that is mostly just concrete… And when it comes to the national drive to 'plant more trees', for instance: yes, we are 'planting more trees'… but on roundabouts, on centre-strips, and by the sides of roads. That doesn't 'protect the environ- ment'. It does nothing to pre- serve the natural landscape. Where are the truly unspoilt areas, where people can go and appreciate garigue, for in- stance? There is, let's face it, hardly anywhere left. But again: the antidote to this cannot be cynicism, or resig- nation. That sense of 'hope- lessness' you mentioned… that is something we have to really fight against. Because there is more at stake here than the environment, in itself. People tend to justify the loss of the environment in terms of mon- ey – because it keeps the eco- nomic wheel turning, and all that – but let's be honest: not everyone is making money out of it. It is – as Bernie Sanders puts it – only the '1%'. Now: I don't know if, in Malta, it really does boil down to just '1%' or not… but whatever the exact percentage is: it remains the few, not the many. And if we all just resign ourselves to that – If there is no citizen ac- tion; if the rest of us 'common mortals' don't get together, and somehow do something about it – then everything will remain in the hands of those few… at the expense of the many. This, too, is part of the ine- quality that holds us back. So ultimately, I think that any se- rious discussion about nation- al unity, or national identity, would have to start by con- fronting that unequal, uneven platform.