Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1469874
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 5 JUNE 2022 OPINION 11 part where she is clearly 'manip- ulating prehistory', to make sar- donic comments about contem- porary society – some of those assumptions of hers may indeed be closer to the truth, than most would probably imagine. For instance: to argue that: 'It was irrelevant whether you had a pair of boobs or a dick', is patently ridiculous… when talking about a small, pre-civi- lised community that evident- ly subscribed to some form of 'Fertility Cult' (centred, as it undeniably was, on a particular- ly 'large-boobed' – sometimes, 'multiple-boobed' – 'Earth God- dess Mother'-figure...) But then, I would consider it entirely reasonable to speculate (though not exactly to 'affirm') that the same people's entire concept of gender – and all the associated roles and stereotypes – would indeed have most likely been very different from ours. And for the same reason, please note: because we are, after all, talking about 'pre-civ- ilised' society here. So even we know very little about 'how Neolithic Maltese society was structured'… we know enough about how it certainly was NOT structured, to safely conclude that it is extremely unlikely to have adopted the same cultural 'prejudices', that broadly came about as a result of the civilisa- tion-process itself. In other words: their precepts of 'gender stereotypes' – how- soever they may have unfolded, in practice – would almost cer- tainly have arisen from the same, ancestral power-structures that governed their entire commu- nity for almost two-thousand years (and all hunter-gatherer societies, long before that): i.e., the 'extended family unit'. And we also know, from an- thropological studies into oth- er (ancient and modern) fam- ily-based societies, that… yes, actually. Pre-literate, pre-civilised com- munities did often tend to have very different (and altogether less 'discriminatory') notions of such as things as 'gender', and 'gender-relations'… than the ma- jor civilisations that would even- tually replace them. [Note: at the risk of a small anachronism… they were, after all, 'spared' around 4,000 years' worth of cultural baggage, that we now collectively refer to as: 'e Pa- triarchy'.) But that's as far as I'll go with speculation, myself: for one thing, because it is quite frankly impossible – on the basis of the available evidence, anyway – to draw any more detailed conclu- sions, than that; And for another, because – with Kristina Chetcuti also at- tributing the 'Decline and Fall' of this remarkable culture to (and here I quote): "Some bright bulb [who] must have convinced the community that they 'had to wake up and smell the coffee' and stop letting those foreign seafarers land on our shores and, shock horror, settle here…" … I'd say there's already been just a little too much 'specula- tion' on this particular subject as it is, wouldn't you? Diversification is the key to success THE last meeting of MCESD, which took place last week, was both interesting and informative. The Council was given presenta- tions by three professionals con- cerning pertinent and current issues, these being inflation, the issues affecting the logistics sec- tor, and security of supply in the food sector. Although these issues are dis- tinct, they are by all means con- nected. Problems in the logistics sector can lead to price hikes, which in turn contributes to in- flationary pressures. On the oth- er hand, a reduction in supply when it comes to food items can also cause an increase in the cost of living, and for this reason, it is essential to ascertain that Malta has a secure supply of necessi- ties in case supply chains are re- stricted. The inflation that we're experi- encing today results from the ef- fects of the COVID-19 pandemic meeting the effects of the war in Ukraine. And given this unprec- edented scenario, the Maltese Government took fast action to protect local industry and workers alike. In fact, we subsi- dised energy prices, and we also launched a scheme to cushion the impact on grain prices. The effects of government aid are very evident in this regard. In April of this year, while inflation in the European Union stood at an average of 8.1%, reaching as high as 19.1% in some countries, Malta had the lowest level of in- flation in the EU (5.4%). A low rate of inflation in such turbu- lent times is precisely what this Government wants to achieve. As was said at the last MCESD meeting, the world is not yet in a place where we have "stagfla- tion", which is a grand combi- nation of inflation and unem- ployment. However, if other countries do not tackle external shocks and fast, the world can very much end up in a scenario where economic growth comes to a halt and employment levels dwindle. As a social government, this is a scenario that we want to avoid at all costs. As an island, we know that we sit at a permanent ge- ographical disadvantage, and within itself, this opens us up to more risks. However, not all is doom and gloom, for there are various opportunities which are waiting to be exploited. And if there's anything that we Maltese are good at, it is recog- nising opportunities. In fact, last month, the hovernment opened its first embassy in Latin Amer- ica in Brasilia – Brazil's capital. The opening of this embassy was done with two things in mind – firstly, increasing Maltese presence abroad, and second- ly, ensuring that our diplomatic missions aid in matters of trade. Taking food security of supply as an example, we ought to note that as of this year, Brazil has exported 2.2 tonnes of wheat, which is more than four times what it had exported last year. Importers of grain would do well to keep this in mind when they're looking for new trading partners – given that the trade of Ukrain- ian wheat came to a halt as a re- sult of the Russian invasion. Diversification of our trading partners ensures that we do not become dependent on particu- lar countries or industries. And for this reason, we're ecstatic to continue embarking on such a process. That is also one of the reasons why the trade and for- eign affairs were put under the responsibility of one minister in this legislature: so that moving forward, the two would be able to work hand in hand. As an island of half a million people, we might be small. How- ever, rest assured that we have a vision that goes beyond our re- gion and looks toward the hori- zon for new collaborations which could benefit our people. Indeed, it will not be easy for industry players to look to other sides of the world for potential partners. However, what is sure is that the potential rewards for accom- plishing such a daunting task are significant, to say the least. One thing is certain, and that is that the government stands ready to help the private sector reap such rewards in the coming months. Andy Ellul Andy Ellul is parliamentary secretary for social dialogue