Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/576901
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2015 24 I t seems we live in a world that is increasingly defined by Internet memes. OK, perhaps that's only from the perspective of those few hundreds of millions who actually do have access to the world wide web; and even then, only those who use it to share (and sometimes originate) those instant graphical reflex reactions to absolutely anything everything under the sun. Untold millions of other humans who have no such access will no doubt see things differently. And as for the trillions of other life-forms that also call this world their home… animals, plants, bacteria and so on… well, who knows what defines it from their perspective? Certainly it will not be harrowing images of dead Syrian toddlers on beaches, complete with suitably heart-wrenching prayers or quotations; nor will it be any of the political, philosophical or witty epigrams so often misattributed to the likes of Mark Twain, Winston Churchill and the Dalai Lama. But as I can safely assume that this article will not be read by anyone living outside the Internet access domain… still less by any animals, plants or bacteria… the Internet meme perspective is as good as any. Not an event is reported in the entire world, it seems, without instantly finding itself framed for instant consumption as an Internet postcard: as a rule, boiled down to a single 'message' that reduces the impact of the event in question to little more than a fleeting soundbite. How blessed are we, then, to live in an age when even the most complex and profound of issues can be distilled to something as simple and inconsequential as a viral photo with a caption. No wonder we all suddenly know so much about absolutely everything: knowledge itself has been condensed into a series of kneejerk reactions that don't actually require any thinking to appreciate… Still, some of those Internet memes can be pretty darn ingenious at times. There was one recently that spoke volumes about the curious era we live in: though whether or not that was its intention, I cannot say. It came out immediately after the Scottish Independence referendum last year: a close- up of Mel Gibson's blue- faced William Wallace from Braveheart, taken from the scene where he suddenly realises he's been betrayed by his own allies at the battle of Stirling Bridge. No amount of war-paint could disguise the shock and disillusionment on his face. The caption read (though there were infinite variations on the same theme): "You mean… they took our freedom?" Like all memes it is kind of reductive really. Scotland may have rejected Independence at the polls, but it doesn't follow that its people are any less 'free' than they might have been with a different result. It's also a slight stretch to compare Scotland's drive for self- determination today, to the brutal wars with Edward Longshanks in the 14th century. Alex Salmond may have argued that the Scots were subject to a UK-based government they did not elect… but there was no attempt to gang-rape newly- married brides on their wedding night, or anything like that. Even the attempts to disembowel/ dismember the Scottish Nationalist Party were limited strictly to a symbolic plane. Wallace himself would almost certainly have been unimpressed. But on another level a comparison can be made: what seems to have changed since Braveheart's time (and much more recently) is not just the way countries achieve self- determination: but the value of self-determination itself. In Braveheart, it was a strangulated cry escaping the lips of a man being drawn and quartered: "You can take our lives, but you can't take our freedom!" Cliché, perhaps; and anatomically improbable, too, given that Wallace's intestines would have been all over the execution podium by that time. But it is undeniably a powerful line, appealing as it does to an enduring principle that transcends all earthly political foibles. In fact, Braveheart almost certainly wouldn't have been the global blockbuster it was, if it didn't somehow tap into a deep- seated human preoccupation felt by all peoples and all times, everywhere. And what is more visceral an emotive force, than the eternal struggle for Freedom? Today, however, the dynamic has changed. 'Freedom' of the national, self-determination variety is no longer viewed as a romantic ideal worth fighting and dying for. On the contrary, it is regarded as an inconvenience that might upset an applecart most people would much prefer remained in place. Just look at the arguments Opinion Raphael Vassallo You can't take our freedom: but The Funds and Programmes Division (FPD) within the Parliamentary Secretariat for the EU Presidency 2017 and EU Funds, Ministry for European Affairs and the Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, is pleased to announce that the first call for project proposals under Interreg Mediterranean 2014- 2020 is now open. Project proposals shall focus on either of the following priorities: Priority Axis 1: Promoting Mediterranean innovation capacities to develop smart and sustainable growth; Priority Axis 2: Fostering low carbon strategies and energy efficiency in specific MED territories: cities, islands and remote areas; Priority Axis 3: Protecting and promoting Mediterranean natural and cultural resources areas. Public bodies and public equivalent bodies, private institutions, and/or international organisations acting under the national law of EU MED Member States, are eligible to participate. Registration and applications must be filled and validated online (https://synergie-cte.asp-public.fr/ ) by not later than 2 nd November 2015, 12:00 noon local time (GMT +1). Maltese applicants are also obliged to provide FPD with certified true copies of other required documentation until 23 rd November 2015. More information can be found on the website of Interreg Mediterranean 2014-2020: http://interreg- med.eu/en/first-call-for-project-proposals/. The FPD may also be contacted on 22001142 or fpd.meaim@gov.mt. Interreg Mediterranean – European Structural and Investment Funds 2014-2020 Programme part-financed by the European Union European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Co-financing rate: 85% European Union; 15% National Funds CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS 'Freedom' of the national, self- determination variety is no longer viewed as a romantic ideal worth fighting and dying for. On the contrary, it is regarded as an inconvenience Expelling Catalonia from the EU is not a decision for either Spain or the UK to make. But in both cases, the threat was duly repeated by the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and most European political pundits.