The rhetoric of billboards
When I’m stuck in traffic, sitting in the passenger seat, I like to observe the posters plastered on the billboards. At the moment, all I see are Labour and PN campaigns, with both sides taking swipes at each other. This rivalry can be felt by just about anyone, even amongst locals. This tension or anger (or call it what you want) has been long felt between the “red-blooded” and “blue-blooded” tribes on these islands and I feel that it is detrimental to our wellbeing and to society as a whole. Can the two main parties foster a sense of collaboration, empathy and to speak of the truth?
Energy wasted on rivalry
The rivalry between the main parties is also present between individuals. This plays a role in the environment we create. Instead of bullying someone because they associate themselves with Labour or throw mud at someone who associates themselves with PN, how can we work with each other and actually work on improving the things around us?
Unresolved systematic issues
The reason why I’m writing this is because I see that systematic issues that affect society as a whole are remaining unresolved and/or have gotten worse year after year. Due to these systematic issues, we have problems like poverty and endless traffic. I suspect that these issues aren’t being tackled at the source due to attitudes and behaviours that I mentioned earlier, being normalised by the politicians that represent us and in our culture. We should hold our leaders accountable, if we want things to change.
For the good of society
Working together means collaborating irrespective of what colour you are, because ultimately we are working for the good of society as a whole. Getting a cheque once a year from the government doesn’t elevate people from poverty, it doesn’t solve anything. That money could have been pooled into bigger things which would benefit everyone.
Looking ahead
Malta and Gozo are very small islands but home to around 550,000 people. We can either work together to make our lives better, or continue to tear each other down.
If the ones elected don’t lead by example (and mistakes are repeated), we need to shop around or maybe switch the channel – if we want to improve the things around us.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily represent a position or perspective of this or any organisation
Written by: Bridget Bugeja
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