Bird's Eye View

Author: Nathan Portelli

  • Social Classes in 2020?

    Social Classes in 2020?

    When we think about poverty, most items that come up in our thoughts tend to be quite common – people suffering from malnutrition, with ragged clothes and no roof over their heads. These are all realities found around the globe.

  • Chairman Bob’s cultural revolution

    Chairman Bob’s cultural revolution

    We are all aware that China is in the news quite regularly these days, the world over. Be it a squabble with Dangerous Donald, a fistfight on the China-India border, or lockdown in Wuhan; the country has hogged the headlines. What us Westerners find particularly disgruntling about China is its ominous, all-seeing Communist Party; a…

  • The Totalitarianism of Toddlers

    The Totalitarianism of Toddlers

    When I was four years old, I would regularly fight with my beloved younger brother and would sometimes even hit him. He would start crying and my mum would report to the scene, but I would always claim that I had nothing to do with it. Occasionally, I would be short-sighted enough to perpetrate the…

  • The importance of youth activism

    The importance of youth activism

    At a certain point in our lives, we have all come across the word ‘democracy’ and learnt its definition for an exam or other purposes. Democracy is a form of government which gives a voice to the people to the extent that if we take Malta as an example, the Maltese people get to elect…

  • Malta, Climate Change, and Activism

    Malta, Climate Change, and Activism

    Malta is a particular country; we speak a particular language, we have particular music, but we are also particular in other ways. We are the only European country in which a minister who opened offshore accounts in Panama remains an MP.

  • Data, AI, and the Expendability of Privacy

    Data, AI, and the Expendability of Privacy

    As is the case with  most calls to innovation in western societies, the main driver behind the growth and development of the open market is the private sector, regardless of legislation or regulation introduced by parliament or government.

  • Why MaltaGov’s reaction to the Daphne memorial is wrong

    Everyone in Malta has some opinion about the makeshift memorial in Valletta. It’s there to commemorate Daphne Caruana Galizia who was assassinated last year. Some – the government included – remove it at every opportunity. Some say it should remain. Is either of them right? I The issue in Malta is laden with emotion and…