2025 - Lewis Carroll’s tale
Like the characters at the tea party, political actors and stakeholders may engage in negotiations that seem divorced from reality and lack meaningful progress
by George M. Mangion
The Mad Hatter and March Hare are fictional characters in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and its 1871 sequel “Through the Looking-Glass ...”. The nonsensical antics of the characters in the Mad Hatter's tea party story serve as a vehicle for the author to explore deeper philosophical and existential themes in Victorian times. Here are some interpretations of the deeper meanings behind their nonsensical behaviour and how can it relate to our present-day scenario.
The absurdity of the tea party can be interpreted as a reflection of the existential confusion experienced by Malta’s citizens when grappling with questions of climate change, power cuts, protection of the environment and slowly losing one own true identity as the population of TCNs spirals out of proportion. Let us revisit the story about “The Dormouse”, a perpetually asleep or groggy creature. On the international scale, he could represent the plight of disenfranchised or displaced populations caught in the crossfire of the aforementioned deadly conflicts.
Words of consolation from the West cannot heal the sufferings of displaced populations, the latter, bear the brunt of violence, displacement and humanitarian crises resulting from the actions of aggressive dictators and militant groups. Of late, court reportage is again reminding us about financial scandals circulating in the controversial magisterial inquiry which involves inter alia, the Electrogas. An inquiry revolves around the 17Black scandal linked to Electrogas power plant. The publication of a magisterial report has been blocked, as the publication of all inquiry reports are the prerogative of the Attorney General. One is also reminded that it is the police commissioner, who takes decisions on whether to prosecute any individuals indicated by the magistrate. MEP David Casa who is co-instigator of the inquiry way back in 2016, said he had been informed that he would not be handed a copy of the report due to "eventual prosecution of those accused".
Moving on, this looks like Mad Hatter’s country. We are again reminded about the brutal assassination of a blogger as the alleged master mind is on bail awaiting trial. This is now the seventh year, that the homicide occurred. Adventures continue to surface weekly, yet citizens are becoming immune to daily abuses. One may recall how State procurement as reported by NAO’s investigations needs a reform. Studies reveal unauthorized public expenditure, multiple issue of direct orders, suspicious land deals, and appointment of party loyalists at the helm of all state agencies (awarded six figure salaries).
Never underestimate the holy cow of construction and rampant building frenzy. In any case, contrary to the guests invited at the Mad Hatter’s party, we cannot remain oblivious of the negative impact of such activities on our quality of life, inculcating a level of impunity, which we pass to future generations. Rather than engage in mellifluous rhetoric, political leaders must feel the pulse of people’s perceptions of how their action or inaction affect lives.
After all, for most people, political perceptions are equivalent to reality. Political communication strategists will do well to learn lessons from e-commerce experiences where consumer-powered content is the catalyst that ignites consumer confidence, inspiration and loyalty. This makes us conscious of our plight, when we witness the possibility that contents of some public inquiries are potentially withheld from public consumption.
Reciting the lesson from a story written by Carroll, this depicts a Victorian age in its convoluted absurdity and in doing so, reminds us of a negligent attitude of our resolve to fight climate change, maintain ecological balances, hail sustainability, halt the rise of congested air and noise pollution caused by chaotic “bumper to bumper” traffic. It is a reality check, which shows the futility of trying to impose order and meaning onto an island which is attracting three million plus low-value tourists (the total is projected to reach 4.5million soon).
For instance, the tourism industry relies on an ever-increasing number of visitors to protect over-investment and overcapacity in many low-return tourism-related activities. These activities can only survive if labour costs are kept at current low levels and the flow of third-country workers by temping agencies remains unchecked. Short-term political expediency considerations take priority over longer-term good economic governance objectives. In a fast-changing geopolitical scenario, political and business leaders must focus on long-term reforms that will guarantee the community’s prosperous future. It is not doom and gloom as Rating agencies hail our high rating economy granting us A+ status.
But little, is talked about the growing - one in six - of people close to the poverty trap. Again, housing is too expensive for low-wage workers while state hospitals are brimming with patients, who for lack of space, wait long hours in emergency halls on temporary stretchers in cold corridors. This drama challenges our sanity, with endless repetition and lack of progress to mend such existence, it symbolizes the existential ennui that arises from the search for meaning in a tiny island which boasts of superlative GDP growth.
Now, we can partake of the surreal setting of Carroll’s party scene when politicians assure us that we are living in a land of milk and honey with low unemployment, controlled energy prices due to state subsidies and a high happiness factor. Nobody stops the party and questions how our existence can be interpreted as a critique of social non-conformity and an oppressive nature of societal norms. Regular issue of cheque payments whets the appetite of party loyalists who reminisce the golden years of “L’Aqwa Zmien” during the brief Joseph Muscat’s interregnum. Castille encourages the populace to embrace the whimsical and fantastical aspects of life, suggesting that adhering to party alliances offers a pathway to liberation from the world’s travails.
Like the characters at the tea party, political actors and stakeholders may engage in negotiations that seem divorced from reality and lack meaningful progress (eg the building of an underground Metro dream lauded in 2021). Overall, by drawing parallels between the dysfunctional parodies of the Mad Hatter and March Hare and the unprecedented invasion of Ukraine by Russia's warmongering president, we gain insight into the absurd credo of apologists toeing Castille’s mood, tarnishing Roberta Metsola as a war mongerer, as she strongly advised that Europe in the light of Putin’s aggression, should beef up its defence arsenal. In conclusion, Carroll’s ingenious story, reflects in a surreal way our reality matched by antics of Donald Trump and his transactional mind.
