The market rules OK

The trend of Maltese political leaders building their reputation over their capability of raising funds continues. We first milked the British Empire, then pursued 'friendships' with Italy and China, then centred the debate on EU membership over financial gain, and now Prime Minister Joseph Muscat promises a 'generational transformation' thanks to the citizenship scheme.  

I have a hunch that many so-called leftists would have shred the scheme to bits had it been proposed and implemented by a PN administration. But their silence is deafening.

The saddest part is that most of the Labour-voting leftists, who are either defending the scheme or staying silent, would have opposed the scheme for the very same reasons it makes me cringe.

Firstly, it creates a two-tier system which grants people rights according to affluence. Rich foreigners who might have built their fortune in legitimate but unethical manners can acquire a European citizenship, and therefore rights enjoyed by EU citizens, by parting with a fraction of their vast wealth. This is the brave new world where rights are market-driven.

While the rich purchase rights, the only currency the poor deal in is hope. Asylum seekers who risk their lives and part with their life savings to reach Europe are treated like shit. We not only shut them up in cages, where they break our precious toilet seats, but we treat them with suspicion and keep them out of sight.

Asylum seekers who are mostly fleeing war, poverty, persecution and utter misery (and we Europeans might have something to do with it too) will not be granted the rights they seek. Even if granted some form of protection (unless we push them back to a distant and dark corner of a that place we call Africa) they still do not enjoy the rights enjoyed by EU citizens and the goods and services we purchase.

Moreover, another issue being largely overlooked is the incongruity that will be created in regards to other non-EU nationals seeking Maltese citizenship. I personally know persons who despite paying their taxes in Malta for years, having children here, sending them to state schools for which they had to pay, integrated in society and gave immense cultural, political and social contributions to our community, they had to wait 19 years to be granted citizenship.

Unfortunately apart from a few sole voices, the criticism has been weak. The PN is tackling the matter from a partially partisan standpoint (especially since their main bone of contention is residency), which the government will probably quash by underlining the economic benefits of the scheme ad nauseam.

And this brings me to my biggest concern. With the PN still coming to terms with Labour's ability to build a hegemony on the very same foundations the PN had built its own, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is set to conquer his doubters if the scheme yields the projected €1 billion.

According to Muscat the country's future investment in innovation, health and social services depends on the success of the programme. What will happen once the funds will dry up? What if the rest of Europe will drive us into a race to the bottom outbidding our citizenship price tag? What will happen if the EU blocks such schemes?

Above all, I am concerned with the direction this country (and many others) seems to be heading to. Once again, the Asian economic model seems to have captured our political leaders' imagination. Strong nationalistic discourse and a new-found enthusiasm for maximising unrestrained sources of income to bolster national prosperity, has become the order of the day.

Muscat's audacity has not only given rise to nationalistic fervour on both sides of the tribal divide, but it has also raised many questions on the commodification of rights, which I fear will be met by a resounding silence.