Sociologist JOE INGUANEZ helps the Church understand the political landscape. From the ‘banned’ crucifix to COLA, the reverend tells it like it is.
James Debono
Sociologist Joe Inguanez heads a Church Institute whose task is to “help the Church carry out its duty of scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of the Gospel.” On the eve of Tonio Fenech’s second budget and a day after the European Court of Human Rights’ ruling against the use of crucifixes in classes, Inguanez turns his gaze on matters both sacred and profane.
Inguanez is keen to make a distinction between different concepts which many use intermittently, as is the case with secularisation and secularism. “Secularisation is a process which I don’t find necessarily threatening. It is about emphasising the division between Church and State, between the sacred and the profane and what is religious and non-religious. Secularism is another thing. It is an ideology against anything religious. And though secularism is not very strong in Malta, it would be a mistake to ignore its presence.”
For Inguanez, the sentence of the European Court, which deemed the display of crucifixes in Italian schools as violating religious freedoms, is an example of secularism.
“This is shocking, not because it is an aspect of secularisation, but because it is an example of forced agnosticism. I can’t understand how one can speak of a breach of human rights when there is a cross in a government office or school.”
But could this be because the display of one religious symbol discriminates against other people of a different religion or belief?
He notes that every country in world, as well as a number of budding regions, have their own culture and often try to discriminate in favour of that culture. “I would not consider this to be against human rights. Let’s take another cultural example. According to our constitution, Maltese and English are our official language. This is a discrimination against all other languages, especially those spoken in Malta. Should native Germans or Italians who are married to Maltese and live and work in Malta consider this to be in breach of their fundamental human rights?”
Malta’s prohibition of divorce is another case where the lines between church and state appear blurred. Apart from purely religious reasons, another reason cited by opponents of divorce is that its widespread introduction would open the floodgates of marital breakdowns.
“I do not agree with the arguments that make a direct correlation between the introduction of divorces and the increase in marriage breakdowns in other countries. There are several variables and factors leading to marriage breakdowns, cohabitation or divorce, and not simply the law of divorce. But it is very difficult to deny that the introduction of the law of divorce would be a facilitating factor leading to more breakdowns of families.”
For Inguanez, the decision to introduce divorce or not is intimately tied with the decision-making process in democratic societies, in which he expects MPs to “consider the common good.”
“Every citizen, whether Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, or agnostic has a right to say: I want this model of the family in my country. That is why we vote. If we can vote for a particular model of society, why can’t a citizen propose a model of the family, even if this is monogamic and indissoluble? Christians normally propose the indissolubility of marriage. If they are numerically stronger don’t they have a right to choose the model adopted by society?”
So is divorce an issue of numbers?
“No. I am only describing how democracy works.”
Turning from the sacred to the profane, I ask Inguanez on which categories of people are mostly at risk of poverty on the eve of tomorrow’s budget.
“Currently the minimum wage in Malta amounts to €147.64 per week. It is less than half the minimum wage of Luxemburg but much higher than that of Bulgaria. In the case of a married couple, the pension is just €114.14. Given the increasing cost of living in almost every sphere of life, including basics such as food, water and electricity, these people really are at the risk of poverty.”
While other categories could also be at risk, these particular two are “objectively at a risk”, unlike others who are poor simply because they do not know how to budget.
In view of its vast limitations, as it lacks any natural resource except its history and human capital, Inguanez notes that Malta has managed to create “a very good welfare state.”
But ensuring its sustainability in the future will be difficult, he warns. Inguanez proposes a review of the taxation system, as well as a strong attack on tax evasion, to ensure its sustainability.
“Besides this, there should be strict monitoring of public expenditure. Government should see that it gets what it pays for… from a clerk to a permanent secretary, from a manual worker to the contractors working on our roads. Is government getting value for the money it spends from our taxes?”
And neither does he refrain from calling for a tax hike on the rich. “We need to tax the really rich people in Malta, of which there are number: just look at the consumption patterns of certain people and families.”
But he insists that it should not be the productive process which should be taxed; as this would have a deleterious effect on the economy. “However, huge profits, high salaries and conspicuous consumption must be taxed more than they are taxed at present.”
But doesn’t the government end up collecting even more revenue when people are taxed less and have more disposable income to spend?
“While it is true that some very rich people spend much more money than I do, there is always a maximum propensity to consume. Even high consumption tends to level itself, to reach a sort of a plateau. When you reach that plateau you cannot consume any more. That plateau should be quantified and above that plateau there should be higher rate taxation. Otherwise, these people will end up hoarding money.”
Apart from higher taxes on those earning very high incomes, he also makes a radical proposal regarding the cost of living adjustment.
“Given the present financial contingency – worldwide – I think that those on the higher end of the wage scale in public employment should not be given a cash wage increase, but should be given an increase in the form of a three-year low interest bond, which will be given to them in cash after three years when, hopefully, the present crisis is finally over. In this way, the government will only be issuing paper money and would not fuel inflation.”
Another category at risk of poverty are families with a single breadwinner.
“We do not speak much of families with a single wage-earner, which can be at risk. In these families the breadwinner has his wife contributing directly – though invisibly – to the economy without getting any financial benefits and, perhaps, are even taxed for it. I think that this is an unfair system.”
Has the government responded well to the current economic crisis?
“In my view, the major criterion with which one can assess the situation is the rate of employment... and until now, government has passed this test, considering the huge unemployment over the world.”
He quotes figures between 2005 and 2008 which show Malta hovering between 3% and 3.7% of what economists consider to be a normal level. One can say that it is very low when compared to unemployment in other countries.
But he expresses his concern on the latest figures, which show unemployment rising by another 1,000.
“I think that the most urgent question right now is whether Malta can maintain the low unemployment rate. If government succeeds in this, that can be considered a success.”
But isn’t it an anomaly that prices are rising during a recession?
“I am not an economist, but something strange seems to be happening. Economists speak of the law of supply and demand. If the demand decreases, one expects prices to go down. In Malta, businesses say that the demand is going down: the consumers say that the prices are going up! How do you explain this? It means that those offering a product or a service aren’t bothered with losing their clients. Otherwise they would simply lower their prices.”
There is perhaps only one exception to this: hotel accommodation. This particular sector has cut down its prices.
“The greatest contribution to tourism is being made by the hoteliers. But this is being undermined by the catering services who do not give good quality service while the prices remain quite high. What tourists want, apart from entertainment, is discipline, quality of service and value for money. Anybody who goes to a restaurant knows that the prices on the wine list are exorbitant. Just look at the Mac index published by the Economist. If food is just as expensive in Malta as it is in Rome, something really is wrong. Because our salaries are much lower, cost of production should be lower.”
Would decreasing the VAT rate on restaurants bring prices down?
“I do not think the prices are high because of the VAT rate. I think that prices of restaurants are inflated. Most restaurants are too labour-intensive; they have too many waiters. And yet, the service is often slow. Restaurants abroad run an efficient service with far less waiters.”
Turning his gaze to the Opposition, Inguanez spells out an incisive analysis of the new Labour leader.
“His strength is that he doesn’t project himself in an aggressive and confrontational manner. However, we still have to see a political programme coming from Joseph Muscat. Otherwise people will not be able to assess him.”
He also notes that the current political conjuncture favours Muscat.
“He may be very popular now, perhaps even more than the Prime Minister, however one cannot ignore the fact that at present the government is suffering; both because of internal difficulties and international contingencies. In such circumstances, one would expect the leader of the opposition to be more popular.”
But so far, most of the changes which Dr Muscat has introduced deal with the way the party is organised and not with how the nation should move ahead.
“People would want to know how the Labour Party under Joseph Muscat intends to run the nation.”
Addressing a national manifestation two weeks ago, Muscat summed up his economic credo by saying that “when a pound is put in people’s pockets, that pound will circulate, create work, create wealth and the government end up collecting more money.”
“Hypothetically he may be correct,” Inguanez says. “But what will the cost to the treasury be? Has a cost-benefit analysis of this proposal been produced? Suppose governments give €10 to each citizen: this means that either the public expenditure will increase its efficiency to that level... or governments would have to increase taxation to cover the sum dished out.”
What Malta ultimately needs to remain afloat is not just a “greater spending by the Maltese “which will only help “to oil the wheels of our economy” but more foreign investment.
Alternattiva Demokratika – the third party in the political fray – fared poorly in the last general and European elections. Now, it has elected Michael Briguglio, a left wing sociologist as its leader. What future does it have?
“Michael was a brilliant student of mine. I always found him to be a gentleman of integrity and I like many of his attributes.”
But Inguanez is not sure whether AD would be more effective as a political party or as a movement. “I am personally undecided about this issue. As a movement, it can appeal to the whole nation, thus they would have a larger constituency and be able to serve as an educational movement.”
On the other hand he also sees validity in Briguglio’s argument that AD’s strength derives from the fact that it can make the other two parties less complacent about election victory, and so take over some of its proposals to attract potential AD voters.
“In this way, both the PN and PL have to be on their guard with their proposals because if they lose votes to AD, they could lose the election.”
The major weakness in this argument, according to Inguanez, is that both the PN and the PL, with or without the Greens, can still lose votes to no other party: people can simply vote by their chair. “They can refrain from voting and stay at home to watch football.”
But can AD re-invent itself as leftist party?
“It depends on how one defines the left. If by left one understands social consciousness, I think there is a national deficit.”
But surprisingly, and with very few exceptions, despite capitalism’s greatest crisis since the great depression, social democracy is facing its own worst crisis as voters are opting for the centre right in most European countries. “This is happening because since the fall of the Berlin Wall the parties on the left tended to retain a strong social consciousness, but they lack an alternative economic model. What they need is an economic model. It is not just the ideas that count but putting them in to practice.”
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