A nation up its own arse One major problem I had living in Malta was that I got the constant impression that this was a nation of people living up their own arse. From the archaic, self-important editorials of The Times, to the posing and preening of our political class, to the self-righteous letters to the editor gunning down anything from topless bathing ("seins nus interdits"), to homosexual couples, to cohabitation, to divorce, to the 'scandalous voting' at the latest cheese-fest in Istanbul ...anything really that allows these punters to establish a standpoint, judge others, take the moral high-ground and belt out their latest sermon. Yes, we're a nation of preachers. We shout, we badger, we always seem to want to convert someone into something or into someone else. There's always some 'major issue' round the corner and some prima donna all too ready to take a stand. If you consider the size of the place it has always seemed to me to be a very crowded stage. In a perverse way our talk-shows have made the situation even more unbearable.

When I went to Cyprus two years ago I was really curious to see whether this other small, Mediterranean island had the same revved-up attitude to life so I had a look at the English-language newspapers there. But I found no trace of hysteria or bickering or moral high-ground stances and certainly no quotes from the Book of Job.

And while every country I've lived in has its issues and debates, disagreements and conflicts, there always seem to be enough eccentricities and diversities to make moral finger-wagging look out-of-place, ridiculous or simply dead boring.

I also sense this tension in the more progressive journalists in Malta. Underneath the guise of discussing 'issues' you always sense that their aim is actually to prove that they know better, that they're the dog's bollocks, that their life-plan is just spot-on. Tolerance is seriously missing. We've developed into a nation of absolutists and status-seekers. The bickering fans its own flames. The bitchiness feeds on itself. There's always some finger-wagging going on. And folks dig deeper up their own bum. Taking themselves far too seriously while they're at it. Maybe it's because people need excitement and the distractions are sparse. At any rate, it always felt claustrophobic.

I was attracted by the Maltese blogging scene because I sensed an interesting path away from all this.

Hats off guys.

Let's keep it healthy.  ¶ 8:34 PM