Seeing beauty in a dumpster fire

Abstract

Recently construction mogul Michael Stivala said that Malta is more beautiful now than it was 20 years ago. Understanding why a supposedly quick-witted businessman is capable of such a spectacularly moronic gaffe is worth the effort, at least in so far as it helps to shed light on why certain things are as bad as they are in this country. One indication of how out of touch Stivala is with people’s perceptions of the current state of the country is the amount of flak he got on social media and news portals. People ridiculed his comment for its vacuousness, myopia, and irreality. For some it was a clear example of a powerful person peddling an alternative fact, while many others accused Stivala of living in a parallel universe. The truth might be somewhat more unpleasant, though.