After the Last Breath

Millions of people around the world are familiar with the Oscar awards ceremony held once a year. A part of this event includes paying tribute to a number of prominent individuals who were active within the movie industry and who passed away sometime during the interval since the previous ceremony. Those few minutes make it possible to think about and to appreciate the contributions of those persons that have crossed over. The memory of those individuals will surely remain strong as their movies continue to be watched, as biographies about their lives are published, and as numerous articles are written about them.

Whilst thinking about this yearly tribute, one may wonder about the thousands of people who die annually without any tributes being broadcast all over the world. As suggested above, when a famous person dies, various items remain which allow others to acknowledge their existence. To mention just one example, the grave site of such an individual may be visited by hundreds of people every year. 

What, on the other hand, is left after a less popular human being takes their last breath? There is no doubt that hardly anyone alive at the time of writing this article would know anything about Andreana Cuschieri (nee' Micallef). The latter is my paternal great-great grandmother. 

Following some research that I had carried out, I discovered that Andreana lived in Valletta. She was Giuseppe Cuschieri's second wife. She was the mother of several children, one of whom was Professor/Fr Anatasio Cuschieri. The only photo that I have seen of her was on the memorial card printed sometime after she died. She is buried at the Addolorata Cemetery, but there is no head stone to mark her final resting place. Similar to countless women who lived during the late 19th and early 20th century, most of her time was probably devoted to raising the children and engaged in other activities that were traditionally associated with womanhood. 

Andreana was not a famous actress or writer. She was never in the limelight. At first, one could say that nothing much was left behind after she took her last breath at her home in St Lucia Street (Strada Santa Lucia) in Valletta in 1913. To what extent, however, is this argument really accurate?

In actual fact, whenever a person dies, some things do remain. Going back to Andreana Cuschieri, her physical remains are possibly still buried or they could now be part of other organisms or objects. Some of her genetic material lives on in her descendants, which include myself. Her name together with some other biographical details can still be found on the death certificate which could be obtained from the Public Registry. Various contracts signed by some of her children feature her name to confirm their identity. The memorial card showing her photo still exists. The Addolorata Cemetery also has some information about her. Some of the objects that she owned and treasured may now be in the homes of one or more of her descendants or in the homes of persons who decided to acquire the said items. For those who believe, her spirit is also somewhere in the universe. 

Unfortunately, I have not come across any detailed written material about Andreana's character. I do not know what food she liked to prepare or eat, whether she had the patience of a saint or whether she was short-tempered, and I also lack information about the medical conditions she may have struggled with throughout her life. If such details are not recorded and preserved, it will be extremely difficult for future generations to know this information.

After a person's last breath, some activities are indeed interrupted. If, say, someone used to attend Mass in a specific church on a daily basis, death will interrupt that activity. It is, however, mistaken to think that once a human being dies, nothing remains. Death can never negate the fact that a person existed for a given period of time and that certain things continue to exist even after the last breath.

I would like to conclude by quoting a few lines from a very moving book entitled My Lovely Wife: A Memoir of Madness and Hope. I finished reading the latter fairly recently. Written by Mark Lukach, it is largely about the author's experience in taking care of his wife who suffered from several episodes of mental illness over a number of years. There were times when the author's wife talked about committing suicide by jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge into the San Francisco Bay. Whilst contemplating the scenario, Lukach focused on her continued existence following her physical demise: "She would still be in my life, in both her presence and her absence. Her clothes, her possessions, her hair in the drain of the shower, even her smell on the blanket she wrapped herself in every night. Her absence would be everywhere. I would miss her in everything. I would tell people about her and keep her alive in my stories. She would not be done. Her body, whether discovered or not, would join the land and the water and return to the elements, from dust you are and to dust you will return. Nothing dissolves into nothing. We are never done..." (pp. 104-105)  

One Person's Garbage Is Another Person's Treasure: The Fascinating World of Antique Objects

We are surrounded by objects. We may have purchased many of them to decorate our homes. Other items such as chairs or lamps would be there for functional purposes. Some objects might have been given to us as gifts or inherited from a person that has passed away. Several items become such a fixed part of our environment that we rarely stop to think much about them.

Not all the objects in our lives are equally old. Some might have been manufactured fairly recently whilst others may have been produced over a century ago. As time goes by from the manufacturing year, an item may be classified as an antique. Depending on its degree of usage, an object would normally exhibit signs of how it was handled or kept after a certain number of years. 

There are occasions when relatively old items are regarded as junk. This tends to happen when an object's owner wants to make space and purchase or obtain newer items. Countless objects are also considered as garbage when a furnished property is sold off and the new owners dislike many of the old items left behind by the previous inhabitants. One can only imagine the number of objects that are disposed of in such circumstances.

Regardless of what a person wishes to do with a specific item, there is no doubt that every object has its own unique story. Indeed, apart from an item's movement from place to place and from one owner to another, all objects contain various types of information. In particular, the analysis of an object could reveal details about its manufacturer, the country of make, its production year, its chemical composition, and so much more. 

Some antique objects may end up thrown away because of a lack of knowledge on how to restore them. In the eyes of certain individuals, an item that looks battered or used may no longer seem attractive or functional. This perception increases the possibility of an object finding its way in a garbage can.

Although countless antique items are disposed of each year, there are people who are actively interested in acquiring such objects. There are TV shows such as Salvage Hunters which show how numerous items that would have been written off by many others are restored and sold for a profit. When watching these programmes, it is interesting to note that even a heavily-worn table in a dilapidated building might still be worth a few hundred Euros in its current state. To the untrained eye, such objects may be considered as having no value at all.

In view of the above, rather than condemning an object to the garbage can, one may want to consult an antiques expert first. This would allow the owner to obtain a clearer idea of an item's current value. It could also enable the owner to become more familiar with the group of individuals who may harbour an interest in acquiring a specific item.

There is definitely a market out there for all sorts of objects. Indeed, it is possible to argue that there would be, at least, one person for every item that one could think of. There are many people who have collections of different types of objects. Such persons would surely treasure several items that have no value to others. 

When talking about antiques, it could also be said that their conservation is important for historical purposes. There would surely be numerous objects that are no longer produced or widely available. Consequently, the careful preservation of such items would allow a broad spectrum of researchers to analyse as well as document the role that they played in previous times. Some antiques become so valuable that museums acquire them as part of a collection.

One last point: in a world whereby there is a greater awareness about the need to decrease pollution, the retention and conservation of countless items would prevent them from being incinerated or dumped somewhere. In this way, the proper care of antiques could also be considered as a means of safeguarding our environment.

Having read this article, it is hoped that many people will think twice before throwing away numerous objects. If an item does not interest you, try to donate or sell it rather than chucking it into the garbage can. Remember that an object that you might consider as worthless could be another person's treasure!

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Moving Away From the Left

     I was born and raised in a family that supported the centre-right political party in Malta. Most, if not all. of my paternal ancestors were fervent supporters of the Nationalist Party. Same applies to my maternal ancestors. I myself was a big fan of Dr Eddie Fenech Adami for several years and I enjoyed attending political mass meetings. 

     When I moved to Spain in 2003, my political views started to change after my first few months living there. Financially-speaking, my situation deteriorated from bad to worse. Although I was working as an English language teacher, I was given very few lessons per week. I was hardly earning enough money to cover my monthly rent (the rent was that of € 180 for a small room in a shared apartment which lacked heating and other comforts). The apartment was located in a part of Madrid called Pan Bendito. The latter was definitely not considered by many locals as a wealthy area. Not too far from my apartment, there was a park where drug trafficking was fairly common. Money was so limited that I would order the cheapest baguette from the cafeteria that I normally visited. Whenever I would go shopping for food (usually from a Dia or Lidl outlet), I would often spend quite a long time trying to decide whether I really needed something that I wanted. For example, I would grab a bag of chocolates and then ask myself whether I could buy something that would last longer with the same amount of money. The only clothes I had were the ones that I took with me from Malta and they were not much. Unfortunately, I had no money to acquire new clothing items. When I faced my first winter in Madrid, I was feeling so cold that my Spanish roommate allowed me to borrow one of his jackets.

     As I struggled to keep a roof over my head and to obtain sufficient food, many of the students that I taught occupied management positions and were clearly fairly rich. Whilst I was racking my brains to choose whether to buy one food item compared to another, most of my students would be talking about the expensive shops they visited. Exposed to such a situation, my instinctive reaction was one of resentment: was it fair for them to be living so well whereas I was struggling to make ends meet?

     In 2004, the Spanish electorate was called to vote during the country's general election. Although my Spanish was still far from fluent, I could understand some of the basic things that were being said during the electoral campaign. The PSOE, Spain's centre-left party, was talking about increasing the minimum wage and about improving the plight of hundreds of thousands of immigrants living in the country. The party leader, Mr Zapatero, also promised that if he was elected Prime Minister, he would withdraw Spain from the Iraq war. During that time, I was bitterly against the said conflict; I felt that the main reasons to go to war had been largely fabricated by the US government and that little good would be achieved from the participation of various countries in various battles. My beliefs were strengthened even further when I watched Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11.

     Although I found myself agreeing more and more with the PSOE on a number of issues, I had still not explicitly rebranded myself as a leftist. That happened when I moved to El Salvador in early 2005. I spent less than six months in the latter country, but political positions were far more polarised there and I was strongly exposed to a great deal of socialist and even communist literature. Apart from the staggering poverty which was clearly visible in El Salvador, the country had one of the world's highest daily murder rates. Indeed, during my short time there, the average rate was that of eleven murders per day! 

     When I returned to Malta in early June 2005, I considered myself to be a Marxist-Leninist. I even had a key-chain showing Che Guevara's face. I spent hours browsing on the Internet as I hopped from one communist website to another. When I talked to people, I did my utmost to teach them about the horrors of capitalism and to persuade them that communism was the only solution to a better future.

     By the time that my Salvadoran girlfriend came to live with me later on in 2005, my financial situation had not improved much. I had found a job within one of Malta's largest insurance companies, but I was earning minimum wage. Furthermore, since my girlfriend was not from an EU country, she was unable to earn a living in Malta until such time that we got married. As time went by, my meagre salary had to cover rent, food, medicines, and many other essential items. My Mum, the only person who had bailed me out whenever I was practically penniless, was diagnosed with a terminal illness; she was in and out of hospital until she passed away in March 2006. 

     My financial situation eventually improved, but I still considered myself to be a communist. I still believed in a glorious future where all people would be free to engage in their preferred activities without any human exploitation. Poverty would cease to exist as every person's needs were satisfied without the need to spend any money at all. 

     My support for the communist cause even brought me in contact with a number of locals who had been active within the Communist Party of Malta for several years. Many of the people that I met were friendly and truly tried to mould their own lives on socialist principles. As an organisation, the party was in shambles and there was never any formal or official membership structure. There was no conceivable way that the party could aspire to make much of a difference on the Maltese political scene. 

     As a result of my interactions with the Communist Party of Malta activists, I also had the opportunity to meet a number of DPRK citizens who were working in the local construction industry. I also met some who were working in a Korean restaurant in Bugibba. A handful of DPRK citizens were also working inside a Korean fusion restaurant in Gzira. 

     Apart from meeting several individuals from the DPRK in Malta, I was also invited to attend the 100th birthday celebrations of Kim Il Sung in the DPRK itself. This happened in 2012. I travelled to and from Pyongyang via China. 

     During my time in the DPRK, I was treated very well. There was always a great deal of good food to eat and the hotel room was large as well as comfortable. I could write a whole article concerning the days I spent in the DPRK, but that would go beyond the scope of this blog post. It is, however, possible to state that it is true that I could not leave the hotel on my own. It is also true that the foreigners who attended these celebrations were exposed to whatever the authorities wanted us to see.

     Over time, my interactions with the Communist Party of Malta activists decreased. I found some of their attitudes to be way too rigid. Furthermore, there was such a shocking degree of disorganisation that no real projects could be carried out successfully. I also found it very difficult to digest certain concepts such as the dictatorship of the proletariat. The visceral hatred towards various wealthy individuals exhibited by a number of communist supporters both locally and worldwide made me uncomfortable since I did not feel capable of such destructive emotions. 

     In March 2013, I voted for the Labour Party. I was truly happy when the latter won a landslide victory against the Nationalist Party. Having said this, as a communist person, I always kept having several reservations about Dr Joseph Muscat's pro-business approach to politics. Indeed, I formed part of a group of 26 leftist individuals who signed a letter that was sent to Dr Muscat to express our collective disagreement concerning various issues (I wrote a separate blog post about the meeting that I then had with the Prime Minister together with some of the other signatories in December 2014).

     Fast-forward to 2016. By that time, I no longer had any contact with the Communist Party of Malta activists. I came to agree with Tony Blair who once said that "There is an arrogance and self-righteousness about many of the groups on the far left which is deeply unattractive to the ordinary would be-member...There's too much mixing only with people [with] whom they agree." 

     My perceptions concerning life in the DPRK had also changed quite dramatically. I felt that the provision of certain essential items by the government should not be a reason to justify the terrible control that the authorities showed vis-a-vis the country's inhabitants. I found it ridiculous to note that in the 21st century, millions of citizens in the DPRK were not allowed to use the Internet and/or to communicate freely with other people around the world. I also stopped trying to fool myself that all the negative things being stated about the DPRK were merely the fruits of capitalist propaganda.

     For the first time in many years, I also stopped to think about the importance of individual freedom. I realised that wherever and whenever socialist governments have ruled, there was practically always an emphasis on having a relatively strong State which limited or controlled several freedoms enjoyed by the individual citizen. As I learned more about the experience of the Soviet Union and about those countries that declared themselves socialist, I was appalled to witness the gargantuan efforts exercised by numerous States to try to force all people to behave and think in a specific way. Furthermore, it became clear to me that since one person is so different from another, even the concepts relating to the ideal socialist citizen varied from place to place. During the 20th century, several governments came to ideological blows with one another simply because they could not agree on which country adopted the "purest" version of socialism. I considered such battles to be fairly silly since a country's preferred socialist model was frequently a reflection of the leader's belief system. Once the leader had been deposed or passed away, countless changes would be introduced.

     I eventually realised that when talking about capitalism, it is impossible to talk about just one model. Indeed, it is perfectly possible to discuss several capitalist models. And each one has its costs as well as benefits. Consequently, when some people recite various statements against capitalism, I am tempted to ask them: which version of capitalism are you talking about?

     Capitalism - like any other economic model - is surely not perfect. One could write pages about its flaws. Having said this, capitalism allows citizens to enjoy a degree of freedom that cannot exist in a truly socialist society. In a capitalist society, the average citizen can aspire to engaging in various economic activities that would not be possible in a socialist country. Moreover, capitalist models encourage people to think freely and not to waste time trying to get everyone to behave in a rigid as well as limited way.

     My material circumstances also changed from 2016 onwards. For the first time in my life, I was able to involve myself in a project that would have allowed me to earn more money. I also educated myself about investments and their potential to improve one's income. 

     As my material situation improved, I developed a growing resentment towards the many fixed costs imposed by the government. I strongly believed that it was unfair to be taxed here and there in respect of a person's hardly-earned income. In particular, I thought that the capital transfer duty (could be regarded as an inheritance tax) was terribly unfair. This is a tax applicable to immoveable property (such as houses) that is payable to the government by the heir/s at the time of inheriting the said property. If the person who passed way had various expensive properties, the heir/s would not only be struggling with the loss of a loved one; they would also be penalised with this tax that could go up to thousands of Euros! 

     At this stage, one could say: what about all those poor and vulnerable people that you once campaigned for or tried to help? Have you forgotten all about them just because you are now living a better life? I have definitely not forgotten my own battles with poverty and I have also not brushed aside the daily torments of those members of society who lack countless essential items to live comfortably. I have, however, changed my beliefs about the best way of helping such individuals. I no longer believe that a country's government should be the main entity that is responsible to provide many types of assistance to the poor or vulnerable members of society. As populations continue to grow and as the life expectancy for millions of people continues to increase, governments would need billions of pounds, dollars, or whatever currency you want to talk about to keep funding numerous social programs. For governments to be able to obtain this money, they would need to retain or add countless taxes. My question is: what is the point of helping the poor by impoverishing those that are wealthy? 

     Many prominent persons such as Senator Bernie Sanders in the US have argued that increasing taxation on the country's billionaires would still allow them to remain sufficiently wealthy to be able to go about their daily lives without any hardships. The points that people like Sanders fail to see are as follows: if the country's richest people are heavily taxed year after year, a day may come when they will witness a massive deterioration in their wealth since when it comes to business activities, there is no guarantee that today's billionaire will still enjoy the same wealth in the future. Furthermore, by being so wealthy, the world's billionaires create thousands of jobs. The more money one takes away from these billionaires, the less jobs will be created. And, frankly, unless a person suddenly earns enough money to start a business, jobs are the key drivers to earning a living for most people around the world.

     I believe that no person should ever be homeless or go hungry. Yet, I believe that each country should have a sufficiently strong civil sector so that whenever a human being is in need, there are well-organised charities that can step in to provide all the necessary assistance. Charities usually provide most types of help for free and they do not force anyone to give them money to fund their activities. Moreover, from my experience, numerous charities tend to be more knowledgeable and dedicated to resolving various social problems than a government bureaucrat who is active for a few hours a day and whose main interest is that of earning a salary at the end of the month. A government should continue to help only until such time that one or more charities can take over once and for all.

     Nowadays, I enjoy describing myself as a compassionate conservative. Politically-speaking, I like being a centrist to avoid labels. Although I have moved away from the political left, I am still a Roman Catholic Christian (this is being said since I had once described myself as a Christian Socialist). I believe that the welfare of the individual should be at the centre of any political thinking or analysis. I think that individual freedom should be championed provided that it does not cause explicit harm to others. I believe that capitalism provides more solutions to improving one's life than Marxism or Marxism-Leninism. And I definitely cannot ever see myself going back to the leftist person that I once was. As stated by Lewis Carroll in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland: "I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then."             

         

            

   

The Importance of Collective Memory

When we ponder the history of certain famous buildings, we often marvel at how they have remained standing throughout a number of centuries. Compared to such architectural attractions, the life of the average human being is quite short.

Indeed, during the relatively few years of our earthly existence, there are various milestones which are often expected – attending a specific school, earning a living as an employee or as a self-employed person, getting married, having one or more children, and so on. Many of us will interact with and influence – to a certain degree – the behaviour of some other people.

     

Regardless of all our achievements, a day will come when we will pass away. Following this unavoidable event, we may have a memorial card printed and distributed to relatives, friends, and acquaintances. A photo capturing a significant moment of our life story may be displayed in someone’s home or stored in an album. Nowadays, it is very likely that countless photos will remain saved on a mobile phone or on a computer.

     

The ordinary mortal may continue to be mentioned here and there by some other people for a few weeks or months following the funeral. Yet, as the living go on with the struggles of their daily lives and as the individuals known to a person that has passed away also die, most people will hardly ever be talked about any longer or even remembered. Put differently, unless a person manages to do something quite extraordinary during their lifetime, they will be virtually forgotten following the passage of a given amount of time after their death. To make matters worse, key details about a person’s life may no longer be available when various items pertaining to someone are disposed of or when no effort is made to preserve them.

     

Historians as well as genealogists, amongst others, could easily understand the frustration of trying to answer numerous questions on the basis of relatively little information. Although some people may have been particularly close to individuals that eventually gained national fame for one reason or another, this does not mean that there would be a considerable amount of information still available about their lives several years after their death. In the case of those people who never shone in the limelight like more prominent persons, unearthing biographical details about them could turn out to be a fairly painstaking process.

     

As an example, I would like to mention Mr Albert William Mizzi. The latter was the son of Dr Angelo and Ms Eleonora Mizzi (nee’ Farrugia). He was born in Tripoli (Libya) in 1890. One of his brothers was Mr Alfred Mizzi; the man whose name lives on as a result of the many works carried out by The Alfred Mizzi Foundation.

Albert Mizzi became a part of my family history. More specifically, he got married to Carmela (also known as Carmelina), who was the daughter of Antonio Cuschieri. My great-grandfather, Pio, was Antonio’s brother. Albert, a legal procurator, must have known Pio to some degree since he signed the latter’s passport application form as a character witness in 1924. He did the same thing for Antonio, his father-in-law, in 1931.

     

Mizzi was also fairly active within the Nationalist Party for a number of years. Indeed, there is a photo bearing the caption “Mizzian invaders of Gozo to break up the 1921 Meeting” whereby Albert Mizzi is standing between Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici (also known as Il-Gross) and Enrico (also known as Nerik) Mizzi. Giovanni Cuschieri, son of Antonio and Albert’s brother-in-law, also appears in the said photo. Furthermore, an article published by The Times of Malta on the 7^th April 1932 stated that “…all the Nationalist leaders are well known. We know Messrs. Mizzi, Mifsud Bonnici, Adami, Masu Fenech and Albert Mizzi and all the rest of them.”

     

Mizzi’s name also surfaced in association with a couple of newspapers that were in print for some years prior to the end of the 1930s. One of these papers was called Mercurius; the editor was Albert’s brother, Alexander, and Albert was listed as the printer. The other newspaper was entitled Mid-day Views. Even in this case, Alexander was the editor and Albert was the printer. The registered address of both newspapers was Mercurius Press, 17, Strada Zaccharia (Zachary Street), Valletta.

     

At some point in time, Mizzi switched his allegiance to the Malta Labour Party. Shortly after Mizzi passed away in 1951, Dom Mintoff penned an article in The Knight. He wrote that “Our friend, Mr Albert Mizzi L.P., was an intelligent and fearless man – a born leader in a country where leadership is denied.”

     

In view of all the material featured in this article, it is quite disappointing to note the myriad difficulties encountered in trying to obtain more detailed information about various aspects of Mizzi’s life. For instance, how did Mizzi feel whilst working with Enrico Mizzi? Or what exactly caused Mizzi to move from the Nationalist to the Malta Labour Party? If doing so is still not always easy in our times, let alone making such a move many decades ago! Two history professors were contacted during my research process, but neither one of them was able to provide any assistance.

     

This is the part where the importance of collective memory deserves to be mentioned. The latter involves the participation of each and every person. More specifically, it is up to us to document, to collect, and to preserve all those items that would allow us to weave the tapestry that features as many aspects of one’s life as possible. By doing so, we would be contributing to the preservation of the information about a human being long after they have died.

     

As is often said, every life represents a unique story. Regardless of the fame or rank achieved by a person during their earthly existence, each story is valuable. And as all those stories are preserved, we ensure that no person is ever forgotten. Furthermore, as the memories associated with the departed are kept alive, it becomes easier to understand our historical development as individuals and as a species.