| As creative as the inhabitants were with their scarce resources, the population rapidly declined. Through malnutrition, emigration and the mass exodus of tourists (and rumours of cannibalism), Malta became thinly populated. While there wasn't enough manpower to farm the depleted land or fish in the emptying seas, the Maltese embraced their corsair roots. Their anarcho-pirate fleet was loosely run by a hacker collective with access to global shipping infrastructure and abandoned ships were quietly repurposed into piracy and raiding parties. Their open resources and motley spoils were distributed throughout the population. Everyone was gradually, yet unpredictably, becoming richer through piracy. The culture became one of feast and famine. The cuisine was resilient and adaptable to unpredictable conditions. Sometimes exploding with complex ingredients and extravagant spices, other times it would consist of a single ingredient only. As the centuries passed, the descendants of pirates began celebrating this time as the formative period of their culture. Tough times that forged tough people. As the culture became less rough, more prosperous and sophisticated, fetishising the wild past became inevitable. The yearly Pirate Potluck celebrates a time when piracy was central to the economy of Malta. At this island-wide festa, everyone brings ingredients cooked up in many large pots, blending almost anything into unrecognisable stews, spiced up with grated dried meat, fish flakes, seaweed, pickles and soy-based taste intensifiers. For the Maltese the potluck festa reminds them that without sharing there is no survival, while taste remains unpredictable. | As creative as the inhabitants were with their scarce resources, the population rapidly declined. Through malnutrition, emigration and the mass exodus of tourists (and rumours of cannibalism), Malta became thinly populated. While there wasn't enough manpower to farm the depleted land or fish in the emptying seas, the Maltese embraced their corsair roots. Their anarcho-pirate fleet was loosely run by a hacker collective with access to global shipping infrastructure and abandoned ships were quietly repurposed into piracy and raiding parties. Their open resources and motley spoils were distributed throughout the population. Everyone was gradually, yet unpredictably, becoming richer through piracy. The culture became one of feast and famine. The cuisine was resilient and adaptable to unpredictable conditions. Sometimes exploding with complex ingredients and extravagant spices, other times it would consist of a single ingredient only. As the centuries passed, the descendants of pirates began celebrating this time as the formative period of their culture. Tough times that forged tough people. As the culture became less rough, more prosperous and sophisticated, fetishising the wild past became inevitable. The yearly Pirate Potluck celebrates a time when piracy was central to the economy of Malta. At this island-wide festa, everyone brings ingredients cooked up in many large pots, blending almost anything into unrecognisable stews, spiced up with grated dried meat, fish flakes, seaweed, pickles and soy-based taste intensifiers. For the Maltese the potluck festa reminds them that without sharing there is no survival, while taste remains unpredictable. |
| On the other side of the gates live the Eco-hipsters, a melting pot of impoverished young farmers and former service-industry workers. Their communities are quirky, imperfect and unstable but very much alive. A stark contrast to the EcoIkeaWorld. Whereas the elderly meticulously plan every minute of their lives, the young surrender to a more heuristic lifestyle. They live among the organic rubbish dumps of the EcoIkeaWorld and produce high quality organic compost (often sold back to IKEA for a decent profit). Scarcity has forced Eco-hipsters to become an inventive, entrepreneurial bunch. Aside from their lucrative compost business, a high-quality carob chocolate-substitute is manufactured and traded around the world through the Sail Cargo Alliance. With their knowledge of fermentation new lines of yeast-based drugs have been developed, which they smuggle into EcoIkeaWorld. The effects of yeast-drugs on the elderly wreak statistical havoc in IKEA's pristine health-data centres. Slowly but surely, pleasure is trafficked back into Eco-Gozo, with unknown long-term side-effects. | On the other side of the gates live the Eco-hipsters, a melting pot of impoverished young farmers and former service-industry workers. Their communities are quirky, imperfect and unstable but very much alive. A stark contrast to the EcoIkeaWorld. Whereas the elderly meticulously plan every minute of their lives, the young surrender to a more heuristic lifestyle. They live among the organic rubbish dumps of the EcoIkeaWorld and produce high quality organic compost (often sold back to IKEA for a decent profit). Scarcity has forced Eco-hipsters to become an inventive, entrepreneurial bunch. Aside from their lucrative compost business, a high-quality carob chocolate-substitute is manufactured and traded around the world through the Sail Cargo Alliance. With their knowledge of fermentation new lines of yeast-based drugs have been developed, which they smuggle into EcoIkeaWorld. The effects of yeast-drugs on the elderly wreak statistical havoc in IKEA's pristine health-data centres. Slowly but surely, pleasure is trafficked back into Eco-Gozo, with unknown long-term side-effects. |
nik