A New Italy

The Italian political scene has often been dubbed “a joke” by the media, following accusations of association with organized crime, prostitution, corruption, etc. But even though the majority of Italian politicians appear in fact to possess low morals and lack the skills or will necessary to positively guide the Nation, I consider the fundamental problem laying in the nature of the political system itself and its laws, rather than in individual members of the Parliament.

It is my belief that the Italian government today is not performing much worse than it did one, two, or three decades ago. The real difference is that back then the economy was striving. Today instead, mainly due to global systemic changes that are beyond the control of any politician, party, or even country – such as the growth of developing nations, globalization, terrorism, natural disasters, introduction of the Euro, etc. – Italy is gradually falling behind in the world ranking and its people are becoming increasingly angry and frustrated.

From a cultural viewpoint, it is realistic to expect most Italians turning a blind eye on fuzzy facts, when things go well, because apparently the system seems to be working regardless. However, when the mechanism breaks and enjoying a comfortable life gets difficult, people wake up and expect changes and improvements to occur. The trouble is that by the time problems are widely recognized, it is already too late to find a cure; the system is sick beyond recovery because repeatedly infected on so many levels and for so many times. It is impossible to fix the broken toy and the only solution is to start again working on a newly cut piece of wood.

So if there is no one to fight against, what can we do? It would surely be much simpler if there was a tyrant to dethrone as it is happening in most North African countries, but instead the enemy is invisible and we have all contributed to create it and strengthen it with our silence and opportunistic behaviour for so long.

With these words, it is not my intention to defend the members of the Italian Parliament or Regional Councillors, who are getting the country deeper into suffering while caring only about their own sake and pockets. In fact one of the central conditions for real changes to occur would be for all politicians and their parties ceasing to exist at once. A peaceful revolution with no going back is required if we are to witness a rebirth of Italy. People have to accept big sacrifices and be willing to live on bread and water if necessary, but also manifest a strong desire to rebuild a great nation based on values different than the ones we have become accustomed to.