HOW CAN ITALY RISE AGAIN?

Italy has 3 million people that are unemployed, and has lost 30% of its gross domestic product (prodotto interno lordo PIL) in the past 5 years. The per capita fixed income today has fallen below the 40^th position in a ranking of 220 nations, and it continues to drop. More than 40% of young adults under the age of 30 are unemployed while the middle class, the natural stronghold of the economy, is progressively losing its buying power. But let’s stop here for a moment and try to see what has happened. “Every morning in Italy (and not only in Italy) two individuals wake up and get out of bed, one dishonest and one honest, who spend the entire day looking for each other.”

For those of us who have traveled widely, we have learned that this adage is correct and translates in every language. What has happened in Italy is similar to what has taken place in Greece: the shrewd ones continue to seek out those with poor judgment, who have nothing left to give. In other words, taxing, duping, and squeezing them is useless since there is absolutely nothing left to take.

Each one of us can see from this result his own position, and can try to understand where he can find the solution. I refer to those who work and have continually asked me for the formula to provide a way out from this dead-end street where Italy has cornered itself. “No one can touch Cain!” The various associations all shout against the death sentence. Italy is in fact behind a United Nations’ proposal to stop those uncivil nations (including Cuba, USA, China, Taiwan, India, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore) that still apply the death penalty as a deterrent. In this same Italy, since the inception of its unity, there have been numerous massacres which the “ragion di Stato” (reasons of state) have metabolized as “ingiudicabili” (unable to be judged) in the supreme interest of the nation. “The origins of the theory of “Reason of State” are embedded in the history of political thought and they accompany the story of the Absolute State. It is in fact during the periods of Absolutism in Europe that sovereigns utilized the Reason of State to affirm, also using unscrupulous violence, their own authority over those centers of alternative power existing in their territories.” (“Io so” – Chiarelettere Editore, pag. 57)

Italy began in 1861 with a questionable unity, as Pino Aprile (Terroni) and Lorenzo Del Boca (Polentoni) explain to us, a recent history that has been conditioned by the influence of powerful criminals and their carefully orchestrated massacres.  It is a unique story if we compare it to the other western democracies. It is useless to list all of the unsolved mysteries, starting with the famous massacre of Portella della Ginestra (1947), that was unable to be judged because its culprits were never found. Yet if we try to count the number of innocent victims who participated to the meetings held in the Italian squares, of the airplanes that fell from the sky as a result of roaming missiles, of train stations blown up by anonymous bombs and similar situations, we might be surprised. Preconceived political notions are far from our thoughts: we only think about the “dishonest one” and the “foolish one”, who in the past 50 years have searched for each other and often found each other, with the result that today is staring us in the face.

But we Italians who are Italian born, and those of us who are real Italians, believe that we are finally at the start of a new Renaissance for Italy. Look around us and we realize that the triumph of mediocrity doesn’t help our optimism. The candidates of the Italian-American lobbies as well as the traditional political parties in Italy have one common denominator: the search for a secure, rich salary at the expense of those foolish individuals who still exist. However the fools no longer have any money and are asking for work in order to earn salaries and to re-establish an equilibrium which existed for 50 years. Work is not to be found. New currency can’t be printed and the crafty are no longer needed because if those honest citizens do not return, and we are talking about the, experts and managers… there will be nothing left for any of us. It is at that moment that the mediocrity present in a country, which could ultimately cause the collapse of Europe and therefore the rest of the world, can no longer be favored by anyone.

This is a historical moment that Italy must face starting from its judicial reform, tax reduction, incentives for those who work, reduction of wasteful spending: all of these must act as a guarantee for those who return to our “Bel Paese” to invest. Our optimism stems from the certainty of knowing that Italy is not alone. Take into account how much Italians produce out of Italy, and then ask yourself why everyone in Italy wants to be involved in politics. It is the same analysis made by any respectable business: whatever does not result in a profit is considered a failure. Fiscal reform, work reform, and judicial reform need not be original, as long as we draw inspiration from those democratic nations that respect their citizens, and provide equitable salaries for those who are public servants. The toy has been broken and the game is over: by now there are too many dishonest individuals looking for wealthy fools. The less cunning are willing to stay in Italy only if there is the possibility of making profit through work and with the rules of the market. Let’s start to spend what we produce in reasoning, because a business that produces no profit or, worse yet, goes into bankruptcy, cannot reward its managers (executioners!) with million dollar bonuses. Count on us, we Italians living abroad, to work with you to build a new Italy.