“It is a country that is going backwards, the spectacle that is offered to us citizens is simply one of total irresponsibility. Increasingly, parties as a whole are treating voters as if they were immature children, totally subject to delusion. And it is not only a horrible show that will turn against Italy but it is a great operation of civic diseducation that our politics is carrying out”. So Mario Monti to the microphones of Di Martedì on La7. The former prime minister is absolutely right. The writer began to vote in the early 60s when the age of majority and the right to vote was 21 years old.
I've spent my entire life dealing with politics (even personally) but today I wouldn't know who to vote for. I was a PDL deputy but on 4 March I will not vote for the centre-right alliance, even though I realize that that formation is the only one with a chance to block the way for the M5S which for me is public enemy n. 1. However, I believe that it is not correct to challenge ''grillismo'' on the ground of demagoguery, furthermore by increasing the dose. What a mess! In my small way, I took the liberty of addressing the letter I am reproducing to the Foglio, with some updates referring to events that have occurred in the meantime. The writing is imbued with desperate irony, but it corresponds to my state of mind at the moment. Even if the premier Paolo Gentiloni still grants me some hope, with his sober, measured and above all polite and civil style. But let's go to the letter.
''If you put all the electoral promises together, after March 4 the life of a young person will be a godsend. He won't have to pay the car tax that his parents will give him after graduation. He will be able to enroll in university without incurring fees. If he wants to work, he will be able to count on a minimum wage guaranteed by law (at least 7 euros per hour if not more) and avoid all the flexibility provided by the Jobs Act, which will undergo many changes even if it will not be abolished completely. Article 18, however, will return to the altars. But our youngster will also be able to avoid the hassle of working, thanks to an income of dignity or citizenship (780 euros a month or 1.950 euros a month if he decides to get married and have a child). He won't have to worry about his pension, because the Fornero reform will either be abolished or emasculated.
However, he will be able to count on a minimum pension of one thousand euros per month (an amount which now corresponds to that of the average pension net of taxes). If he then has the bad taste of working and receiving a salary, he will make use of the flat tax, with a rate equal, in the worst case, to 23 percent (provided Matteo Salvini fails to impose 15 percent). Obviously, he won't pay the TV license fee: "You don't interrupt an emotion" for trivial money reasons, when you enjoy a moment of relaxation in the tax-free apartment ''.
In short, Italians are promised that they will be able to study for free (teachers who will be able to do as they please, because the law on good schools will also be abolished), that they will be able to live without working and retire not caring about paying contributions. And if they are so stubborn in wanting to work, they will be stabilized Ope laws and they can no longer be fired. Ah! I forgot. The national anthem will also be changed (Giorgia Meloni permitting). Instead of the Hymn of Mameli (which only the good soul Carlo Azeglio Ciampi liked, but which isn't exactly that much) the song ''L'anno chevenire'' by the legendary Lucio Dalla will be adopted. Thus the Italians will place their hands on their hearts at the words: ''it will be Christmas three times and celebrations all day long''.
That's right: tax cuts, an about-face in the fight against tax evasion and an increase in public spending. Rich prizes and cotillons in the land of milk and honey, in the rediscovered Garden of Eden. And the covers? No problem: it will be enough to print money, perhaps contenting oneself with adding one to internal circulation. I am convinced that people have ''eaten the leaf'' and that they feel offended, made fun of. The parties and movements have been reduced to ''playing the game of three cards'' as they leave the provincial stations. We helplessly and indignantly witness a real euthanasia of politics which, after having been persecuted and injured for years by the media and judicial campaigns, in this electoral round has decided to commit suicide by adhering to that caricature which for years has been sewn upon it by its enemies. In this context, the worried statements of European Commissioner Pierre Moscovici have caused a stir. Someone even considered them inconceivable, inviting him to get his facts about him.
To understand that Moscovici is right, it would be sufficient to use a pantograph in a reductive sense by comparing the story of the European Union to that of a company of people that conducts an economic activity. Let's say that one of the partners, already excessively indebted, is seized by an incurable gambling addiction, starts snorting cocaine, gets drunk every night, invests the common capital in risky derivatives and does whatever else might create difficulties even for the partner work. Furthermore, you threaten not to respect the commitments undertaken as a member of the company. I think the others would have every right to call him to order. Or not? So did European Commissioner Moscovici, who a few days later insisted on making unacceptable statements which – according to the ''patriots of noantri'' – should be rejected. ''My only hope – he said – is that the next government, whatever it may be because Italians vote, is a pro-European government”. In my opinion Moscovici loves us.
PS
The news, in recent days, have hinted that it would be the intention of +Europe (Emma Bonino's list) to nominate Elsa Fornero. This is not confirmed, also because the presentation of the list is not certain, nor is the ex-minister's availability. However, if the conditions were right, I would advise the friends of +Europe to do everything possible to carry out this major political operation. You go into battle with unfurled flags, without fear of being recognized. And Elsa is a flag of reformists.
