De Bortoli: "We will save ourselves" if we rebel against the national-populist drift

We cannot surrender to the obscurantism brought about by the national-populists who are now in government in Italy but who are very present in much of the western world. Ferruccio de Bortoli with his new book, "We will save ourselves" (Garzanti publisher)launches an appeal to responsible citizens, those who work, study, engage in companies to produce and export, so that they do not give in to indifference, do not seek refuge in the private sphere, but make their voices heard to counter the exaltation of ignorance brought about by a rabid populism that passes off a return many decades back as change. 

There is still a healthy "common sense" which is the property of a large majority of the population, only that, as Manzoni said, it hides fearfully in the face of the overflowing affirmation of "common sense". A cultural regression that is recorded in many western countries, which starts from the defects of our democracy and from the mistakes of our ruling classes, but which ends up challenging any form of knowledge. Tom Nichols, in his book "Knowledge and its enemies" illustrates what is happening in the United States which can be summed up in this chilling statement of his: "We live in an age in which disinformation drives away knowledge". And Nichols' description for the USA is true word for word for Italy. 

In his book de Bortoli, without adopting a gladiatorial tone, launches precise accusations against the theses put forward by the populists and the new nationalists. The traditional frailties of our country are not even taken into consideration by the new rulers on the contrary, they exalt all our old and recent fears. If we have a problem with progress that we consider too risky, the response that comes from the Government is that we will stand still, without considering that standing still has always been much more risky than moving forward. We are crushed by an enormous public debt for which every year we have to pay interest equal to 3,7% of GDP higher than what we spend on school and university.

A country that spends more to finance the past than it invests in the future faces a doomed destiny – observes de Bortoli disconsolately -. Nothing is being done to seriously address the problem of tax evasion, and indeed the yellow-greens show themselves to be more attentive to all corporate issues than any government in the past. Our fellow citizens appear more and more prisoners of prejudices, are vicious and proud of their ignorance, ready to follow pipers who promise easy solutions to our problems in all fields from economics to health. By now we only inform ourselves on social networks where, however, we cannot distinguish the truth from the lies. We distrust any mediation, starting with journalism, but in doing so we find ourselves without any point of support to try to understand and judge the world around us.

All of this has happened also due to the mistakes of the ruling classes. De Bortoli recalls that in Romiti's office at Fiat a sign was proudly displayed: "Example is the highest form of authority". But how many have really followed this teaching? What examples have tax evaders given to the population, those who send their children to study abroad or who transfer their tax residence to more welcoming countries? Of course, the faults also lie with those who have unleashed a constant ideological campaign against business and the free market. However, our elites have often withdrawn from the cultural and political battle and have preferred to find some comfortable refuge from which to perhaps continue to pontificate on the fate of our country. Even intellectuals are not free from cowardice and blunders. De Bortoli quotes those who wrote in Il Corriere della Sera in 1938 two giants of journalism such as Paolo Monelli and Emilio Cecchi in defense of the racist policies of the regime. In short I have a family and an ancient one is a serious defect of the Italians. 

How can we save ourselves? De Bortoli is not pessimistic. He sees many values ​​in our fellow citizens on which to build a possible restart. In the first place we will have to rediscover the value of study and experience. And together we will have to know and value our past to better understand who we are and how we got here. Of course not all the past is good and not all personal experiences are good. However, faced with the primacy of the value of ignorance considered a guarantee of purity, perhaps it would be better to rely on the wisdom of the "grandparents" who may have learned from their mistakes and can offer a truly disinterested service to the community. 

In summarizing for the readers the long list of deranged ideas that have invaded us, de Bortoli does not give up dealing deadly blows to populists and sovereignists. On Salvini, for example, the book limits itself to reporting a few passages from the interviews of the period in which our "Captain" was from the Po valley and where he insulted the Italian flag, the southerners, and wanted the secession of the North. There are no explicit comments, but it is understood that the worst of everything can be expected from an individual who changes his mind so casually! In the end we must recover the sense of individual responsibility as many have done in the past in the dark times of racial persecution and as many continue to do today in voluntary work. We also have a reservoir of energy that we don't know how to exploit: that of women who are as committed as and more than men in study and work which we still find it hard to fully appreciate. 

Ultimately our salvation will come if we know how to overcome our ancient defect which is to take care only of private areas (up to the threshold of the house) and much less public ones (cleaning the sidewalk in front of the door). We must focus on responsible citizens who understand that there can be no private salvation without a well-functioning public society.