In a society founded on many rights and few duties, the exercise of the right to vote attracts fewer and fewer people. The percentage of those who do not go to the polling stations is constantly increasing. Many argue that not voting is also a right. Anyone who doesn't express his political preference does so because he believes that it is now in modern societies the national state counts less and less, that the Government cannot influence its own life too much, and that therefore the parties are only consortia of power but that then they can only follow a path traced by market forces, or by supranational institutions. Others believe that the political offer is unattractive, and therefore abstain in protest and waiting for the birth of a party closer to their tastes.
The duty to vote
But voting is not only a right it is also a duty. By exercising it, citizens demonstrate that they take into consideration the context of the society in which they live, that they value the importance of belonging to a community, testifying to their willingness to participate in the construction of its institutions and policies. In this sense, the right cannot be separated from the duty. It's kind of like work. All cite the art. 1 of the Constitution, which affirms that we are a Republic founded on work, deducing from this that the State must therefore ensure work for everyone. Few also consider the other side of the coin, namely that citizens have a duty to find a job to contribute to the building up of the Republic.
Politics affect our lives
Furthermore, the belief that politics cannot influence our lives that much is completely wrong. We are used to evaluating the policy on the basis of the acquisition of large or small immediate benefits. We aim to have the recommendation for a job in the public sector, or an early pension, or basic income. There are instead policy-induced fundamental changes which drag the whole society up or down, and therefore they also determine our individual destinies.
The case of Russia…
A book published some time ago by a Russian journalist who has also worked in the West, Masha Gessen, entitled "The future is history", describes the events of the last thirty-five years of Russia through the lives of various people, from the crisis of communism with Gorbachev to the accession of Putin. With the fall of the Soviet Union, the breath of freedom soon became a burden for the Russians. People asked for certainties, those that communism gave in its bureaucratic rigidity. People wanted to have a clear sense of who he was, and in which country he should live. The conformism of the USSR was a comfortable refuge. The depression of the Soviet era had turned into fear of the future, one no longer knew what to do and what one's role in society was. Putin offered the security of a restored and present state. And this happened through the war in Chechnya. He appealed to the tradition of Great Mother Russia and the Patriotic War to give values on which society could coagulate. In exchange, he asked for the renunciation of freedom, which the majority of Russians gladly granted, also because he did not know what to do with freedom. But then nationalist exasperation led to war in Ukraine (thousands of dead soldiers), to the country's isolation not only from the West, but also from other Asian countries, to sanctions which will certainly increase the poverty of the poor classes. And maybe some Russians are starting to wake up.
…and the diversity of Italy
Italy is different from Russia. But do we want to give up our right to vote and that is to conscious participation in the fate of the country, out of spite or because we are satisfied with a small tip? At a time like this, all citizens should have concerns about what is happening in the world. But that's exactly why they should work to strengthen democratic institutions which in the end are our real guarantee against the delusion of omnipotence of the autocrats who surround themselves with a court of yesmen.
Difficulties in getting information
But to go and vote you need a minimum of awareness of what is at stake. You have to find out what they are the real intentions of those contending for the Government. In this the role of truly free and professional information would be decisive. On the one hand, the affirmation of the social it has created an environment increasingly prone to extremism, as well as the greater diffusion of false or manipulated news. As an American journalist said at the dawn of social media, "they are giving new respectability to uninformed opinion". The TV with his Talks, and then also the newspapers, for what little remains of the glorious printed paper.
The (poor) credibility of politics
Citizens find it difficult to get informed. There are no reliable reference points. There credibility of the ruling class is low somewhat throughout the West, and particularly in Italy. And yet there are clear signs of the true nature of the political forces that ask for the citizens' vote. You just need a little common sense to catch them. Melons, for example, thinks that much of the rest of the world is plotting against Italy, and when he tells them that "the free ride is over" he expresses a deep feeling and not just a superficial and vulgar joke. Salvini who admits that he was blatantly wrong about Putin demonstrates at least that he does not have the foresight necessary for a politician to whom the people entrust the task of keeping him safe from the most serious dangers that can come from abroad or from within. The Pd he doesn't quite know what he wants and oscillates between an agreement with the 5 Stars and a pro-European and reformist position.
Since the fall of the first republic, our political landscape has undergone strong shocks. First Berlusconi, then it was Grillo's turn, then again it was Salvini's turn to be at the top of 33-34% of the votes. Is it possible that now we will also have to face the unknown Meloni? We like to be reckless! We had Draghi who did what he could and above all covered our backs on the foreign front. He made Italy count both in the White House and in Brussels. In such difficult situations it was in everyone's interest to keep him still in Palazzo Chigi. You can still try. Let's try!
