That ofIlva of Taranto It is an emblematic story of the now unsustainable state of disarray which Italy's institutional and bureaucratic system has reached. Before even trying to figure out who is right and who is wrong and above all if the controversy between work and health really makes sense, it must be said that by now it is clear that no one is able to do their job: politicians they stay out of trouble and let their files rot on their desks, the bureaucracy writes incomprehensible or unenforceable directives and regulations, the judiciary interprets such laws or regulations according to the personal bias of the individual judge. Mind you, the magistrate should not be asked to take charge of the interests of the workers or of the general interests of the country, given that his action must be inspired only by strict compliance with the law. But which law? And played by whom? From this point of view it seems clear that the expert reports refer to a situation from the past and that instead there is no certainty about current emissions.
But it is certainly not the case to enter into a war between experts. Pollution is a problem even if, according to some, it is not so different from what other large cities in the North suffer from who do not enjoy the sea breeze like Taranto. Furthermore, the damage to people is recorded in the districts closest to the factory, many of which have arisen in recent decades: do the municipal administrators have anything to reproach themselves for?
The main problem is this now unbearable replacement by the Judiciary for any ordinary management of public life. And the fact that we live in a complex society full of conflicts that are not easily resolved does not justify the incapacity of our institutions to act at all levels. What has the Puglia region, administered by that preacher of good feelings called Vendola, done in recent years? This affair is primarily his failure, given that health and the environment depend on him. And even if there were responsibilities and delays that were not his, as there undoubtedly are, because the Governor who often poses as a popular leader did not chain himself to the gates of Ilva until obtaining from the owners of the company and the Government of Rome investments necessary to make the factory safe from an environmental point of view and safeguard the work of twelve thousand workers?
From a purely economic point of view the eventual closure of the Taranto steelworks would represent a very hard blow not only for the Riva company, but for the entire national economy. We don't have energy, we don't have chemistry, we are losing the car, fundamental sectors for a country that wants to remain industrial. Now we also want to lose the steel industry, thus increasing imports which we would then have to pay for in some way. For energy and chemistry, part of the responsibility for our weakness can be assigned to a misunderstood environmentalist sense that has blocked research, regasification plants, nuclear power, chemical plants of all types. Cases like Seveso and Eternit have deeply marked the mentality of Italians. And this is not because they dream of the purity of the pristine countryside, but simply because they do not trust the ability of our administrators and our bureaucrats to enforce the laws in force, even if, as we all know, these are imperfect laws destined to change with the advancement of technology. It is a general distrust that is also fed by a superficial culture which, for example, confuses corporate profit with the competitiveness necessary to resist international competition.
The road we will have to take to make our country competitive on average is still very long. And we will have to go through a change of mentality. For example, we will have to stop expecting everything from the state, solving the Ilva case with a nice layoff for life for all workers, as claimed by Fiom and some of the usual commentators of the external left. But the tangle of our problems cannot be resolved unless we start with a profound change in politics and a review of our institutions which are redundant and at the same time inefficient.
