Italy. Petrol at 1.8 euros (last year it was under 1.4 euros). Two sandwiches with two Coca Cola 20 euros at an AutoGrill on the Autostrada. All much more expensive than last year. All houses with gas (expected concern about winter). The provincial towns (e.g. Lucca, Barga, Pietra Santa ) beautiful, but visibly aged and neglected (unpainted buildings, fallen plaster etc). Lots of bars on windows... Young people are leaving the countryside. The big cities are dolls, but punctuality is scary and unemployment is rising.
Italians refer to politicians derogatorily («Politici», they say with obvious distaste). Trade unions have diminished influence in a country where they once dominated and imposed policies. In cities where the PCI (Italian Communist Party) was once the dominant force, you get the feeling that they are not interested in politics. Political debates in a country with Italy's democratic tradition, with outspoken Italians, ten days before the elections, are few and far between! The posters too. You feel a silent anger for those who brought Italy to this situation. You read the polls that put the far-right Meloni as the first and likely prime minister and wonder, «what went wrong?»;
I certainly don't live in Italy (but I am a lover of the country and visit it whenever I can), certainly my conversations with Italian friends are not enough to fully explain the phenomenon, certainly everything I read leaves gaps. But the feeling is clear: Italians want to punish the political staff that got them into this situation. This includes all the parties that have participated in governments over the last decades. Italy's social references and democratic institutions (the ones that defined social consciousness in the past) have now atrophied. So has progressive culture (the intellectuals of the left who «stirred the waters» are missing). The «hate speech» also prevails here and is the great weapon of the far right. So «immigrants, politicians, trade unionists, international Zionism, LGBTI people, the European Union, bankers, businessmen», etc. are to blame.
Hate speech mixes common truths (e.g. about the responsibilities of the EU and the banks) with racist and Nazi lies. But these lies fall on a «thirsty political ground» that is looking for those responsible. That's how easily they grow. They also lack resistance. The traditional political parties (and the left among them) seem to no longer inspire, there is a sense of «assimilation» by the system and so the (supposedly) anti-systemic discourse is limited to the far right.
It is certainly easy from the comfort of a tourist to criticise those who are fighting for their future and their country. But what is happening in Italy (like what is happening in Sweden, Hungary, Poland, etc.) concerns us all. Conclusions must be drawn before we are visited by the «Greek Meloni-Orban-Putin etc».
Personally, I particularly appreciate the Italians, their love of life and art and their deep education. They will find their way, they don't need any suggestions from us, they themselves have already figured out what they did wrong.
What is certain is that we in Greece should understand what is happening around us and next to us, so that we don't suffer the same...
