By Walter Veltroni – Corriere della Sera – translated by Alessio Colonnelli –
Faced with the emergency, Italians have implemented safety measures in their shops and come up with a thousand ways to keep the economy alive. They proved resilient, and rooted in both land and work. This sense of responsibility must be matched by the speed and transparency of democracy.
The Japanese call Ijirashii that feeling – according to Tiffany Watt Smith’s definition – you feel “in front of the immense strength of mind shown by those who, at first glance, apparently seemed fragile and vulnerable.” Our language, so rich and beautiful, often struggles to synthesize a feeling in a single word. But Ijirashii would be exactly the right way to define the overall reaction of Italians to these hellish months; and also to assess whether their approach – as it seems to be – to the famous phase 2 is just as responsible.
Yet we don’t just look fragile and vulnerable – we actually are. In a few weeks, a virus with a thousand heads swept away almost thirty thousand of us, and brutally snatched the elderly from their families. We saw, in a timelapse of horror, our doctors crying, the bodies of the dead dumped on military trucks, without the comfort of a funeral. We have seen schools and meeting places close, we have measured the silence of the cities, we have been separated from our “loved ones”, our businesses have lost money and competitiveness, our people have no longer worked and do not know if they will ever be able to.
This is a tragedy that could have been followed by a thousand forms of disobedience. Instead, the Italians, all too often described as sly and cynical, always ready to circumvent rules and laws, have proved to be wiser than many others so far. They have not taken up arms against lockdown as in the US, they have not taken to the streets without rules and masks as in many European countries. They have observed, apart from isolated and regrettable exceptions, the confused indications that were given to them and waited. They did so by implementing safety measures in their shops, inventing a thousand forms to keep work and the economy going, studying and teaching as before; by helping children fight the fear of the monster. We have been resilient so far. Strong people, rooted in land and work.
However, now comes the most difficult time for everyone. For citizens, first and foremost, who mustn’t think that the emergency is over and will have to keep up their sense of responsibility. Everyone’s goal is to avoid a major new lockdown. But also for the institutions. The time for announcements is over. Like the April decrees introduced in May. The responsibility shown so far by Italians must be matched by the strength, speed and transparency of democracy. Let’s always remind ourselves that when there is no work, freedom falters. Italians, every single one of them, now expect from each of the political and institutional bodies, from government and opposition, the certainty – i.e. guaranteed work and functioning services – and the sobriety, seriousness and courage to radically innovate, all very much needed in the greatest Italian crisis since the post-war period.
(By Walter Veltroni, a writer, film director, journalist and former mayor of Rome; published by Corriere della Sera under the headline “Nel dramma del virus gli italiani si sono dimostrati un popolo fiero” on 5 May 2020. Translated by Alessio Colonnelli.)
Read more:
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• IUS SOLI: ITALY’S OPPORTUNITY TO HARNESS MUCH-NEEDED TALENT
• SHARED HISTORIES: AUSTRIA’S INTEREST IN ITALY IS STILL VERY MUCH ALIVE
• ITALY’S BIRTH-RATE IS COLLAPSING
• THE VACCINE PORTUGAL DISCOVERED WHICH ITALY DOESN’T KNOW ABOUT
Alessio Colonnelli 