I certainly don’t envy those who have the job of running a “European” electoral campaign, for two reasons: one generic and one specific. The generic one: whatever opinion “construens” there is in the actual political climate, is decidedly disadvantageous with respect to whatever opinion “deconstruens” there is. Say something that you like about it the EU and you will be regarded with great diffidence, whereas if you shout into the microphone what disgusts you will find an applauding public (in today’s Italy, for instance, rancor is the indisputable motor of political consensus).
The specific reason: the European idea, in so far as self-promotion, is catastrophic. It isn’t any longer capable of evoking even the faintest ideal, the faintest ethical-political reason (in the first place, fraternity among peoples); and of the enormous emotion that just a half century ago the concept of a “united Europe” was able to arouse, not even a shadow remains. The moment European Union is spoken, immediately cold bureaucracy comes to mind, fiscal responsibility, multinational corporate ham-actors who explain what you have to do but never have ears to listen: in short a political disaster that’s impossible to hide and super hard to stomach. For this reason many Euros vote “European” only because of the no small conquest that has endured over the last 70 years of a pax europea, but without a smidgen of pleasure.
Apropos the following letter I read in yesterday’s la Repubblica summarizes nicely what was just said (and perhaps might even present an anecdote to the current discussion in the US Politics thread):
Courteous Dr. Augias, he that writes you is an old age pensioner, a double red flag in the Italy of 2014. I have to say that I don’t like this Europe. It’s not the one of which many, including myself, had once dreamed. The Europe of Schuman, of Adenauer, of De Gasperi, of Spinelli was a dream, an island of liberty and civilization that should have been a light of civility, not in the Eurocentric and colonialist senses that were historically past their expiration dates and led to the catastrophes they did, but in the real and concrete version of liberty founded upon social justice and fraternity. What remains of all of this? Banks, debt and money, lots of money in a few pockets and certainly not in the pensions of people like myself, for whom 47 years of contributions have only germinated fruit that’s collected by the markets. But that’s another story. If Europe doesn’t become a real subject, rather than the object of the banks’ firing sight, etc., it will continue to lose its appeal among the people and thus a great dream gets reduced to shredded paper, to mountains of useless bureaucracy, which furthermore is what has become of the majority of EU activity. Very soon in May we will see what the citizens want: i.e. not this elephantine bureaucratic ship, but, I repeat, something civilized in a manner that the lessons of 3000 years of history have taught.
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram