A tree in drought begins to dry from the leaves. When we see it bare it does not necessarily mean that it is already dead. By starting to water it regularly that plant has a good chance of regenerating: the parched earth softens, the trunk breathes and new shoots begin to sprout from the hardened branches. It is the roots that push, that pump sap. Because the roots are persevering, you just have to not forget them.
There is a resilience in Liguria from which to start again to allow the democratic roots of this region to push sap into the vessels of civil society. This is the first task of politics, of the center-right and center-left. Revitalizing injections that must be started now, two months before the vote, without waiting for the ballot boxes. It is a responsibility that cannot be delegated only to those who will be elected. Because democracy is made togetherwho wins and who loses. It is a prerequisite for everything.
The first rule of democratic coexistence is respect. Even in the construction of the political enemy, which – as he claimed Umberto Eco – identifies us for what we are, we need consideration from others. Without it, there is no comparison. And without comparison there is no democracy. In this election campaign at slow motion what has been missing so far is precisely the debate. Discussing the hot topics of the region has become difficult because everything is now simplified beyond belief. The polarization in a Manichean key, either black or white, extinguishes the debate.
The terrain of debate these days is uneven everywhere, as demonstrated at a national level by the debate on Ius scholae. But here, more than anything else, it has been shaken by that narrative, which many have been lulled by, which wants Totian Liguria to have ascended to the Empyrean. Precisely the Dantesque one, where God is surrounded by all the angels.
There with the White Rose, where the souls of Paradise reside («In the form of a white rose / the holy militia / that Christ made a bride in his blood / appeared to me»). To be there you need to have faith and those who do not believe in Paradise can go to Hell. And the debate is closed.
Perhaps it would be better if we all took a reality check and convinced ourselves that we live in a no man’s land. That Liguria is not a circle of hell, nor the Eden of the blessed. And that the model to which Ligurians aspire differs from the one applied up to now for a small, but not trivial, detail. That is, that the well-being produced should be shared and not the prerogative of a few. The lobbying that prevails in the predominant logics may be good for the system of power that benefits from it (and that obviously would like to replicate it) but it cannot satisfy the desires of those who are excluded from that consociativism. It can capture those who are on the margins, deluded into thinking they are alone in the waiting room and that their turn will soon come, but it cannot enchant those who are far from the Palace. Those who experience the effects of poverty and inequality first-hand, those who are frustrated by the inadequacy of public health, those who see themselves penalized in tenders or those who watch helplessly as wealth self-determination.
Those who felt ignored by the division of prosperity gradually took refuge in electoral abstentionism. And bringing back to the polls that 46.58% of Ligurian voters who preferred to stay home in 2020 will be the biggest challenge for those who participate in the competition on October 27 and 28.
To convince them to return to exercise that right to be represented, the coalitions (once the perimeters and candidates have been defined) will have to reassure citizens that the growth to be guaranteed to the territory will be widespread and not concentrated in the hands of a few. They will then have to explain what it really means to do good for the region and illustrate the development plans to be implemented, breaking away from slogans. “We want well-being” is too generic, given that no political opponent will ever take up a battle for malaise. Detailing an intervention program on the territory can generate discussions, perhaps not always calm. But No one should shy away from comparison, which in mature societies is an opportunity for growth and is never a waste of timeas is sometimes made to believe. In these times, the exchange of ideas, even opposing ones, is a blessed exercise of active citizenship, spaces where discussion can take place must be safeguarded. And among these are also newspapers, too often under attack if they don’t comply.
If Liguria has not dried up, and if it will be able to revive its democratic roots by cultivating respect and consequently comparison, then the road out of the increasingly narrow oligarchic tunnel into which it had entered will be less arduous. There is hope.
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