Denied in the war against the virus, freedom and democracy resurrected for the real war. But with what credibility?
Since all the pandemic hammering began, I imagine them lined up as in the iconic cover of Sgt. Pepper's , one of the most famous Beatles albums: some in the front row next to the Fab Four and some more secluded to scan the horizon, some in the place of the dark Edgar Allan Poe and who in place of the more glamorous Tony Curtis, who in place of the revolutionary Karl Marx and who in place of the "minstrel" Bob Dylan, who in place of the beat writer Borroughs and who in place of the angelic Marlene Dietrich . I am obviously talking about the virologists who have occupied the television schedules for several months and now see the limelight go out. In fact, now that "WarNews24" broadcasts continuously from morning to evening, we have passed from one infodemic to another without interruption with an inevitable decrease in attention on the emergency that has kept Italians nailed at home and in front of the television for quite a while. Inevitably, all the characters who crowded the television lounges were replaced by experts on geopolitical issues. The pattern is always the same: thrilling emotionality, burst of sensationalism, exhausting and suffocating debates.
Yet we had become accustomed to the war lexicon. It is enough to report a whole series of statements that already at the time had seemed paroxysmal and now take on almost prophetic tones. Professor Galli himself was one of the first to use the war metaphor in mid-March 2020: " We are at war, we need exceptional solutions ". In fact, the country had recently entered the very hard lockdown imposed by the Conte government but it was not yet understood how long this state of suspension would last and how far the "martial" laws would go. Later in time, it was Marcello Sorgi in La Stampa who prefigured the hypothesis of a military government in the event that the parties had put a spoke in the wheel of Draghi who, in the meantime, had arrived at Palazzo Chigi. But, on the other hand, one of the first acts of the government led by the former head of the ECB was the appointment of General Figliuolo as extraordinary commissioner to replace Arcuri. Thus the Italians have learned to recognize the uniform full of sequins put at the service of the health emergency. We go à la guerre comme à la guerre , as they say. And, then, at that point, one acts accordingly, either by "administering information in less democratic ways" (even less so ?, ed ) as suggested by former Prime Minister Mario Monti or even using criminal law against dodgers as soberly advised by the philosopher Galimberti.
Therefore, the awakening under the bombs was shocking but at least it did not require a change of tones and linguistic registers. However, it is paradoxical that in the meantime words and concepts that seemed banned have been dusted off. There was a sort of belated intellectual resurgence after the pandemic torpor. The armed aggression launched by Putin has revived the values of the Western tradition put in the attic for many months: freedom, rights, democracy. Too bad that, while we are rightly passionate about what is horrifying in Ukraine, we remain inflexible on health regulations. So much so that, faced with the prospect of an elimination of the strict measures still in force, the first to get excited was Galli: " Let's avoid the medical amnesty which would have worse effects than the fiscal one ". To then move directly to the heart of the new problem. His thesis is rather debatable: the reopenings are used by politicians to distract from the real problems with a lot of ear-pulling at the "coarse" Boris Johnson and the "distracted" Mario Draghi. Concept reinforced by Ricciardi who spoke of a "wicked pact" between citizens and His Majesty's government on reopening, as well as British healthcare similar to a "circle of hell".
In fact, it is a bit risky to talk about reopening in Italy, because the green card will not be eliminated at least until the month of June with timid easing to try to save in extremis at least the tourism sector already seriously compromised by these obtuse rules. Even if, before the state of health emergency ceases, the war state has already been proclaimed until December 31st so as to disprove the thought of Galli, as it is evident that by now the exception has become the rule and is used by politics to build itself its own defensive trench.
Therefore, the thesis supported by many according to which those who have contested the health measures, calling them liberticide, should also repent in the face of the Putinian autocracy that is destroying a sovereign country and showing the world what a tyrannical power really is. A reasoning of this type, however, suffers from an excessive approximation. Although the despotism of the Kremlin leader is undeniable (and many have been at least inattentive in the last twenty years), confusing the plans of the discussion does not help in an articulated debate and leads to trivial conclusions. Simplifying: the fact that Putin invades Ukraine does not change the judgment on the Green Pass . Yet, there are those who fervently support this theory such as Aldo Grasso in the Corriere della Sera , who wrote that there would be embarrassment for all the nonsensical expressions used such as "health dictatorship". “ Faced with the tragedy, the dead, the gutted buildings, the totalitarian drift of Putinism, a sense of shame should help us put certain words back in their place” , concludes Grasso.
Well, we could also agree on the gloss but on condition that we review the premises. Perhaps, the misplaced words are the ones that were reviewed earlier in this piece. It is the war references that are completely inappropriate, almost irritating when we find ourselves in front of a real war that can extend to involve the main world powers with results that would be catastrophic. Just as we would have to blush in front of the now famous pass to whose possession are subordinated fundamental rights, even the right to work and pay. Therefore, with all due respect to those who think like Grasso, the right thing to do would be to abolish the green card immediately. And it would be absurd to continue to maintain a coercive and discriminatory tool right now that we are truly involved in a military conflict and are facing a sneaky and dangerous enemy who aims to destroy our founding values.
Now that the pandemic caravanserai has been overshadowed by the gutted buildings of Kiev and silenced by the din of bombs that tear through Ukrainian territory, causing deaths and injuries, the time has come to restore the rule of law and also remove the latest health restriction. Thus, perhaps we will also have greater authority and credibility on the international level to face the warlords.
Unless you want to listen to those who still do not resign themselves to the evidence such as Walter Ricciardi, the aforementioned consultant to Minister Speranza, who in a double Sunday intervention (editorial in Avvenire and interview with the Messenger ) makes it known that he does not only it does not intend to lower the green certification but relaunches the military metaphor in its own way: " It is a question of real wars and neither should be underestimated by those who want to build a just peace ". And, on this heartfelt finale and on the wars that are doubling, Orwell would gloat: the Green Pass is not only synonymous with freedom as we have been taught, but now it is also the hope of peace. Hope as a noun, of course.
The post Denied in the war against the virus, freedom and democracy resurrected for the real war. But with what credibility? appeared first on Atlantico Quotidiano .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Atlantico Quotidiano at the URL https://www.atlanticoquotidiano.it/quotidiano/negate-nella-guerra-al-virus-liberta-e-democrazia-riesumate-per-la-guerra-vera-ma-con-che-credibilita/ on Mon, 07 Mar 2022 03:57:00 +0000.