Neither docile nor resigned. Economic reasons why Italians avoid ‘social unrest’

It is already known that Italians often spend their time extolling—often for no good reason—the achievements of others (once France or Germany, now Spain). The chorus of commentators who have, for some time now, been wondering why on earth Italy does not set fire to rubbish bins or beat up headteachers as in France, does not occupy public squares or spend its time clashing with the police as in Spain, cannot fail to strike one as remarkable. It is particularly striking, in particular, the contemptuous judgement that many of these commentators direct at Italians: ‘docile’ (people who readily submit to the will of those charged with guiding them, according to the Treccani dictionary), ‘resigned’ (people who accept, without reacting, rebelling or protesting, impositions, serious sacrifices and losses, pain or harm and misfortune), ‘submissive’ (people who willingly submit, without opposition or resistance, to the will or opinion of others).

It is certainly true that some things are not going as we would all like. External inflationary pressures threaten to spread throughout the economy and thus, directly and indirectly, erode households’ purchasing power. More so, and for longer, than has already been the case. Waiting lists in the healthcare system are a reality. In some major urban centres, the issue of adequate housing supply cannot be ignored. But it is equally true that the (median) disposable income of households has grown, in real terms, by around 1.5 per cent between 2019 and 2024 for households whose main source of income is employment. And by almost 1 per cent when looking at the average income across all households. In other words, the pre-pandemic figure for 2019 has been reached and exceeded (although not yet the pre-global financial crisis figure from 2008). It is reasonable to assume that quite a few households have seen the emergence of a second source of income (even if temporary or part-time), in addition to their main one. This is particularly significant because the presence of a second earner is often the best form of protection for households that would otherwise be economically vulnerable. It is therefore perhaps no coincidence that the risk of poverty has fallen significantly in recent years.

To be clear: the country still has a number of issues to tackle. And rather serious ones at that. But is it really so hard to see how many Italians might appreciate the relative stability of recent years? In a global context that could not be more turbulent, and having experienced, over the last two decades and across the world, a global financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis, the pandemic emergency, the return of wars, energy shocks and inflation. And, in Italy, the regulatory back-and-forth at the turn of the century, the daily fragility of the first half of the 2010s, the vacuum of the three months following the 2018 elections, the rollercoaster ride of summer 2019, the sense of helplessness in the early months of 2020, and the political manoeuvring we’ve already endured in 2021. Is this docility? Or rather, at last, a state of relative calm (to the extent that the world around us allows it)? Resignation? Or simply a readiness to express their views on the state of affairs when the time comes to cast their vote? Neither before nor after, because – commentators permitting – there is also work to be done.

There are those, evidently, who do not see it that way. One of the opposition leaders recently promised – or threatened, one might say – to make a clean sweep should the opposition find itself in the majority after the forthcoming elections. To turn the country inside out (as was the fashion some time ago). While he was making this promise, it was impossible not to wonder whether anyone had informed him that, two years on, all that remains of the social uprising evoked—indeed, called for—two years ago by a trade union leader is the image of a distorted and resentful face.