Letters
Letters to the editor •
But what coalition? The broad coalition is ashamed of its leaders
Who wrote to the editor, Claudio Cerasa
26 AUG 26
Translated by AI
Photo: Ansa
To the Editor – The change of heart amongst former ‘woke’ activists revives a mechanism already seen on the Italian left: attributing the crisis to the ‘excesses’ of deviant minorities in order to save the original core of the ‘woke’ movement’s doctrine. It is the same logic adopted for the ‘comrades who go astray’, with which, in the 1970s and 1980s, intellectuals and political scientists on the extreme left sought to isolate the violence of the Red terrorists without questioning the political and cultural roots that had made it possible. Today, extremist wokism is dismissed as an identity-based deviation, but the crisis affects the entire system: a conception of politics that has abdicated decision-making, replacing the hierarchy of priorities with the proliferation of absolute rights. Politics has become a mechanism for moralistic recognition, not for governance. The current wave of repentance is tactical: it does not address the crucial issue, namely how to prioritise plural and often conflicting rights. Without this answer, ‘post-wokism’ is a void, just as anti-terrorist moralism was, incapable of rebuilding a political culture. This is where the task of the reformist left lies: to reaffirm the primacy of politics as an organising principle. Not a sum of rights, but their governability; the capacity to choose, to set priorities, to define which rights take precedence and with what resources. Only a left that reclaims this responsibility can prevent the void of post-wokism from being filled by new radical right-wing movements. The challenge is to construct a ‘grammar of decision-making’ that holds together individual emancipation and social justice: it is not enough to say that rights must coexist; we must specify how, in what order, and in the name of what vision of society.
Alberto Bianchi
To the Editor – There is an urgent need to compile a list of all the occasions on which the most prestigious anti-Mafia public prosecutors have sounded the alarm regarding the risk – or rather, the certainty, in their view – that a bill in the process of being passed would have allowed dozens, if not hundreds, of those convicted of Mafia-related offences to be released from prison. The most recent cry of desperation has targeted the provision allowing alcoholics and drug addicts to serve their sentences in community care or under house arrest. Naturally, this time too, just as in the past, no convicted Mafia member will be released from prison as a result of the new law. But one wonders: having got their prediction wrong once, then twice, and then a third time, without realising that their concern was simply misplaced (even though, as we know, the reality is far worse than that), how many more times will they be allowed to raise needless alarms before losing at least a shred of credibility?
Luca Rocca
To the Editor – Roberto Speranza, former Democratic Minister of Health, in an interview with the Corriere on 24 August, rejected the idea of primary elections (“it would be a spectacular own goal”) and, as an alternative, proposed putting a symbolic name on the ballot paper “such as a newly turned 18-year-old or an elderly partisan” (sic!)... Even in politics, hope is the last to die.
Valerio Gironi
A coalition that is afraid to consider its potential leader is a coalition that is not only ashamed of its leaders (if you are afraid of the primaries, it is because you think no leader can compete with the rival leader) but is also a coalition that is ashamed of being regarded as such. When it comes to leadership, the broad coalition is hopeless.
To the Editor – Giuseppe Conte, or whoever acts on his behalf, must be credited with a certain political acumen. He was quick to capitalise on the American left’s – albeit arduous – change of course regarding ‘wokism’, an ideological delusion that has resulted in disastrous social conflicts and electoral suicide. And he has, so to speak, taken the wind out of their sails, catching his main ally off guard – an ally who, as is well known, is highly sensitive to the latest offshoot of the culture of political correctness. There is, however, a problem. In January of this year, Stefania Ascari, a Five Star Movement MP and Hamas sympathiser, presented a national education bill to the Chamber of Deputies with the colourful title: “Storie spaziali per Maschi del Futuro”. Its stated mission is the systematic “deconstruction of gender stereotypes” in primary schools. The project also enjoys the support of a PD senator whom I hold in high regard, Filippo Sensi. Should we now expect a change of heart?
Michele Magno