FIFTH COLUMN
Of Marcello Veneziani

Source: Marcello Veneziani
Cara Lilli Gruber, but how can Italians trust you if you write about itSet a comment with a title like that: “All populists lie. They are dangerous and opportunistic"? And the title faithfully responds to the development. He knows he's offending three-quarters of his viewers?
Like the 60% I feel like one of the Italians right now, with all the critical reservations that I do not hide, more on the side of the populists than their enemies. And I'm not just offended by his definition, how hurt by Italian, as a journalist and free thinker. I would never use a statement like that even for the worst enemies; I would distinguish, I wouldn't feel in possession of the truth. I don't bet on the success of this government, I say it every day. And it surprises me that the one attacking in that way is the one who was generous with the Grillini and their sponsors, to the point that often – even the other day with the embarrassing, rambling, Dibba's rant – gave the impression of being Grilli Uber. I don't hold the inconsistency against you, they are his business, I know that grillini are fine for her if they hang to the left, if instead they ally themselves with Salvini they become bad. There are people who still divide humanity into fascists and anti-fascists, and reality is lost, the present, the world, 70 years of history, communism even.
Through her, actually, I take it out on the media, the Press and TV which are offering a disgusting and desolating spectacle: the Italians on one side and them united on the side of the establishment. I wouldn't have expected the opposite but at least a variety of positions and the ability to distinguish and analyze; someone equidistant, someone else who understands people's reasons, someone who recognizes pieces of truth in the opponent. No, Nothing, a Chinese army, monolithic, monotonous. Like in war.
I hear a lot of moderate people saying: I read the Corriere della Sera (or other national newspapers that I no longer call big newspapers like I used to, because the expression is now overused) but now it has become unbearable, biased, one way, Never read a different opinion, like the rest of the news. It just is, I don't take it anymore. I'm not happy when I hear that people don't read newspapers anymore, he doesn't buy them, even those who ignore those who hold truly different ideas. Every reader who leaves is still a loss, a defeat. A step back. But when I read the Corriere della Repubblica, omnibus header that summarizes them all, or tg123 plus private branches, who always repeat the same thing, I understand the popular discomfort and I share it. “The defeat of the populists”, the Corrierone triumphantly headlines and looks like a party organ, “The pride of Europe” echoes the official organ, the Republic. And in between services, comments, vignette, all in one direction. I wouldn't want the opposite. I would have liked to read newspapers aligned against the populists, others independent and non-partisan, which represent the different interpretations in the field. Just as in the public service I would have expected news programs that were favorable and those against, not unison, like in Renzi's time. But the ditch is now enormous: on one side the people and on the other the regime, excess power over the government in office. From Mattarella down, a Salvation Army with an ever-shrinking consensus, that shoots compactly. Something's wrong, and I won't say that the blame lies entirely on one side, God forbid.
Populism is not the disease of democracy but the answer, perhaps inadequate, to sick democracy. It is not the cause of the discomfort but the effect; and the malaise was not generated by populism but by those who have been in charge in recent years, perhaps with the complicity of the masses. I distinguish the impracticable and absurd drift of direct democracy, the Grillina utopia, unrealizable and dangerous to the self-government of the people, from sovereignism which is instead the sacrosanct request to restore dignity and sovereignty to the people - as the Constitution also requires- to the Nation and the State. Then we can criticize the methods, some contents, certain languages, the reliability of its interpreters, the simplifications, the fallacious belief that an adequate elite is not needed between the people and the leader...
I am worried about the divorce between the European Union and real Europe, the Europe of the peoples, of nations, of states that want to remain sovereign. I am concerned that those who defend borders as a sign of civilization are considered criminals and racists. It is right that we are divided on the subject of reception and borders, but it is unfair to reduce one of the two positions to criminal madness. And not only is it unfair, but strengthens the Enemy. And it not only strengthens him but pushes him to give his worst. Because when they consider you the absolute evil to be eradicated, then you adapt and react accordingly, until you resemble the barbarian as they paint you. A bad drift. And it worries me to see the mobilization of the powers against social media, which are now the only outlet and expression valve, which is not possible in the media controlled from above. With the excuse of fake news they want to impose prefabricated opinions and repress any discrepancy compared to the unreal gruel administered by them.
That said, an admission: there are some newspapers, maybe small, who instead give voice to differing opinions; why don't they break through, niches remain? And, they will have limited means, publishers on the margins of the cliques of power, no supports and many hassles for those who expose themselves. But why don't they break through by popular acclaim, since the people think the way they write? They are poorly made or else, as I fear, the people of the web are allergic to reading, he just wants to rant, he doesn't want to delve into opinions but just wants to transform his bad mood into a sanction and a verdict and wants to judge everything and everyone without knowledge of the facts? About this, I agree, we should reflect. But ask questions, having a critical sense is one thing, make such foolish statements as those quoted, expressed with the same peremptoriness as the last Renzi and the last left, it means having only its worst side in common with populism, the indiscriminate insult, the invective against those who don't think like you. Think about it, Jacobin. And think about it too, Lilli Gruber, left-wing Tyrolean cricket.