Dear Aldo,
My judgment of the great political powers that arose after the First Republic was very critical. I only doubt whether the crisis our country has fallen into over the past few decades is a cause or a consequence of the consent of these parties. The Lega Nord, which first waved independence, then federalism and autonomy, has multiplied the places and costs of politics and those dependent on it in the various public and local bodies. Berlusconi’s push has heralded the season of populism, which ignores spending restraints to please voters and win support. On top of the failure of this came the whimsicalism of anti-politics and the disastrous concept of a worth one. Unfortunately for us, and even more so for our children, the confrontation between these political forces, their leaders and staff, and those of the political formations that shaped the First Republic is relentless.
Fabio Rampoldi
Dear Fabio,
There is no doubt that our country has been in decline for at least thirty years. At the time of the Craxi government, we announced the UK’s overhaul: we were the fifth largest economy in the world, behind France. Today, Great Britain is clearly ahead of us in the World Bank rankings, India has also overtaken us, and so has China, of course, while Germany’s gross domestic product is more than twice that of Italy. Other statistics are more generous to our country because they give greater weight to blacks, that is, blacks. But apart from capital of criminal origin, the wealth produced without paying taxes and duties does not contribute to the civil and social development of the country; it remains private wealth, often safe in tax havens. The reason for this decline has yet to be understood. Of course, a country that has more dogs than children and (in some regions) more retirees than workers doesn’t have much of a future; you don’t have to be a great economist to understand this. But not just a matter of demographics or desire to work. Thirty years ago, the two pillars on which First Republic Italy had built its development model collapsed: generous public spending and a weak currency, with competitive devaluations that boosted Made in Italy and exports. But today the problem is not money, because we cannot spend European funds, and not even exports, which are fine, sometimes very good. The question is competitiveness, innovation, infrastructure, schooling and university education, the difficulty of small companies to merge and give themselves the scale to allow the necessary investment in technology and human resources. And, you remember, the choice of the ruling class. Without regretting the republic of parties.
TODAY’S OTHER LETTERS
Story
We say no to the 9-storey building in the center of Cervinia
We are concerned about the future of Cervinia. We are referring to the The Stone project, the huge building that is expected to be built in a very short time in place of the historic and central Hotel Fosson. A nine-storey skyscraper, 30 meters high (picture of the day). A colossus of concrete, inappropriately located in the city’s epicenter, destined to cut off air and light in half of Cervinia. Incomprehensibly, the necessary approvals from the Valle d’Aosta Region (Landscape Commission), the Superintendence of Fine Arts and the Municipal Building Commission have already arrived and verification of these aspects by various law firms consulted by neighboring condominiums is ongoing. However, the mayor’s signature is missing to finally give the green light for the construction of The Stone. We know that Cervinia’s future will develop vertically to meet the demand of international tourists chasing the last snow. But we, residents and lovers of Breuil and its history, don’t want it to become the Dubai of the Alps, but rather to look more and more like nearby Zermatt, which will be opened up by a new cable car later this year. And it’s not just this skyscraper: the whole country is alarmed by the rumors that the legendary Hostellerie Des Guides is about to be demolished and another skyscraper to take its place. But the Hostellerie Des Guides, commissioned by Cavalier Guido Monzino to celebrate mountaineering expeditions that had a worldwide resonance at the time, is a true Cervinia icon. We hope that thousands of people will sign this appeal letter.
Alberto Bertani
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