Remember A Martian in Rome, Ennio Flaiano’s 1954 short story and play? A narrative metaphor that served to highlight the ephemeral society of the time. We will borrow from it, we are certainly not the first, the principle. If a Martian landed in Italy today and read the front pages of last weekend’s newspapers, well, a few questions about how justice and democracy work in this Italic patch of Earthlings would ask themselves.
First news. The Palermo Public Prosecutor’s Office is appealing to the Court of Cassation (skipping the second instance) to challenge the first-degree acquittal of Matteo Salvini, now the government’s deputy prime minister and head of Transport, at the time decision-maker interior minister in the first Conte government, in the Open Arms affair. In 2019 Salvini did not land an NGO loaded with migrants but was acquitted because Italy was not considered by judges to be the first safe haven. The appeal caused a stir and sparked controversy. It goes knocking at the Supreme to raise a question of legal method and not merit, but much of the political world, especially the center-right, is insurgent. Justice Minister Nordio wants to challenge (not now) the appeals and Prime Minister Meloni speaks openly of judicial overkill against Salvini. The 30-year Italian justice-politics controversy is on the verge of exploding again, however, Tajani, foreign minister, is there to throw water on the fire: no clash, also because Forza Italia has to bring home the justice reform and in a climate of clash the reform is not brought home.
The Martian’s second day on Italic soil: Chaos in Milan, Mayor Sala and his junta are in danger of falling into the scandal over the urban planning plan that once again involves contractors, middle officials and politicians. Corruption, falsified tenders, favors, it will be seen, the investigation will have to prove. The shock is strong in the country and it is also cultural. If Milan is the economic capital, the city of doing, of development, of projects, of the modern vision of construction and spaces, and if all this is a sick system, if – we repeat -, then what are we left with?
Who knows what our alien will think, will he want to take a tour of the rest of the country or will he take refuge in his spaceship? If we replace the alien with you, dear Italian friends who live in America and think of Italy, and you dear Italic friends who by now don’t even speak Italian anymore but are Italian in heart and mind, what happens? Astonishment? Anguish? A little anger? Until the next installments …which will not be missed.
The article An Italian Martian comes from TheNewyorker.
