Politicians From Italy

"The truth is that the third pole has worked on several occasions to break up the alliance between the PD and the M5S in order to increase its position, and the M5S currently believes that going it alone will strengthen its policy choices."

"[...] we believe that it is urgent to introduce a statutory minimum wage into our labour market regulation system. Low-paid work was already a serious scourge before the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy."

"It is good to cut the tax wedge, very good indeed, but cutting the tax wedge, in itself, does not restart a trend dynamic. [...] We have cut the tax wedge on several occasions, but this has not triggered a recovery in wages."

"[...] As economists explain, inflation is a particularly unfair tax, because it affects those who have more and those who have less in the same way and, therefore, hurts those who have less more, a bit like the flat tax, but this inflation, due to its composition, further accentuates this characteristic."

"(About the Democratic Party) We are paying the price for never having seriously addressed the cultural profile of the Renzi era. Renzi has been used as a scapegoat."

"The majority vocation, as conceived by the PD, no longer exists. A radical, post-ideological wing has formed, as well as a liberal wing."

"Are we sure that the appointments of Fontana and La Russa as presidents of the Chambers are stumbling blocks? I don't think so. These choices are linked to the presence of Meloni at the Vox rally, where the star was Polish Prime Minister (Mateusz Morawiecki), and where there were those nostalgic for South American dictatorships and representatives of the far right. Meloni pointed to Poland and the Czech Republic as models."

"Now, if one speaks of the limitations of capitalism, there is always someone who will label you a communist or draw antagonistic conclusions."

"The problem at the moment, in the PD, is not the difference in ideas but the silence of ideas."

"[...] we believe that the decision to introduce a minimum wage is not only a matter of fairness, but also a choice to identify another model of competition for our country, a choice to build an idea of development that is not based on reducing labour costs and tax evasion. This choice is one that can revitalise our economic system."

"Nando dalla Chiesa, Delitto imperfetto. Il generale, la mafia, la società italiana, Melampo, 2007. ISBN 9788889533208"

"I think that the mafia society has shrunk, but the pro-mafia society has expanded, that is, the society that manages to enter into synergy and convergence with the mafia for many reasons. In the North, we have been studying this worrying phenomenon for years."

"Nando dalla Chiesa, A teatro per la gente (pp. 63 – 64); in Andrea Pedrinelli (a cura di), Gaber, Giorgio, il Signor G. Raccontato da intellettuali, amici, artisti, Kowalski, Milano, 2008. ISBN 978-88-7496-754-4"

"Discovering Genoa as it is described in books (and as its inhabitants love to recount it) is an enchanting experience. Firstly, because it restores that minimum of trust in the written word and oral tradition without which you would wander aimlessly in your musings on the universe. Secondly, because Genoa is truly beautiful. You look at it and it shines in its marvelous buildings, at any height above sea level. What's more, it is literally dazzling in its succession of imperial white, ocher, moss green, and reddish brown. From the Old Port to Matitone in the late morning hours, which should be scorching but are not. The streets are not noisy, because the August traffic makes everyone more civilized and carefree. All around and above you is breathtaking architecture of shapes and colors that you can stop and contemplate in ecstasy, without fear that every minute you pause will make your shirt stickier. In short, when it's not raining and there's no “macaia” (I've never understood how to spell it), Genoa is truly the most beautiful seaside city in Italy."

"When my government career came to an end, I received several offers to return to university as an associate professor. I chose Palermo because I consider it a bastion of legality, the place where I can best continue my civic and political commitment. Interviewer: What excites you most about returning? Nandoi dalla Chiesa: The desire to see my beloved places again and smell the scent of salt, jasmine, and orange blossom that I have carried with me. And then there is the sea at Mondello, the elegance of Via Libertà, and the delicious food. I know that many things have changed since my high school and military service days, but many others have remained the same. I will start again from these."

"I believe it would be scientifically very serious if one day we were to write the history of the Mafia as certain left-wing writers have written the history of [[Fascism]: that is, of a handful of criminals who hold in subjection a people who would not want to submit but are forced to do so by terror or a past of resignation."

"(About the choice of Tony Renis as artistic director of the 2004 Sanremo Festival) A country that puts a man who proudly claims his Mafia friendships at the helm of the most important show on the most important public television network, a man who hosts bosses in his home, who has them brought lunch in their security cells when they are arrested, this is a country that sends a devastating message: being friends with the Mafia is not a problem, in fact it can be an advantage. And it is the same country that then puts its mafia victims on stamps and gives medals to orphans and widows."

"(About Giorgio Gaber) He was an uncomfortable realist, he knew how to take stock of reality with the added bonus of wanting to change it, pointing out what he thought wasn't working. And I think this was mainly because he was a man of the theater. Because theater has always been about denunciation, while songs have not historically had the same function."

"My earliest [memories of Palermo] are linked to the barracks on Corso Vittorio Emanuele, now named after my father, Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa. It is the headquarters of the Carabinieri Legion of sicily. At the end of the 1940s, my maternal grandfather was the commander, and I bear his name. Every summer, we would go to visit him. I remember his apartment and the stables. Then, in the late 1960s, I returned to that barracks as a teenager with my father, a Carabinieri colonel."

"(About Giorgio Gaber) Among the various memories I have of him on stage, what stands out is the profound feeling he left me with the first time I heard him shout about being communists, among other things, “because Enrico Berlinguer was a good person.” Another provocation, really, because it implied that ideologies are empty and that other things matter more. He pointed out that we often cling to them when we don't know how to define our identity, while normal things, such as being decent, can be a source of identity for man."

"In 1966, at the age of 17, I was struck by the sympathy that existed towards the Mafia. Even among my classmates at Garibaldi High School: when the boss Gerlando Alberti escaped a Carabinieri raid, many were happy and innocently took his side."

"Ferdinando Imposimato, La repubblica delle stragi impunite, Newton Compton, Roma, 2013. ISBN 978-88-541-5499-5"

"I am not a member of the M5S, but I find the attacks on Grillo exaggerated and unfair. He has denounced the paralysis and impotence of Parliament, which cannot be denied. Parliament, as the body that passes laws for the common good, does not actually exist. This is a bitter reality, not an insult to Parliament. Laura Boldrini should not take offense, she should take note. I would like to know what laws Parliament has passed in its first few months! And what laws it is discussing that affect young people and employment. None! The fake law that sought resources by repealing public funding of political parties is not due to come into force until 2017! Shameful!"

"The murder of Moro was carried out by the Red Brigades, but also and above all at the behest of Giulio Andreotti, Francesco Cossiga and Undersecretary w:it:Nicola Lettieri."

"The KGB was directly involved in the kidnapping of Moro. Cossiga and Andreotti knew where he was being held prisoner, but prevented General Dalla Chiesa from intervening. Falcone and Borsellino? The Gladio and the CIA were involved in those incidents. [...] The CIA was the armed wing of this policy, which sought by all means to eliminate a figure who jeopardized the security of the Western bloc and could cause communists to infiltrate the Italian government. Moreover, the CIA controlled the Italian secret services, as Maletti [former SISDE general] has publicly admitted. The CIA financed them with a budget of $500 million per year. [...] Of course, it also financed Gladio. The CIA even bought the Gladio base in Sardinia [the Capo Marrargiu training center]. [...] Yes, Cossiga and Andreotti knew. There is a document dated March 2, 1978, which I only learned about 25 years later and which I publish in my book as proof. Dalla Chiesa also learned of Moro's place of imprisonment and, from early April, wanted to intervene to free him. When the base in Via Gradoli was burned down, it was done precisely to prevent Dalla Chiesa from intervening. The general was ordered to abandon the camp, then he talked about it with the journalist Mino Pecorelli, who wrote about it. Both knew and both were killed."

"President Napolitano, democracy is majority rule that respects the rights of the opposition, not tyranny of the majority that disregards the opposition, as is currently the case. Among the functions of the President of the Republic provided for in Article 87 of the Constitution, there is no provision for accusing the opposition of sectarianism. I thank the M5S for its fair and responsible opposition and its battles in defense of equal social rights, decent work, law enforcement, the independence of the judiciary, public education, and political ethics."

"The history of massacres originates in the events that took place at the end of the Second World War with the clash between two opposing blocs. [...] Our country, in the Yalta partition, became a kind of American colony, a nation with limited sovereignty due to interference from overseas. [...] New allies gathered around the hegemonic interests of the USA, happy to endorse or implement the strategy of tension in Italy. Alongside the OSS, the CIA, and the secret services, there were Ordine Nuovo, republicans, the Christian Democratic right, Vatican hierarchies, American Freemasonry, the Propaganda 2 lodge, part of the armed forces and the Interior Ministry apparatus, which were sometimes joined by openly criminal organizations such as the Mafia, Camorra, 'ndrangheta and Banda della Magliana."

"(Regarding Antonio Ingroia's political candidacy}} Fairness is the first rule that a magistrate must follow. In the specific case of the former deputy prosecutor of Palermo, with an investigation involving the mafia such as the one he has just left behind, the situation is even more delicate. [...] The Sicilian magistrate's decision not only raises suspicions that the entire operation was merely a ploy to enter politics, but also risks undermining the credibility of the entire team of people who worked with him."

"In reality, I was working with Vittorio Occorsio on several cases of kidnapping for ransom, including the Danesi kidnapping, the Ortolani kidnapping, the Andreuzzi kidnapping, [the kidnapping] Francisci kidnapping, and I remember perfectly well that a few days earlier he had asked me to issue several arrest warrants against the defendants; one of these defendants was a member of the P2 Lodge. He had also identified links between kidnappers, black terrorists, and members of the P2 Lodge, and had expressed his concerns. He had a great deal of experience because he had already investigated part of the trial for the Piazza Fontana massacre. At first, he had been misled, unfortunately by the secret services, but then he had got back on the right track. I also remember that on the morning he was killed, half an hour before the murder, I called him to ask his opinion on a request for provisional release that had been submitted by a defendant who was a member of P2, and he told me that he would express a negative opinion."

"There is a true communist. He wants to leave NATO, he is inspired by Lenin, he promises to expropriate banks and property owners and nationalize everything! Dear Marco Rizzo, you will never get my vote, but better true communists than disguised ones."

"World War III would begin the moment Russian tanks arrived in Kiev and at the borders of Europe. Preventing them from arriving is the only way to stop World War III."

"Today, the Juri Committee decided to defend my immunity and the independence of Parliament, and to reject the request for revocation made by the Hungarian regime. This is an important and positive signal. I am fully confident that Parliament will confirm this decision in the October plenary session, affirming the centrality of the rule of law and democratic guarantees. Defending my immunity does not mean evading justice, but protecting myself from political persecution by the Orbán regime. That is why its protection is essential. The Italian authorities remain free to open proceedings against me, as I myself hope and strongly request."

"I am experiencing this period with great personal difficulty. I am seen as the one who supports weapons, the one who wants war. There is this strange idea that there is a country we don't care about, which is bothering us. That by being at peace, it is forcing us to do things we shouldn't do, that it is that country's fault if inflation rises. That country has been invaded. There is no angel or Devil, we are not passing judgment. No one has anything against the Russian people, there is no war between Italy, Europe, NATO, and the Russian people: there is an international coalition that is helping a country that has been attacked. We must do this, and we are doing it to prevent a crisis that began in a crazy way from exploding."

"Genoa 2001 is often remembered with pain. It was many things, and certainly also a great collective trauma. But beyond the suffering, we must also learn to cherish the memory of the extraordinary strength of that movement. That strange plural creature of the new millennium, which called itself the “movement of movements.” A movement that was ahead of its time. That pointed to the need for an internationalist alternative to capitalist globalization. That built alliances between different worlds, that united peoples beyond nationalism, that reconciled differences. With all its limitations, of course. But with enormous potential for change. We are still everywhere. Carlo lives!"

"The right wing parties does not want to create the conditions and tools that would enable people to overcome their insecurities. On the contrary, it favors dynamics of human, social, and political regression. Therefore, it is important to commit to improving material living conditions and stimulating paths of growth. [...] Solidarity, a courageous and collective force that is truly capable of changing the world, must be the beacon that helps us stay on course."

"It seems to me that we can now say that the exponential increase in migration from the African coast is also, to a considerable extent, part of a clear hybrid warfare strategy that the Wagner Group, mercenaries in the pay of Russia, is implementing, using its considerable influence in some African countries."

"[...] for the post-fascists in government, targeting social realities is no accident: it is a political program, combining ideological revenge with an authoritarian agenda."

"Sometimes, I am truly amazed at how certain newspapers or politicians manage to manipulate narratives to the point of turning them upside down. I don't understand how they can transform people who care for the homeless into squatters who take homes away from others. Housing rights movements deal with public housing, which is left vacant because the system doesn't work."

"I know Hungary from its darkest place: prison. There, I was held in pre-trial detention, in harsh conditions, for 15 months. [...] Under the government of Viktor Orbán, Hungary has become an illiberal and oligarchic regime, an authoritarian ethnic state. Some even call it a “modern tyranny.” What is certain is that the rule of law and media freedom are not guaranteed. Dissent is criminalized and civil society is repressed. While oligarchs loyal to the leader have become wealthy, social and regional inequalities have worsened. Minority rights are systematically violated and racism has become mainstream. [...] This new and dangerous form of fascism represents the authoritarian variant of global capitalism in our times."

"The decision to join the Silk Road was an improvised and ill-advised move by Giuseppe Conte's government, which led to a double negative outcome. We exported a shipment of oranges to China, and they tripled their exports to Italy in three years."

"In Venice, there were two million tourists a year in the 1970s; now there are thirty million. And it is an irresistible pressure, a demand that will continue to grow. A few years ago, there were no Chinese, no Russians. Now there are, in droves. It will be tough. Consumption in the city is increasing dramatically."

"If we want to resist the exodus from historic centers, we must give people the opportunity to live there on equal terms with those who live elsewhere. The cost of living for those who live in the center cannot be double that of those who live ten kilometers away. Today, however, living in the center is very expensive. The tax and subsidy system needs to be reviewed, both for residents and for craft and commercial activities."

"The phenomenon we are experiencing in Italy is similar to that of all the historic centers of major cities around the world, where more profitable functions than residential ones become competitive."

"An author such as Friedrich Nietzsche has nothing to do with vulgar atheism."

"The true form of atheism, which has nothing to do with either Nietzsche or Heidegger, is the view that, in a nutshell, we are merely beings in the world: we are settled, domesticated in our worldly existence."

"It is worth repeating. In the name of humanity, the most brutal atrocities have been committed – first and foremost, declaring one's enemy to be a beast. And so, in the name of equality, individuality, cultures, and destinies have been massacred. It is time to silence all the “big words” – or at least prevent the loudmouths from using them. But is it really inevitable, in order to understand the meaning of “equality,” to think of a natural essence of man, that is, to strip him of all his personality, to ‘free’ him from his history? If so, “equality” would tragically conflict with freedom. But perhaps, instead, it is legitimate to understand equality as the condition that allows us to express our individual diversity, as having equal means precisely in order to be able to freely diverge. And to be able to become ‘friends’ precisely because of, and not in spite of, this free distinction. In the ‘fatal’ term fraternité I think this should be preferred to friendship. ‘Egalité thinks of friendship as, precisely, friendship between equals; and therefore speaks of brotherhood. The equality and freedom we have mentioned, on the other hand, think of friendship that can bind even the most distant stars."

"Sgalambro was a follower of Schopenhauer, he was Schopenhauer. I don't think this critical and essentially pessimistic approach did Battiato much good, as he lost some of that irreverence, that paradoxical, ironic, sometimes even completely light-hearted energy that he had in his work, such as Bandiera bianca."

"The more the metropolitan “nervous network” expands, the more it devours the surrounding territory, the more its ‘spirit’ seems to be lost; the more “powerful” it becomes, the less it seems able to order and rationalize the life that takes place there. The metropolitan intellect, its Nervenleben, undergoes a sort of “spatial crisis” – which is perfectly analogous to that undergone by the Leviathan State, the modern State in its territorially determined sovereignty. The powers that determine metropolitan growth are finding it increasingly difficult to “territorialize” themselves, to “embody” themselves in a territorial order, to give rise to forms of coexistence that are legible and observable in the territory, spatially."

"(About the contrast between those who are in favor of civil unions and same-sex parenting and those who are against them) [...] I would like someone to explain to me what a traditional family is. Is it that of fifth-century Athens? That of Sparta? That of Rome? [...] The patriarchal family of fifty years ago? The “wife, husband, two children” family? Is that it? Is the traditional family that of the last fifty years? [...] The family is a socio-cultural product. [...] It is therefore quite clear that its concept is changing. [...] These changes [...] should take place with a minimum of [...] cultural foundation, awareness, and conscience. Not in the spirit of “We want everything” and everything that comes to mind is a “natural right” because then two “naturalisms” are opposed: the Catholic one, which is totally absurd because everything can be Christian except a ‘naturalist’; and the other one, the so-called “natural rights,” which are a phantom [...]."

"(About Pontius Pilate) He was neither impartial nor democratic. And he could not understand Jesus."