Sowing seeds in the progressive field

The Camaldoli meeting, on the 80th anniversary of the law of the same name, could be the beginning of a renewal of the statute of politics and the proper ruling classes. CEI’s president’s speech, as well as the introduction by Professor Tiziano Torrisi, drew on the well-known source to propose “pattern lessons” on the meaning and mission of politics, not for the party, but for all those who take charge of society’s government.

The presence of the President of the Republic ratified the constitutional dimension of the event.

Archbishop Zube touched, first of all, on the whole and differentiation of the world of Catholics, in their scattered political work, often detached, like immoral techies, from Christian inspiration. But he intended to speak to all the people of goodwill active in the Department of Public Affairs. His words are unequivocal: From Camaldoli, “Political existence has been reborn in the womb of culture. One of today’s problems is precisely the divorce between culture and politics, not only for Catholics, which occurred in the last decades of the twentieth century, as a result of everyday, sometimes ignorant politics … that is, the betrayal of politics itself! ».

The “divorce between culture and politics” not only made politics miserable, but also impoverished culture: “Responsibility is an initiative… Not submitting to concrete life leads to the illusion of being on the right side even if one ends up outside of history,” says Matteo Zubi. Intellectuals, out of the practicality of irreplaceable cognitive fertility, are captured by the disciplines of knowledge, which act on the primacy of technology over politics and society. Of course, “experience teaches us that cultural action, even if it is independent of politics, is fundamental.” But to have a political sense he must “humiliate himself with a concrete life.”

Today, as then, the moral and intellectual renewal of politics must be measured by a crucial complex, articulated in the introductory discourse of the collection of law topics: “The social use of private property.” At the time, this was a prerequisite for giving dignity to work, affecting inequality, and promoting democracy. Today, it is also a prerequisite for dealing with an anthropological emergency and transforming into an integrated environment. Today, as then, “the weakening of democracy is always a bad omen for peace” because “the urgency of peace and the choice of democracy” go hand in hand.

Fortunately, unlike 80 years ago, we do not have the burden of writing the Constitution, let alone the honor. However, the goal is in any case a “component” because person-centrism is at stake, as it is now. At that time, politics was absolute. Today, the challenge is to reconstruct the primacy of politics over technology and, above all, the market, given the social, environmental, spiritual and geopolitical unsustainability of the liberal order.

It would be irresponsible to dismiss the Camaldoli event as a ritual of great spiritual and cultural significance. It was a deliberate and comprehensive political event. The seeds of hope were sown. They must be planted. The main recipient of a moral and cultural petition is the Catholic universe. But the scope of the message, given the identity of the Messenger, is global.

Hence, the primary responsibility of the ruling elite across the political spectrum is to interpret the challenge. It is a responsibility shared by the ruling classes of workers and workers’ organizations and active citizenship associations.

The progressive side must interact with all its joints. The leadership of Pd and M5S must coordinate, first of all, to gather the best available intellectual energies, especially young people, to start a joint work of independent interpretation of the stage, to define a vision and consequent programmatic development. They must build educational spaces for dialogue, for systematic discussion, even in the form of a periodical. Today the ordeal is no less difficult than it was then.