Member-only story
In the Middle of the Coronavirus Pandemic, Italy is Where You’d Want to Be
Those who were born in my generation of the Early Millennials have only seen the descending parable of the Italian peninsula: the constant loss of relevance on the world stage, the progressive erosion of credibility of the political class, an unprecedented demographic — and ideological — aging.
The outbreak of the epidemic in Italy, the first country in the West to be hit by the Coronavirus, has brought the Boot back to the center of the worldwide scene (well, it was not a choice, to be fair).
From a medical, economic and political point of view, Italy will be a great test for the whole world, having the “advantage” of that couple of damned weeks compared to most of the G7 countries.
I have always found patriotism essentially an anachronistic, ridiculous, often unjustified thread, sometimes with fascist echoes, especially when it was based on an alleged gastronomic superiority, or on the football skills of the country.
Instead, I find it today, in these lonely days, of fear and reflection, and of comparison with what is happening elsewhere near (France, Germany, Spain, UK) and far away (USA, above all), where Governments face a health emergency with a disconcerting lightness.
