In a 2021 essay with the suggestive title Literature will save us from
extinction, Carla Benedetti, professor of contemporary Italian
literature, questions the reasons why, despite being aware of the
environmental disaster and climate change caused by man which could lead
us to With extinction, we remain passive, incapable of articulating a
consequent thought and action. The scholar maintains, I say this very
roughly, that first of all we should get out of those mental and
consensus patterns that have led us to the point we are at and then, if
knowledge is not sufficient to make us react, we need to activate other
resources: in particularly imagination and feeling.
Well, this very lateral and stimulating approach makes me think about
what the young and not so young of the Last Generation are doing. The
group that for some years has been carrying out sensational initiatives
to attract the attention of public opinion and make institutions face
their responsibilities regarding the disastrous consequences of climate
change. These are acts that are based on the principles of direct
action, non-violence and civil disobedience. This way of acting has
attracted the attention of the media and institutions. The former mainly
to build the narrative of the eco-vandals who deface monuments or block
roads, showing fanaticism and lack of civic sense; the government and
parliament to introduce highly repressive legal measures. The best known
of these is law no. 6 of 22 January 2024, known as the eco-vandal
sanctions law, which stiffens the penalties for the "destruction,
dispersion, deterioration, soiling and illicit use of cultural and
landscape assets", providing for imprisonment from one to five years. So
while members of UG, or any other group that adopts the same methods of
action, risk prison, any Sgarbi can earn his candidacy in the European
elections if he has been forced to resign as undersecretary. That the
government and the police show particular attention towards UG is
further demonstrated by the expulsion orders issued following the
actions carried out, the complaints for unauthorized demonstrations, the
house searches for actions not even carried out (as is happened in
Padua) and the many trials involving members of the group.
What is striking in UG's activity, in its slogans and in its documents
is the ability to relate the various issues in the field today, from the
climate to social inequalities, to public health disasters as well as
deaths at work, and to propose consequence an overall idea of society in
the direction of a true direct and participatory democracy. In this
sense, the means-ends coherence demonstrated is also to be appreciated,
whereby direct action and civil disobedience are not mere instruments of
struggle but prefigure a society founded on social justice and the
freedom of individuals and all.
For some time now, UG has launched a campaign which has at its core the
establishment of a preventative and permanent Repair Fund of 20 billion
euros which can be drawn upon to repay the damage resulting from
disasters and extreme climatic events. He also proposes that the use of
this money be decided by the affected communities.
From 13 to 26 May UG organized the disobedient Festival in Rome, which
culminated on 25 May in the symbolic occupation of Piazza Barberini,
during which a popular assembly took place which also saw the
participation of Erri De Luca, while up to midnight the participants
remained lying on the ground, monitored from a distance by a group of
police in riot gear. The Festival was also an opportunity to implement
some symbolic actions that attracted the attention of the media. Among
the most significant and also "provocative" ones: on May 13th the ATP
tennis matches at the Foro Italico were interrupted with confetti
thrown; on the 16th, 17 of them went to via dei Condotti and daubed some
luxury clothing shops with paint with this motivation: "These shops
represent a scandalous lifestyle in the face of the increasingly serious
economic gap in the Italian population.
According to the Oxfam report, the wealth owned by the 50,000 richest
Italians exceeds that of the 25 million poorest Italians three times";
on the 20th, paint was sprayed on the external columns of the Ministry
of Justice with a fire extinguisher; on the 21st, signs and banners were
put up and washable orange paint was thrown in front of the Ministry of
Health to denounce the deaths and illnesses linked to climate change and
air pollution; finally on May 23, during an action in front of the
Ministry of Labour, three journalists who were following the UG
initiative were stopped and taken to the police station. The episode was
condemned by many quarters and produced a rather resentful statement
from the National Federation of the Italian Press. Needless to say, all
these actions were followed by arrests and complaints and, in some
cases, mistreatment by the police. On the other hand, there was great
media coverage, even some news programs reported the news of the
actions. Emblematic, in some ways, is the report that Tg1 dedicated to
the action in via Condotti, in which the journalist's comment underlined
the fact that "honest citizens" had criticized and almost opposed the
"young troublemakers".
However, one observation must be made: despite the commitment made and
the media hype aroused, participation is still rather limited. It's
true, it's an ongoing process and UG has scheduled an appointment again
in Rome at Piazza del Popolo starting from October 1st for a new period
of "endless and unprecedented" mobilization. May for those who already
know, October for those who will understand. .
So let's go back to Literature will save us from extinction: could the
imagination and feeling that seem to animate UG be so contagious as to
involve more and more people and what Carla Benedetti hopes for art will
transmigrate into political action? And could the UG experience become a
model, an example, a precursor, a beginning, everyone choose the word
they want, of a broad generalized movement that calls into question the
dominant system that is leading us to the abyss? Each of us is called to
do our part, in "These wild lands. Beyond the fence", to quote a great
book by the Nigerian writer Bayo Akomolafe, whose subtitle is: Letters
to my daughter to make a home on the planet.
Angelo Barberi
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
extinction, Carla Benedetti, professor of contemporary Italian
literature, questions the reasons why, despite being aware of the
environmental disaster and climate change caused by man which could lead
us to With extinction, we remain passive, incapable of articulating a
consequent thought and action. The scholar maintains, I say this very
roughly, that first of all we should get out of those mental and
consensus patterns that have led us to the point we are at and then, if
knowledge is not sufficient to make us react, we need to activate other
resources: in particularly imagination and feeling.
Well, this very lateral and stimulating approach makes me think about
what the young and not so young of the Last Generation are doing. The
group that for some years has been carrying out sensational initiatives
to attract the attention of public opinion and make institutions face
their responsibilities regarding the disastrous consequences of climate
change. These are acts that are based on the principles of direct
action, non-violence and civil disobedience. This way of acting has
attracted the attention of the media and institutions. The former mainly
to build the narrative of the eco-vandals who deface monuments or block
roads, showing fanaticism and lack of civic sense; the government and
parliament to introduce highly repressive legal measures. The best known
of these is law no. 6 of 22 January 2024, known as the eco-vandal
sanctions law, which stiffens the penalties for the "destruction,
dispersion, deterioration, soiling and illicit use of cultural and
landscape assets", providing for imprisonment from one to five years. So
while members of UG, or any other group that adopts the same methods of
action, risk prison, any Sgarbi can earn his candidacy in the European
elections if he has been forced to resign as undersecretary. That the
government and the police show particular attention towards UG is
further demonstrated by the expulsion orders issued following the
actions carried out, the complaints for unauthorized demonstrations, the
house searches for actions not even carried out (as is happened in
Padua) and the many trials involving members of the group.
What is striking in UG's activity, in its slogans and in its documents
is the ability to relate the various issues in the field today, from the
climate to social inequalities, to public health disasters as well as
deaths at work, and to propose consequence an overall idea of society in
the direction of a true direct and participatory democracy. In this
sense, the means-ends coherence demonstrated is also to be appreciated,
whereby direct action and civil disobedience are not mere instruments of
struggle but prefigure a society founded on social justice and the
freedom of individuals and all.
For some time now, UG has launched a campaign which has at its core the
establishment of a preventative and permanent Repair Fund of 20 billion
euros which can be drawn upon to repay the damage resulting from
disasters and extreme climatic events. He also proposes that the use of
this money be decided by the affected communities.
From 13 to 26 May UG organized the disobedient Festival in Rome, which
culminated on 25 May in the symbolic occupation of Piazza Barberini,
during which a popular assembly took place which also saw the
participation of Erri De Luca, while up to midnight the participants
remained lying on the ground, monitored from a distance by a group of
police in riot gear. The Festival was also an opportunity to implement
some symbolic actions that attracted the attention of the media. Among
the most significant and also "provocative" ones: on May 13th the ATP
tennis matches at the Foro Italico were interrupted with confetti
thrown; on the 16th, 17 of them went to via dei Condotti and daubed some
luxury clothing shops with paint with this motivation: "These shops
represent a scandalous lifestyle in the face of the increasingly serious
economic gap in the Italian population.
According to the Oxfam report, the wealth owned by the 50,000 richest
Italians exceeds that of the 25 million poorest Italians three times";
on the 20th, paint was sprayed on the external columns of the Ministry
of Justice with a fire extinguisher; on the 21st, signs and banners were
put up and washable orange paint was thrown in front of the Ministry of
Health to denounce the deaths and illnesses linked to climate change and
air pollution; finally on May 23, during an action in front of the
Ministry of Labour, three journalists who were following the UG
initiative were stopped and taken to the police station. The episode was
condemned by many quarters and produced a rather resentful statement
from the National Federation of the Italian Press. Needless to say, all
these actions were followed by arrests and complaints and, in some
cases, mistreatment by the police. On the other hand, there was great
media coverage, even some news programs reported the news of the
actions. Emblematic, in some ways, is the report that Tg1 dedicated to
the action in via Condotti, in which the journalist's comment underlined
the fact that "honest citizens" had criticized and almost opposed the
"young troublemakers".
However, one observation must be made: despite the commitment made and
the media hype aroused, participation is still rather limited. It's
true, it's an ongoing process and UG has scheduled an appointment again
in Rome at Piazza del Popolo starting from October 1st for a new period
of "endless and unprecedented" mobilization. May for those who already
know, October for those who will understand. .
So let's go back to Literature will save us from extinction: could the
imagination and feeling that seem to animate UG be so contagious as to
involve more and more people and what Carla Benedetti hopes for art will
transmigrate into political action? And could the UG experience become a
model, an example, a precursor, a beginning, everyone choose the word
they want, of a broad generalized movement that calls into question the
dominant system that is leading us to the abyss? Each of us is called to
do our part, in "These wild lands. Beyond the fence", to quote a great
book by the Nigerian writer Bayo Akomolafe, whose subtitle is: Letters
to my daughter to make a home on the planet.
Angelo Barberi
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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