Can we even talk about fascism? Armchair democrats, those who cajole public opinion, maintain that as long as there are "free elections" and citizens-an undefined and overvalued notion-have the "power" to choose who will govern them, democracy is in no danger and will always be capable of rising from its own ashes. The fact that this right-wing government, as sincere democrats like to say, is proceeding more forcefully than others in eliminating rights and restricting freedoms, cannot be a cause for concern as long as there is a Constitution with its principles, free information, and the ability to express one's opinion. Certainly, this right-wing government, they repeat, can be criticized for a certain tendency not to fully respect institutional etiquette, a certain propagandistic impetuosity, brusque and unorthodox ways, and youthful exuberance. And certainly political errors and an inability to address the nation's problems, but don't attribute a deliberate desire to resurrect and reintroduce fascism.
Therefore, the new security decrees, passed by the government of the very Italian and motherly Giorgia Meloni on February 6th, can easily be absorbed by the democratic body of society, as long as President Mattarella tones down (?) the more authoritarian aspects and positions himself as a bulwark (?) of the Constitution. Because ultimately, the government, even if mistakenly, is trying to provide answers to a "real" problem of our times: security. The sincere democrats mentioned above always say. Whether this security coincides with public order and social control is irrelevant. For the parliamentary opposition, for example, it is more important to criticize the government for not doing the one thing fundamental to the true safety of citizens: having more law enforcement in cities and neighborhoods.
Thus, supported by a relentless media campaign, which began with the stabbing of a student by a classmate in La Spezia and culminated in the clashes in Turin during the Askatasuna demonstration, the new security package, yet another, seeks to deal a definitive blow to any form of dissent and social opposition. Preventive detention of up to 12 hours and a "criminal shield" for law enforcement officers are two measures emblematic of the government's understanding of security. Added to this is the possibility of a naval blockade to counter migrants in the Mediterranean; another obsession of racist governments that leads to the deaths of thousands of people fleeing wars and the destruction wrought by "Western civilization."
The new rules, which also include deferred arrest, searches, fines, and bans for protesters, will make participation and social mobilizations increasingly difficult. However, rather than analyzing them in detail, we believe it's interesting to observe how the institutional opposition and mainstream media have reacted to their approval. This helps us grasp elements of the long-running authoritarian drift and aspects of a new, nascent fascism, which is also being built through the adoption by so-called liberal-democratic thought of all-encompassing languages and representations of society.
A first factor concerns the weight given by the vast majority of press and television coverage to the images of the policeman surrounded and beaten by a small group of protesters in Turin. According to the mainstream media, those young people are violent and irresponsible, if not outright delinquents and criminals, thus shifting attention from a large-scale protest demanding real democratic spaces to an occasional and marginal incident, charged with other meanings. Such as representing widespread lawlessness, supported by a "gray area," as Turin's Attorney General Musti has defined intellectuals and segments of civil society mobilizing in support of social centers for a democracy that is not merely formal, complacent, and conniving. This interpretation is fully embraced by those who, while seemingly opposing this government's pointless generation of new crimes to address insecurity, fully share its social and political presuppositions: an orderly and united society that abolishes social conflict and is founded on order and legality. This is the case, for example, of this article published in the newspaper La Stampa on February 6, signed by Serena Sileoni: "The events in Turin demonstrate that the police headquarters knew much more than we imagined, to the point of issuing mandatory expulsion orders, carrying out seizures, and serving verbal warnings and access bans. But they also show that much of the demonstration's strength came, as the Attorney General of Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta, Lucia Musti, and former Democratic Party MP Stefano Esposito, from the accreditation granted to Askatasuna over the years and, in general, from the political and cultural compliance with protests that arose to demand the restoration not of legality, but of illegality.
So while the progressive press prides itself on judging this government's performance impartially-see also this gem by Marcello Sorgi, also in La Stampa: "The security decree is the third in three years pushed by Meloni. And this could, in the long run, erode the government's advantage in having succeeded in passing it[...]. Because if, as happened the two previous times, the results of the application of the new rules were to prove unsatisfactory, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to return to touch such a delicate matter, at the limits of the stability of the constitutional principles." - Meloni was photographed in a pose that was, to say the least, contrived with the injured policeman in the hospital. Meanwhile, the parliamentary opposition was tearing its clothes to demonstrate that it cared more about order and security than the government. Accusing the government of merely making propaganda, the Democratic Party group leader in the Chamber, Chiara Braga, stated in an interview: "For us it is crucial, as requested in the joint resolution with the other opposition parties, to provide more resources for the police force - taking them away from the useless centers in Albania - to fill the personnel shortage, guarantee investments in prevention, resources for the municipalities." At least, however, she said something left-wing: prevention and municipalities. The 5 Star Movement was on the same wavelength. The government and opposition then delighted in intertwining the security decrees with the referendum on the judiciary, This increases confusion and once again shifts attention to aspects that have nothing to do with the extremely severe restrictions on freedom of demonstration contained in the new regulations.
In this climate, amidst the inability of a "democratic and progressive" political class to grasp the turning points of history, amidst the apparent apathy and subservience of public opinion and the masses, we can continue to ignore fascism. However, in the forms most suited to it today, it continues its march, invisible but no less effective than in the past.
https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/2026/03/18/la-sicurezza-del-nuovo-fascismo/
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Link: (en) Italy, Sicilia Libertaria #467 - The Security of the New Fascism (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]
Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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