The End of the Twentieth Century Narrated by a Left Heretic: The New Book by Giovanni Pellegrino

Take a southern lawyer, probably from Lecce, about fifty years old, administrative, cultured, intelligent, democrat, never involved in politics, not knowing its rites, customs, annoyances, idiosyncrasies, strong history and biography, he has thoughts, sympathies, emotions that cannot be easily described, yearns madly to his freedom; Well, take that lawyer and suddenly throw him in old PCI (Communist Party get off And BerlingerPrecisely at that period of history when PCI is about to run its course, and Communism is crumbling under bricks and mortar Berlin Wall collapse. What do you think, it’s a nice experience, isn’t it? As a result of this experiment, she has a surname and first name: Hajj Yohanna.

In recent days a new book has been published in it John Pellegrino He recounts his political adventure, which began at the end of the eighties, but led him to anatomy of history The first republic Based on The first democracy From the Italian bloc from the end of the sixties until 2000. The book is entitled Ten years of solitudeSub-address “Memoirs of a Lefty Heretic”, Published by Rubbettino, 290 pages, divided into four chapters and 32 sub-chapters, it quotes – often argues – practically all the characters of the First Republic and at the top of the order of quotes are two names: Francis Cossiga Who is this Massimo D’Alema.

This book is very interesting, especially for those who, like me, lived those years from the inside – I say from the inside PCI and the parties sprouting from the Chinese Communist Party—and whoever sees the events of three or four decades flowing back, more or less, looks at them with eyes different from his own, but never partisan, never obscured by prejudice or ideological distinctions. Because it has a great advantage pilgrim, is that he was able to examine our history by looking at it from the inside and from the outside.

Yes, from the inside, because when he plunged into politics, politics swallowed him up, like everyone else. but also from the outside, because it has nothing to defend, no plans to save, no theses to prove, no influences to stoop to. book saysDecade”, but those ten years mark his isolation in parliament. Because the story covers nearly forty years. Today Pellegrino is 84 years old, when he started his biography, he was less than fifty.

Naturally, upon reading the book, I didn’t get the impression that all of his reconstructions were correct. I mean: it coincides with the idea of ​​what happened to me. However, it is precisely for this reason that I feel the objective value of this work. Which basically tells us – crucially – three basic things. First, that PCI is, at least for many years, never dead. And that his Stalinism, perhaps, has merged into justice, but is always guided by it Great cause for the state (Not just the party cause) escaped from89to public distribution system, to tuck, to Berlusconi as well as for P.D. granite. With great hostility to free thought, but also, at least in the first stage, with a certain love, indeed a strong love for thought.

The second thing he tells us – and readers of this paper know how much I agree – is that Justice – which a large part of the Italian political class suffered as a necessity and categorical necessity – ruined and corrupted The second republic. He made her mean, poorer, and culturally shallow. Becoming itself – justice – is a moral question, even though it was born to solve the moral question. I say An ethical issueBecause justice is the most reactionary and immoral ‘political’ thing I know.

The third thing he tells us is that Politics is cowardly. He has such Reverence for power – for power as such, not just for control – you never know how to say no. In whatever form you present it: the economy, the bureaucracy, or the judiciary. And saying yes almost always means giving in to real scammers. But perhaps—be careful—summarizing the book this way Pilgrim I take my thoughts—and my anger—frequently to his story, which contains talent rather than always being flat, clear, and perfectly calm.

Suppose the facts recounted very accurately and thanks to many first-hand acquaintances, memories and testimonies, are three (in addition to the experience of Lecce at the helm of the province). The first is Tangentopolis. The second isAndreotti case. And the third they are years of lead and the Armed conflict. The first two, Pellegrino followed from the very delicate role of Chairman of the Board of Mandates going forward. the third as chairman of a bicameral commission to investigate terrorism.

on Tangentopoli Pilgrim He tells us many things, but what struck me most was the description, without embellishment, of what the methods of investigation were. A story denouncing sporadic violations. The first is to use arrests as a way to get suspects to confess. Against every constitutional spirit and law. The second is the trick of leaving a file open indefinitely, so as to add all new warranty notices to the same file, thus making sure that Unseen The one who had to authorize the arrests was always himself (the friend). Again, violateArticle 25 from constitution (The natural judge who is entitled to each individual).

The third violation is the security notices (and hence the arrest warrants) “in batches”, in order to circumvent the conditions of pre-trial detention. To be clear, the prosecution held you on one count, but they had two or three more in storage that they could challenge you later, when the limits on remand for the first count were about to expire. The story of those terrible years, which destroyed the first republic to the ground, is very detailed and undoubtedly stands out Judges’ authoritywho put politics under control, and the arrogance of politics that made Harakiri.

there Andreotti case It’s also very interesting. Because reading Pilgrim Obviously, Andreotti was completely innocent. It was not a trial or investigation, but a game of chess that Andreotti agreed to play. He agreed because he had no choice. Or perhaps, more than a game of chess, it was a fox hunt, no strings attached. Then there is the story The seventies. And here I think Pellegrino’s rebuilding is clouded by a certain dose, albeit always sensible Conspiracy. Pellegrino examines that decade through the lens of political maneuvering, setbacks, interests, maneuvers, and international influences. I think it is missing the essential element: the massive drive of an entire generation to the front mass struggle against the regime.

A social, political and even existential phenomenon that shocked the palace and its police and changed the balance of power between the two parties, but it was never involved.buildings”, with institutions and powers. He walked alone. On his own he has built extraordinary things in 68 In the 69, And then, in the following years, he was unable to respond to counterattacks, and turned violent – in part – in terrorism. And when I say “partially” I don’t mean “margin”. Nay, there were tens of thousands of young people, bourgeois and proletarian, born among them ’45 and the 60 seconds, who have been groped and kidnapped Armed conflict.

I apologize if I am overwhelmed by my thoughts, but this book forces you to take all thoughts out of it, because it is a heretical and provocative book that seems to have been made to create reactions. For this it is worth a lot. in the end D’Alema. But here we leave the tragedy of the book. The story of the relationship between the lawyer from Lecce and Commander Maximo is fascinating. Ridiculous and self-deprecating. Full of D’Alema’s quirks, loneliness, and unconventionality. Pilgrim Always keep that in mind. With love and hate. After all, the whole book is a drama of love and spite.