“Italians” chapter 1: Subjectivities without connections

This is how Censis (one of the most important italian Institute of  Social Research) recently (end of last year) decribe us…”italians”:

“We believe the crisis and we do not believe. The social context is conditioned by a thrust of individual subjectivities, without connections between them and without tension in the objectives and commitments. This anthropological regression, with its dangerous effects of social fragility, is visible in the primacy of the emotions, the tendency to always look for new and stronger, to the point that violence or mental distortion they delude themselves that we have a unique glow of eternity while those facts are only steps in nothing.“

I would add: Pizza is not a sum of ingredients…

Source: Creative Commons by Panduh

The Obameter: democracy and the web 2.0!

PolitiFact (from St. Petersburg Times) has compiled about 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on an Obameter. They rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once they find action is completed, they rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken.

Photo Creative Commons by Abersparky

Great idea, isn’ t it?

A Jew’s prayer for the children of Gaza

Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, of Kol HaNeshama, Jerusalem,  brings to the attention of the brothers of the Taizé Community the following prayer which appeared in the Haaretz Newspaper.

(Creativecommons by freegazaorg)

If there has ever been a time for prayer, this is that time. If there has ever been a place forsaken, Gaza is that place.

Lord, who is the creator of all children, hear our prayer this accursed day. God, whom we call Blessed, turn your face to these, the children of Gaza, that they may know your blessings, and your shelter, that they may know light and warmth, where there is now only blackness and smoke, and a cold which cuts and clenches the skin.

Almighty who makes exceptions, which we call miracles, make an exception of the children of Gaza. Shield them from us and from their own. Spare them. Heal them. Let them stand in safety. Deliver them from hunger and horror and fury and grief. Deliver them from us, and from their own.

Restore to them their stolen childhoods, their birthright, which is a taste of heaven.

Remind us, O Lord, of the child Ishmael, who is the father of all the children of Gaza. How the child Ishmael was without water and left for dead in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba, so robbed of all hope, that his own mother could not bear to watch his life drain away.

Be that Lord, the God of our kinsman Ishmael, who heard his cry and sent His angel to comfort his mother Hagar.

Be that Lord, who was with Ishmael that day, and all the days after. Be that God, the All-Merciful, who opened Hagar’s eyes that day, and showed her the well of water, that she could give the boy Ishmael to drink, and save his life.

Allah, whose name we call Elohim, who gives life, who knows the value and the fragility of every life, send these children your angels. Save them, the children of this place, Gaza the most beautiful, and Gaza the damned.

In this day, when the trepidation and rage and mourning that is called war, seizes our hearts and patches them in scars, we call to you, the Lord whose name is Peace:

Bless these children, and keep them from harm.

Turn Your face toward them, O Lord. Show them, as if for the first time, light and kindness, and overwhelming graciousness.

Look up at them, O Lord. Let them see your face.

And, as if for the first time, grant them peace.

Bradley Burston, Haaretz Newspaper

“Into The Wild”: the “search” of Christopher McCandless

“Happiness is only real when shared”

Per questo post, suggerisco la mia traduzione italiana del testo Cliccare qui

Yesterday, I could finally see the Sean Penn movie “Into the Wild” (even if watching such a film on DVD is not the same than watching it at the cinema).

Photo Creative Commons by Travis S.

The movie shows the story of Christopher Johnson McCandless, self-named “Alexander Supertramp,” an american guy who chose, in the early 90’s, the nomadic life in order to “cut” from his family and the hypocrisy of his society.

I liked the movie. Of course, I enjoyed the great photography and the soundtrack composed by Eddie Vedder, lead singer of the group Pearl Jam.

It ‘s hard to understand in depth the reasons of such a choise, so radical, but, on the other hand,  I do not see so rare such radicality in the youth of our Western societies, perhaps because of the social pressure which makes even more urgent their search of identity.

Certainly, Chris appears a person of rare intelligence, sensitivity, moral integrity, but also a person psychologically marked by deep emotional “wounds”, arising from his family experience: I believe that this fact  makes even more difficult to answer to the question if, in such a choise, there was more “love” or “self-destructiveness,” “truth” or “escape.” Perhaps there was all of them.

Chris travelled through the United States in order to reach Alaska, where, unfortunately, he died, probably because of hunger and infection. I am not interested at all about the debate between those who consider him a hero and those who consider him a fool (an echo of the debate can be found on Wikipedia).

In my opinion, it is very important to remark the feeling that all of us, in a way or another, perceive when we face the authenticity and the truth of the meaning of our lives. It seems to me that “Into the Wild” is interesting for this reason: the “journey” of Chris is just another version of the archetypical journey of life, the “search of happiness” that, for thousands of years inspired people and the sacred texts in every culture. And, as Chris says at the end of his journey, “happiness is only real when shared.”

I am going to read the book by Jon Krakauer, enjoying the many texts of  J. London, L.Tolstoy, W.H. Davies, H.D. Thoreau and, of course, Chris J. Mc Candless.

America and the pursuit of happiness

In these days, many people (and me among them), in Italy, are celebrating the victory of Barack Obama. But some months ago, many of them (not me among them) were convinced that “the United States were not ready for an African-American president yet” …it is worth remembering that the same people said that “America was not ready for a woman as president” at the time in which Hillary Clinton was still running for the White House!

The truth is that, in my country, America is judged without knowing it in depth. Trying to do it, they would find that American citizens love their country, love their roots, their multiculturalism, but especially love the constitutional principle of their common life, what they call “the pursuit of happiness”.

When you look for happiness, you try to change, you change the views, your prejudices.

I would ask those italian people (I was speaking about) if they love their country, if they are personally committed to promote the common good, even if this means giving up to their own particular interest, if they are looking for happiness. And I would also ask if they would vote for a candidate with Albanian roots, or Rumanian, Latin American, African, Middle Eastern, Chinese …

The truth is that America is still a great example of democracy as  the results of the last elections show. An example that should be followed in my own country (Google translation).

Photo Creative Commons by Skacrow

Go to the italian text

Dio benedica l’America

Soon available in english….

In questi giorni, in tantissimi (io tra di loro), in Italia, festeggiano la vittoria del neo-presidente eletto Barack Obama. Ma negli ultimi mesi in molti dicevano “Gli Stati Uniti non sono ancora pronti per un presidente afro-americano”…Tra l’altro, vale la pena di ricordare che si diceva anche che l’America non era pronta per una donna…quando Hillary Clinton era ancora in corsa per la Casa Bianca!

La verità è che gli Stati Uniti d’America sono un Paese che molti hanno la presunzione di giudicare senza conoscere in profondità. E, cercando di conoscerlo meglio, scoprirebbero che i cittadini americani amano il proprio Paese, amano le proprie radici, la propria multiculturalità, ma soprattutto amano quel principio costituzionale che è il fondamento del loro vivere comune, ovvero “la ricerca della felicità”. E, quando si ricerca la felicità, si prova a cambiare, ci si rimette in discussione, si modificano le opinioni, si abbattono i pregiudizi.

A quei miei connazionali vorrei domandare quanto loro amino il proprio Paese, quanto siano disposti a “rimettersi in gioco” personalmente per favorire il bene comune, anche quando questo significhi rinunciare in parte al “proprio” interesse particolare, fino a che punto siano impegnati in un’autentica ricerca della felicità.

E, da ultimo, quanto siano loro disponibili a votare per un presidente di origini albanesi, rumene, latino-americane, marocchine, africane, medio-orientali, cinesi…

Non so dire se la democrazia sia un valore assoluto od il minore dei mali possibili, certo è che gli Stati Uniti sono ancora un grande esempio di democrazia e l’esito delle ultime elezioni ce lo dimostra.