Commento a Zanone

Comment to Zanone

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

Superficial observation of Italian reality today might lead to the conclusion that Italy is "the best of possible worlds", a country with high development rates, which imports capitals and labour, which has a record level of consumption and a single-figure inflation rate. The real situation, however, is completely different. In the first place, if democracy means the possibility of choosing government, this possibility is, for reasons that are only too well-known, denied to the Italian elector: Italian democracy is incomplete. In the second place, just as serious a threat to liberty comes from the abnormal dimensions of the Italian public sector, from a system of taxation which, if current trends were allowed to continue, would absorb 60 per cent of national income in the year 2000. Unfortunately, nothing suggests an inversion of this trend, since de facto all Italian political parties sustain the continuation of the illiberal policies pursued up to now. The task of the Liberal Party – the only one worthwhile, and the only one that can ensure it a future on a par with its past – is, therefore, self-evident. It must constitute an authentic opposition, be able to translate the conquests of contemporary liberal culture into operative tools, and indicate the direction in which to move, thus becoming a party of ideas and projects.