Berlusconi, Murgia, De Masi: people, not labels. This awareness forms the basis of the humanistic thought that, in my opinion, should characterize the political proposals of the innovators of our time. For Achilles, Hector was an enemy, truly a symbol of enemies. He humiliates him, kills him and devastates his body, which he considers his property: just as a cat crouches next to the corpse of a mouse, so Achilles sits next to Hector’s body. Priam he comes to the camp to demand, or rather beg, for the return of his son’s body. What could prompt the angry Achilles to make such a benevolent gesture? It’s not really Priam’s prayers that make him impatient; no, the magical moment that prompts Achilles to make a compassionate gesture is when Priam tells him about Peleus, describing how happy and relieved he would be to know that his son was still alive and to be able to hug him again upon his return from Troy. Listening to these words, Achilles, remembering his old father, barely holds back his tears and it is at this moment that he agrees to the return of Hector’s body.
What’s happened? What really motivated Achilles? Priam gave him a new idea of reality, an idea thanks to which the child stopped seeing Hector in the only visible and known role of the enemy, but began to see him in a circle. This is no longer a label, but a person, a person who plays many roles, of course, a fighter, but also a son, and ultimately a father, wife, brother, friend. Yes, the magic of death makes us reimagine people, giving us new awarenessan effect we often find after the death of our own parents, when we see their fragility despite perhaps having mythologized them in life, or we grasp the fullness of their humanity when we despised them in life: in that moment we feel this is for us, in the end, they didn’t do anything bad or good, they just did what they could.
This caused a sensation when in 1984. Almirante paid tribute to Berlinguer, who attended his funeral. Even in this case, thanks to the magic of death, for Almirante Berlinguer he ceases to personify the enemy and becomes a person. Something similar happened in 2009 when Bersani he went to visit Silvio in the hospital Berlusconi, recovering from an attack on a figurine. Berlusconi himself recalls this: “He came to visit me in the hospital and stayed with me, holding my hand in his for half an hour. He is a decent and generous man.” Even in this case, Berlusconi, in the eyes of Bersani, ceases to personify the enemy and becomes a fully developed personality. On the other hand, right at the funeral of Silvio Berlusconi, Msgr. Delpini In the sermon, he traces a detailed profile, remembering him as an entrepreneur, as a successful person, as a politician, as an artist, as a communicator, as a father, as a friend, clearly highlighting his versatility and contradictions.
Yes, we are all multiple and contradictory, each of us. To judge a part and sum up the whole person by it is ignoble to say the least and is a common practice of any totalitarian approach: for a Nazi, before you become an individual, you are a Jew or an Aryan; for a communist, before you become a man, you are a bourgeois or a proletarian; For the Taliban, before you can become a man, you must be a believer or an infidel. For this reason, the ability to reconsider an opponent, at least on the day of his death, is an indispensable trait for anyone who professes liberalism.
In recent weeks, several public figures have left us, including Michela Murgia and Domenico De Masi. Many at the moment of their death felt obliged to remember and confirm the label that they attached to themselves during life. They could not go beyond the role, see a person in a circle, grasp his diversity and inconsistency, they preferred to continue judging. Evil, stupid, sad. But people are not a role they play, they are more than that. This awareness forms the basis of the humanistic thought that, in my opinion, should characterize the political proposals of the innovators of our time.
For this reason, I like the idea of sharing space with those who have a different opinion from me about the genius of Silvio Berlusconi, about the acuity of Michela Murgia and about the innovative intentions of Domenico De Masi, but I would not like to share it with those who who doesn’t know how to give up labels.
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