We the Italians July 18, 2016 - 81 | Page 14

th tH # 81 JULY 18 , 2016 “Svegliamoci italici!” has been translated in Spanish and distributed in South America. Regarding the English version, we are working with a prestigious publishing house, which should publish in the States. Concerning my previous essays, I have some articles published in the U.S., such as “Italic Lessons”, a series of interviews that appeared on the newspaper “America Oggi”; and “Italici. An Encounter with Piero Bassetti”, an American version of “Italici. Il possibile futuro di una community globale”, written with Niccolò D’Acquino. There are also some papers I wrote for some important conferences I held at the Catholic University of America, Washington, and other universities, especially in Philadelphia. In 1970 you became the first President of Lombardy, leader of the Italian economy. The idea of regional belonging is important for the Italian Americans. What is your idea about the Italian regions today, 46 years after their creation? # 81 juLY 18 , 2016 ve: in a less international world, gradually becoming glocal, the problems related to localism were and are important. In the world we live, in which we belong to more and more systems, we all need to feel part of a global and a local context, transcending from a national state. However, I was the one who in 1975 denounced the potential failure of the regional system, as I believed - and still do - that we did not really understand what “Region” meant. They were not supposed to be a simple division of the State, but rather an intelligent vision of the many political genius loci in Italy that could then be managed in a wiser, more modern way. However, what is at risk is not the regional, but rather the institutions which are called to interpret it. Lombardy was in part safe, as it strength made it transcend from the regional institution to which is today codified. You are also President of the Fondazione Giannino Bassetti, which works in the field of scientific innovation. What responsibility does Italy have in this area? The intuition behind being leader in a re- Apart from being responsible, are we gionalized country, Italy in this case, was also innovators? fair, and started what I mentioned abo- The scientific-technological challenge is absolutely global, and it is fundamental in this epoch. Unfortunately, today we grow and innovate irresponsibly, mostly looking at profits and incomes. Who is in charge of the innovation today? To make an example: for the Atomic bomb we knew the responsible, it was the President of the United States. Today we are introducing new bombs, such as medicine; we are proposing something that is very advanced, and we are doing it irresponsibly. Maybe it lies on this point the reason why in many countries they state that the Italian culture is more sensitive than others in treating problems like these: such as in loving relationships and in life. 14 | WE THE ITALIANS WE THE ITALIANS | 15 www.wetheitalians.com www.wetheitalians.com