Fresh insights about energy, politics, travels, sports, music…
Oakland and San Francisco, CA.
I’ve been messy with this blog. I stopped for a while due to assignments and travels. And now that I come back, I disregard previous drafts and write a piece in English about a local Italian issue. You’ll discover through the lines how this is not just local or Italian.
Reading the usual news about some unfinished infrastructure in Italy was not yielding new material for my brain until I noticed a quote. Let’s give a little background to this.
Giarre is the Italian capital for incomplete public structures. Stadiums, pools, theaters… you name it. There’s a “polo” field where citizens go running and kids play soccer with the few sports teams that are still alive in the area. The whole structure was built with the money that the national budget allocated for the World Cup in 1990. Now nothing could technically occur within its premises, except from emergency gatherings and helicopter landings. Few people in Giarre, a little town of 27,000 inhabitants, have seen an helicopter land in their town. Only a handful has ever heard of “polo” as a sport (not a shirt, not a popular candy).
The “polo” field, where kids dream of turf.
The structure was not completed because the allocated money passed through the drain of political corruption, undoubtedly overseen by the mafia’s blinking eye.
I often visit the structure when I’m in my hometown and I noticed that the kids playing for the team founded by my father play soccer in worse conditions than I did 10 years ago. Now the rooms that host the offices of the team (unofficial, unregistered, and uninsured) are constantly subject to vandalism. Behind the immense and empty bleachers, lay dozens of recycling “bells” – containers as tall as 6″ and as wide as 4″ that used to be around the city, when the administration pretended to be recycling the citizen’s waste, instead dumping it all in the same garbage truck – next to them, drug dealers waste their afternoons too close to the young 6-14 year old soccer pupils.
Another important piece of background information is the fall of ash from the nearby Etna volcano. Since 2002, these phenomena have multiplied and keep disturbing the quiet life of the town.
The municipal administration has been conquered for two consecutive terms by conservative forces that keep “favors” as the first priority and have severely worsened the balance in the budget. So now they don’t have money left even for “ordinary” cleaning, which is a minimum requirement for local administrations. Among ordinary tasks, there is that of cleaning up the coat of volcanic ash that often covers streets and other public spaces. The soccer team and the citizens who like to have a clean track to run on have decided to do it themselves and brought sweeps and brooms from home to restore the cracked red track. Valuable effort that has not been even noticed or acknowledged by the administration, which has been ducking in order to avoid any public record of their misdeeds.
The straw that broke my camel back was not the fact that a few creative Milanese guys (that I shall call “human zoologists” ethnographers* in my own derogatory concept of the word) have brought the issue to light in the mass media, highlighting the incapability of Sicily in finishing what it starts; nor was the fact that British ethnographers human zoologists (again) from the BBC have issued a documentary on us, the Sicilians of the laziest kind. No, what pissed me off (pardon the expression) was an innocent quote reported in a local newspaper.
A member of the administration was naïve enough to utter:
“there are a few political refugees from Burkina Faso. They are hosted by a local church and often ask for integration activities. We should devise a system that allows them to volunteer as street cleaners, with assignments to the polo field as well, provided that we ensure that they’re covered by health insurance during their working hours.“
I had to read the quote two, five, ten times. Coming from one of the responsibles for the financial breakdown of the town, this statement is absolutely inappropriate because it should be in the administration responsibility to provide the “ordinary” cleaning service of public spaces. By employing people, paying them a wage and contributing to their pension fund, not by begging for volunteers.
Most importantly, however, this statement inexcusably shows the European racist mindset that has been so hard to identify for me, a boy born and raised in catholic/conservative Sicily. They’re Africans, therefore they are supposed to do cheap/slave labor. That’s what they’re used to. Clean up, hurry, tidy up the mess caused by nature… and now that you’re there, clean up the white man’s mess too. Political refugees? Whatever, at least they’re not clandestine, so we can exploit their work without breaking the law.
Blonde people are a rarity in Sicily, as tanned southerners are unusual in the northern provinces. Europe is not used to mixtures. Now that more and more folks with diverse geographic and cultural backgrounds are free to travel Europe, the Slavic fear has joined France’s uneasy relationship with Maghrebis, Italy’s problem with Roma and Albanians, and Germany’s struggle for understanding its Turkish Gastarbeiter population.
In Europe we usually have to watch an American movie to say the word “racism”. We don’t understand its causes and its manifestations. This makes us racist even when we think we’re not. I am ashamed by the offensive and racist declaration of a member of the town administration and I regret the fact that those who call themselves the descendents of a democratic culture do not acknowledge that they’re also the heirs of a racist culture that has caused the worst inequalities and violences in human history.
The political refugees from Burkina Faso hosted in Giarre are not there by choice. They don’t enjoy the benefits of living in Europe, they are not blessed by the opportunities given by the Schengen treaty. No, if they want to find their place in society, they have to beg. They have to direct their prayers to pretentious douchebags that have nothing better to say than: “let’s have them do some slave labor!”. So there’s two sides to this story: 1) the declaration shows the wrongdoing and the disregard for administrative practices by the City Government; 2) the solution proposed is outrageously racist in that it suggests the use of African refugees for a task they are logically suitable for.
*I forgot to define better my derogatory concept for “human zoologists” ethnographers. They’re not just armchair-anthropologists, they’re condescending figures that are appointed by a State in order to show the superiority of the invading culture with respect to the exotic practices of the colonized population. Russians with Caucasians, Brits with Indians and Sub-Saharian Africans, Italians with North and East Africans, French with Maghrebis, Spanish with Central and South Americans, yes, Europe has led this pretentious race as well.
UPDATE: Thanks to a couple of friends, I had to amend this post. It was suggested to me to be more explicit in the condemnation of the racist statement by the politician, which I tried to do in the red section. Also, I received a detailed explanation about my wrong use of the word etnographer. My derogatory conception of the word comes from the colonial times, when ethnography and anthropology were just starting to be inserted in a more ample academic debate. Cultural relativism has since brought a much deeper understanding of the “other”. However, racism and supremacism are not relative concepts. That is why, although switching to human zoologist and apologizing to the many valid ethnographers out there, I still hold the belief that it is very hard for westerners to try and understand “other” kinds of societies without adding even a hint of our racist and supremacist self. I hope a larger debate ensues.
Giarre, Italy
Stanco di leggere “anch’io sono #pecorella” su twitter e sui giornali (trova le differenze), ho deciso di saltare sul pezzo. “Un giovanotto con accento del Sud”, come lo definisce il Corsera di oggi 1 Marzo, si avvicina alla faccia mascherata di un poliziotto in tenuta da sommossa e lo riempie di insolenti domande retoriche: “Perché non spari? Sei una pecorella?”. Il filmato va in onda. La Santa Conservazione Italiana si erge a difesa dell’eroe nazionale, il celerino che non reagisce ai violenti attacchi di un barbaro. Il malcapitato, stranito come me, fatica a definirsi eroe. “Ho fatto solo il mio dovere”, dice. Appunto. Come il suo dovere ha fatto chi ha protestato contro il dispiegamento di forze dell’ordine invece di quelle della ragione. La pecorella e il lupo sono la stessa persona. Uno solo di loro non è libero. (Non volendo essere troppo duro col mondo animale, non sono rimasto totalmente fedele al titolo della presente favola. Ma chi, a questo punto, è aduso al rispetto della parola data?)
In un lontano castello, un re, stanco di vedere ogni mattina un fazzoletto verde ai piedi del lato sud del proprio castello, chiama il suo ciambellano. – Affacciati dall’ultima finestra, fuori dalle mura, sì, là in fondo. Vedi? M’abbaglia! È la parte del mio regno che detesto di più. Anche gli ospiti stranieri che ricevo a corte mi hanno fatto notare quanto fastidioso sia all’occhio. Appena arriverà la stagione della transumanza, dirai al pastore che teniamo lì di non tornare più. Al posto di quell’appezzamento, ergeremo un monumento… alla velocità. Non per niente sono il sovrano che ha costruito più strade e ponti nella storia!
Il ciambellano annuisce a ogni pausa del sovrano. Il re lo licenzia con alcune disposizioni sulla produzione di armamenti militari. Il suddito si accomiata e va a parlare dell’accaduto con l’ambasciatore francese, per conoscere anche la sua opinione sulla tonalità di verde che quell’angolo di mondo riflette. Il legato si dice sorpreso del parere del re, ma non disdegna la proposta di costruire un monumento. Chiede infatti di poter suggerire alcuni ingegneri parigini per la sua progettazione, così da rinsaldare le relazioni diplomatiche tra i due Stati, non proprio tranquille in quel periodo.
Dopo qualche giorno, il ciambellano chiama due guardie e marcia verso la casupola del pastore. Gli angoli dei suoi occhi sono raggrinziti dal bagliore di quel verde. Suona la trombetta del messo e battono le picche dei soldati. Il pastore, che riposava dopo un’intera mattina nel campo, salta giù dal letto e si precipita alla porta. Il ciambellano gli dà un foglio sul quale è inciso il suo ordine di sfratto. Il sorriso di circostanza del pastore ricorda al ciambellano quanto inutile fosse quella pratica regia che proibiva ai messaggeri del sovrano di parlare ai sudditi prima di aver mostrato loro il volere di sua maestà in forma scritta. La mano rugosa del pastore stringeva il foglio di traverso. Il ciambellano procede allora a comunicare l’editto. – Per volere di Sua Maestà il Re, devi immediatamente sgombrare il tuo alloggio e trovare un altro affitto per te e per le tue pecore. Per ogni quattro pecore, ne lascerai una. Il Re disporrà di una grande festa per l’annuncio della costruzione del Monumento alla Velocità.
Il supponente ciambellano, che aveva appena mentito sul volere del suo sovrano, si volta e, seguito dalle guardie dalle lunghe picche, si incammina verso il castello.
Il giorno seguente, il re passa dall’ultima finestra e, con somma sorpresa vede il pastore rinforzare il recinto che aveva costruito contro volpi e lupi attorno al verde fondo. Ma l’accecante luce verde lo distoglie presto dal suo disinteressato ufficio. Al ciambellano, invece, non sfugge l’atteggiamento di sfida del terrone. Per di più, si odono i belati degli ovini fastidiosi fino alle torri più alte. Chiaramente, sono confusi dal rumore e dai frenetici movimenti del loro pastore, ma al ciambellano pare che questa sia l’ennesima prova della loro condotta irriverente. Si precipita dal re e chiede il permesso di infliggere una punizione al pastore che, invece di lavorare, si occupava di rinforzare il recinto nonostante non si fosse verificato un attacco di volpi o lupi da molti decenni. Il re siede in riunione con il ministro della difesa, confuso alla richesta di quest’ultimo di rallentare il processo di reclutamento, che anche a detta del ministro dell’economia e della famiglia avrebbe sottratto valida forza lavoro dai campi, soprattutto dato l’avvicinarsi dell’estate. Assorto in mille pensieri, il re grugnisce verso l’impertinente ciambellano che, gonfiatosi il petto, lascia la camera del consiglio.
– Andate e distruggete il recinto. Dopo che avrà lasciato quella baracca e che avremo costruito il Monumento alla Velocità, non ce ne sarà bisogno comunque. Ma così facendo, comprenderà che non può disobbedire o modificare la volontà del nostro Sovrano.
Così istruite, le guardie marciano, picche e picconi in mano, verso la valle verde. Sorpresi, si imbattono nel gregge di pecore appena fuori dal recinto. Le pecore non accennano a indietreggiare. Uno strano senso di conservazione prende d’improvviso questi animali che non possono conoscere le intenzioni dei soldati o gli ordini impartiti dal ciambellano. Ma l’ostilità della schiera armata si sente nell’aria. Una pecora prova ad allontanare un militare con la sua soffice testa cotonata. L’impavido, trasfigurazione del braccio armato del sovrano, alza minaccioso la sua picca, ma poi ripensa all’editto e comprende che se la sua squadra uccidesse le pecore del gregge, non ne rimarrebbe alcuna disponibile per le celebrazioni. E il sovrano, dispiaciuto, prenderebbe provvedimenti disciplinari molto severi nei loro confronti.
L’assedio al recinto dura molte ore. L’atteggiamento sempre più minaccioso dei soldati tiene viva l’attenzione delle pecore, ma appena il sole fa di nuovo capolino tra gli alberi, la luce riflessa dalle foglie e dalla gramigna attira come musica celestiale le viscere degli affamati ovini, che si disperdono per cibarsi.
In quel momento, i soldati sono sorpresi dal pastore che, uscito dalla baracca, chiede di vedere il re. A nessuno può essere vietato di vedere il re, per qualunque motivo. È la legge che lo sancisce. Ma prima bisogna che passi lo “standard di sicurezza nazionale”, il cui censore è appunto il ciambellano. Informato dall’ansante guardia del volere del pastore e della stanchezza dei suoi compagni, il ciambellano risponde: – Il pastore è chiaramente una minaccia alla sicurezza nazionale. Bisogna radere al suolo il suo recinto, il suo alloggio e sterminare il suo gregge, meno venti pecore, da sequestrare e tenere dentro le mura in vista della festa di autunno. Inviate anche i contingenti del lato nord e ovest.
Nero e immenso, si staglia il Monumento alla Velocità. Dove il verde del pascolo assorbiva lo splendore solare per poi ritrasmetterlo in tutto il regno, adesso si erge un ammasso di lamiere francesi controproducente e pericoloso, visto che l’opera di ingegneria è stata interamente progettata in Francia, senza tener conto della conformazione oro-geografica e idro-geologica del luogo. Oltre a poter crollare da un momento all’altro, il suo colore nero assorbe tutta la luce del sole sul lato sud del castello, cosicché anche il resto delle piante e degli oggetti perde colore. Tutto si fa grigio.
Grigio come le armature dei soldati, come la barba del vecchio pastore morto in prigione, come i capelli dell’indolente sovrano, come i piatti sui quali la carne di pecora celebrò il Monumento alla Velocità, come gli occhi gelidi del ciambellano, come il pelo dei lupi che sono tornati ad aggirarsi intorno al grigio castello.
Morale: rispettiamo le parole, #pecorella non è un insulto, né un pregio. Ci sono parole più adeguate per descrivere un rappresentante dello Stato che usa violenza contro chi ha giurato di difendere (anche quando non lo fa, nonostante sia vestito per questo). Non dimentichiamoci però di prendercela con il corrotto ciambellano e con l’ignorante e iniquo re.
Giarre, Italy
I’m writing this in English because I don’t like Italy on this issue.
The use of “we” is sarcastic, whereas the use of “I” is serious.
So close in the alphabetical list of countries, so far apart with all the rest. Generalization: Italians know nothing about India and Indians know nothing about Italy. Sure, Slumdog Millionaire and Bollywood are known in the Mediterranean peninsula, as much as pizza and La Dolce Vita are in the South Asian peninsula. However, the first I came across people from India, or with a strong Indian family background, was not that long ago, when I first arrived in California. Then I realized that I was precisely like the Italians I just criticized: ignorant. First, I could not locate anything on a blank map of the Indian sub-continent. Second, I knew nothing about the culture, the food, the music, and the customs. So I reacted, as usual, by stretching open my eyes and ears as much as possible in order to listen and understand more about this whole world unknown to me.
While mine was a voluntary learning experience – that, to be fair, I did not take too far – the Italian public nowadays is being forced into learning toponyms, watching archival footage of a faraway land, and staring at mute speeches of Indian politicians. The journalist’s voice runs over the video report spelling out the same names and information over and over, because there is nothing else to talk about than a legal dispute between an Italian tanker and an Indian fishing boat.
The Events, Briefly
Two members of the Italian army were arrested with the accusation of having killed two Indian fishermen on February 15. The Italian’s side defense is as follows: The Italian tanker sent warnings to the approaching boat, which did not respond. So, for fear of being attacked by pirates, as it had been happening frequently, from the Italian cargo a few warning shots were directed in the whereabouts of the boat, without actually hitting the boat (they were “warning” shots, after all!). Moreover, the Italian side argues that the whole incident took place in international waters, i.e. outside the limits where Indian jurisdiction would be competent for dealing with the case.
The Indian side counters all these affirmations. The arrest had a clear charge, murder. The Italian soldiers are held in prison and will face a trial because they are accused of having killed two Indian fishermen without warning in Indian waters. According to this version, there’s little to be done for the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has been traveling to India and sending countless envoys to save Italy’s face in the case.
Then there’s another possible explanation: The Italian tanker intercepted a pirate ship and fired against it, either hitting the innocent fishing boat or just provoking a deroute to the pirates who then shot on the fishermen. Italian journalist have declined the possible war of religion (the fishermen were Catholic) and the monstruous alien’s explanation. Personally, I am very thankful for the latter responsible stand.
What We Won’t Hear (As Much) In Italy
The Financial Times reports that today, February 27th, a file was opened by Indian authorities on alleged irregularities from Finmeccanica, a defense industry giant company. Italy and its government have high stakes in Finmeccanica and if the helicopter deal worth $560 million is to be voided, it would be a harsh blow at this evergreen Italian business. Italy has gained the favor of many dictators and some military-thirsty countries by providing with cutting-edge defense tools.In 2010, Finmeccanica won a bid over Sikorsky, a US firm, for the supply of helicopters.
State-controlled Finmeccanica has gone through dire times lately, when its chairman and his wife (who chaired a subsidiary company) were induced to resign over allegations of corruption and nepotism. Further clouds to its reputation would surely obscure its market position in India and force “shrimp steps” away from a fast-growing and interesting country. Factoring out the whole (petty) discussion about nuclear weapons, the Italian attitude looks like the one that induced the pulling out from Iran, which will prove unfortunate and myopic in the upcoming years.
Face It, Our Country Is Petty
Italians: we are one percent of the world’s population and we feel that Ancient Rome, Dante, and our culinary and filming abilities will save us from the world’s oblivion of our existence. India is unknown to Italians (and the West altogether, if I may) although it represents a big chunk of the earth and about a quarter of the population. By no means I regard a society so stratified, so reliant on religion, so divided as a “democracy”, be such term intended in its “Western” meaning or in its original one. However, India is taking giant steps towards the economic leadership of the world. Not so different from China in its “let them do politics, we’ll make money”-approach, it is going to be a clear protagonist of this century.
Conversely, Italy might just watch its own sunset with this skirmish. The traditional, twentieth century power, and former colonizer succumbs in a few diplomatic quarrels to the emerging power and still doesn’t know what to do about it. While going through the desert of power demise, Italy found itself naked, without a camel or a guide. This is a clear sign that Italy’s say in the global community has lost the power that Rome had struggled to regain after World War II. Let’s go learn about the real subjects of tomorrow’s world order, instead of sitting in grey-haired Western political clubs.
Oakland, California. È necessario parlarne. Dei Forconi nessuno ha parlato per una settimana. Adesso “ci si sposta a Roma”. Credo che sia pericoloso per la democrazia e che manchi totalmente la presenza delle forze di sinistra. Ho scritto questo articolo il 19 gennaio e l’ho proposto a un paio di pubblicazioni, ma evidentemente il disinteresse è tale che non rispondono neanche alle e-mail (dopo 5 giorni qualcuno ha poi risposto, in realtà).
Una settimana prima dell’inizio dello sciopero, il leader del movimento, Mariano Ferro, aveva avvertito: “Ricorderete questo giorno come l’inizio di una rivoluzione pacifica. La rivoluzione dei siciliani”. Il 16 gennaio, come annunciato, è cominciato lo sciopero: ai mezzi commerciali non è stato permesso di percorrere indisturbati le proprie rotte e i porti principali sono stati obiettivo di occupazione. L’isola è “bloccata” come dicono le principali testate nei trafiletti di quarta pagina che dedicano all’evento. I capi del “Movimento dei Forconi” o di “Forza d’Urto” – qualunque sia il nome che decidano di dare all’organizzazione della protesta – usano termini grandiosi e parlano di cambiamento epocale, mentre i mass media additano il prezzo della benzina come unica causa del malcontento.
È logico che la posizione dei promotori dell’evento sia così distante da quella della stampa. E cercare di capire i meccanismi editoriali che ne dettano le priorità non è lo scopo di questo scritto. Capire invece perché questo movimento è nato, come sia riuscito a ottenere successo e quali siano le forze che lo sostengono e lo dirigono è fondamentale per prendere una posizione in merito. Già, perché chiudere gli occhi davanti alla vicenda non fa altro che dare ragione alla protesta dei siciliani, che si sentono abbandonati dai palazzi di Palermo, ma soprattutto tagliati fuori dalle dinamiche nazionali ed europee.
Quando la parola “rivoluzione” echeggia nell’aria, chi conosce la storia drizza le orecchie. Il povero vocabolario corrente pone di fronte agli occhi dei lettori espressioni vuote che, messe in fila, recitano: “gli indignados dei forconi” “contro la crisi” e “apartitici” “bloccano l’isola”. Tuttavia, sappiamo che ciò non basta per generare la protesta di più di centomila siciliani. Molti di questi, infatti, sono stati costretti a scioperare dai picchetti formati dall’unica sigla sindacale degli autotrasportatori che ha diretto il blocco: l’Aias di Giuseppe Richichi. Non sono mancati scontri, anche fisici, con chi ha provato a forzare il blocco. Le tre principali richieste del movimento sono: la defiscalizzazione del tributo regionale sui carburanti, l’azzeramento del governo palermitano e l’attivazione di canali di negoziazione con l’Unione Europea al fine di emendare la legislazione esistente in termini più favorevoli all’agricoltura siciliana.
Vedere le lacrime correre dagli occhi di anziani agricoltori la cui terra ha iperbolicamente perso di valore negli ultimi anni e pertanto è rimasta incolta è un’esperienza che capita a chiunque abbia voglia di girare per le campagne siciliane. Non è quindi mai accaduto alla classe dirigente siciliana, che preferisce i salotti dell’Assemblea Regionale Siciliana (Ars) ai fondi dell’ennese o alle chiuse ragusane. Non è mai accaduto neanche alla classe dirigente nazionale, pur essendo essa composta in parte più che proporzionale da isolani. Ma essi ricordano dei loro fratelli e sorelle solo quando è tempo di raccogliere i loro consensi, trasformando le tornate elettorali in vendemmie stagionali, delle quali i siciliani subiscono solamente la fase della pigiatura.
È così che Anna Finocchiaro, senatrice PD eletta tra le liste emiliano-romagnole ma originaria dei “salotti buoni” di Catania, licenzia con poche e brevi parole lo sciopero, un “diritto democratico” che sta “mettendo in ginocchio l’Isola” – non siamo sicuri che la lettera maisucola l’abbia scelta lei – ed è necessario che si ritorni a “una situazione di normalità”. Ivan Lo Bello, presidente di Confindustria Sicilia, si occupa degli affari e si preoccupa del blocco, aggredendo il movimento e bollando le sue azioni come inefficaci. Non ci deve stupire che la protesta, benché acefala, non piaccia alle forze della conservazione.
Il cosiddetto “Movimento dei Forconi” è nato come segno di protesta durante la visita del Ministro dell’Agricoltura Saverio Romano, palermitano, la cui permanenza al dicastero di via XX Settembre fu breve e inconsistente nel 2011. Da lì, il caro benzina e la manovra rapace del governo “tecnico” che non risponde alle dinamiche parlamentari, ma le detta, hanno fomentato il movimento e lo hanno trasformato in “Forza d’Urto”, che racchiude i Forconi e altri gruppi e sigle simpatizzanti. Ciò che fa specie a chi conosce l’ambiente politico dell’isola, è che coloro che pochi mesi fa sgomitavano per essere immortalati sorridenti insieme ai governanti locali, coloro che li fecero eleggere, coloro che spesso illecitamente dettano le regole del gioco economico dell’isola o le applicano, sono lì, forconi alla mano a bloccare i caselli autostradali.
I siti web che si sono occupati della vicenda hanno sottolineato quasi immediatamente che l’apartiticità del movimento è poco trasparente, visto che le bandiere di partito non sono ammesse, ma sono benvenuti personaggi la cui biografia reazionaria – e spesso anche fascista – è ben conosciuta. Essi sono coloro che il movimento lo hanno acceso fin dall’inizio, con la retorica ben oliata contro il Presidente della Regione Raffaele Lombardo e i suoi cinque fallimentari governi in una sola amministrazione. Ma prima che definire i centomila siciliani che hanno contribuito al blocco dell’isola “fascisti” o “rivoluzionari”, credo che serva un passo indietro.
Quello che si è visto e si è letto, nei simboli, nei comportamenti, nelle cantilene che i promotori e gli astanti sciorinano ai microfoni è segno pericoloso della direzione che le energie siciliane hanno preso. Il fiume che ha levigato gli oppressori, i borboni, i fascisti e i mafiosi quando c’era la piena, oggi si rivolge contro il potere costituito procurando più rumore che altro. Sembrano prove tecniche di una marcia su Palermo. Riecheggiano le baionette di Bixio e quelle di Portella della Ginestra, non le grida di libertà di Caltavaturo o di Calatafimi. Sembra che stavolta i siciliani abbiano scelto di scommettere sul cavallo sbagliato, quello del qualunquismo e dell’azione di rottura, ma senza una visione di progresso.
Abbiamo già sbagliato in passato proprio perché abbiamo agito d’istinto, senza ragionare. Come uomini d’onore d’antan, ci sorprendiamo, ci angustiamo e ci lasciamo ribollire il sangue, quando ci troviamo di fronte a un torto subito. Tuttavia, oggi non dobbiamo lasciare il campo alla cieca ignoranza e tuffarci tra le braccia del primo che si autoproclamipater patriae. Questo dei Forconi è un movimento che deve destare le forze politiche che hanno dimenticato la forza della Sicilia e che deve stuzzicare la passione dei siciliani verso l’alternativa. Un’alternativa egalitaria, civile, legalitaria e di liberta. E antifascista.
I have been writing this article over the course of a week. Partially because of my phisical move from San Francisco (my last activity at the Java Café on Ocean Avenue) to Oakland (the first effort in a house that keeps getting busier with much needed stuff). But also because the unraveling of the events shows how illusive is the first set of news that pops up from the papers. I guess Gutenberg was not happy of the first sheet that came out of his press. And he didn’t even write the Bible! Nowadays, instead, we read freshly-puked articles from mainstream media as if they were the Bible. Why not getting a new perspective, or just imagine there is another one?
San Francisco and Oakland (on the move), California
(a) The Logo for the Celebrations
Kazakhstan has been independent from the late Soviet Union for 20 years now. It has become the friendliest post-Soviet economy for the West and has actively participated in many international organizations. In the past couple of years, it has diversified its hydrocarbon export routes and has developed a great international reputation in the energy sector (including nuclear). Power is firmly in the hands of Nursultan Nazarbayev and his extended family since 1987 and nobody questions it. There is a caste system that dates back to the pre-Imperial Russia period and only thanks to a presidential push, the Kazakh language is spreading within all sectors of society – although the diplomatic community speaks Russian. From the West, the view of this immense country is filtered through dollar-shaped lenses and dazed by the smell of oil. Only the facility of filing taxes, just a touch away from your mobile phone [1], and the convenient investment environment for foreign firms have drawn attention.
Welcome to the Nineties
Kazakhstan is the country where Chevron could lead a consortium of firms for the exploitation of the “giant” oilfield in Tengiz (see green pin on the map below), the contract being signed i 1993, just over a year after independence, with negotiations starting already in 1988. Later in the Nineties, TengizChevrOil was the leading force pushing for th first privately-owned pipeline project in the post-Soviet space, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, which saw the light in 2001, linking Tengiz with the Russian port of Novorossiisk. The OECD was fast in labeling Kazakhstan among the fastest transitioning countries, allowing presence of western firms and holding seemingly “contested” elections. However, Nazarbayev knew that a full-fledged laissez faire approach would have pleased the West and risen tension among its neighbors, chiefly Russia, headed by Nazarbayev’s personal adversary, Boris Yeltsin.
(b) December 16, 2011 – An Arc de triomphe replica is unveiled in Astana.
When Kozyrev the “Westernizer” left Moscow’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make room for Primakov, Nazarbayev understood that the time was ripe for a clear sign of detachment from the giant neighbor. When Moscow unveiled that the presence of many Russian citizens – who were provided passports during the first half of the Nineties – could become an anchor for revanchist programs, [2] Nazarbayev acted decidedly and in 1997 moved the capital city from Almaty (Alma Ata) to Aqmola, in the Aqmolinsk province [3], renamed Astana, “capital”, for the occasion. The northbound move was a clear sign of Kazakhstan’s unwillingness for any attempt of annexation, not just an emulation of Ataturk’s abandonment of Istanbul and its spiritual charge, in favor of the more secular Ankara.
The 1998 crisis that hit the Russian Federation mitigated the revanchist threat on Kazakhstan. Western development programs were at pace and easily shaped the institutional friendliness of a country in much need for customers to buy its immense energy endowment.
2000s: The Party is Over and Mixed Emotions Arise
Around the turn of the century, while Putin was rising to power in Russia, an exploration off the Kazakh Caspian coasts prospected the existence of a relevant oil basin. Kashagan became the new Tengiz and foreign firms jumped on their boats and poured money in for winning the bid to administer the project. The western excitement, however, was to be countered by a novel strong stance by Kazakh authorities in terms of natural resources ownership. In 2002, the various state-owned agencies that were assigned with energy-related tasks fused into a single body, KazMunaiGaz, chaired by Nazarbayev’s son-in-law, Timur Kulibayev [for a recent update, see below]. This move created an energy ogre that became the main interlocutor for foreign firms to secure contracts in the Kazakh territory. Moreover, in 2005 Kazakhstan scrapped the Production Sharing Agreement legislation and became more hostile to foreign intervention, especially in the energy realm.
Meanwhile, the Parliament put forward the proposition to grant Nazarbayev lifetime presidency. Nursultan Abishevich’s NUR-OTAN party was in control of the national assembly, of the polls, of every election, and it had already suggested that the capital were renamed Nursultan, but the president himself called for a de-personalization of Kazakh politics, to counterbalance the Turkmen example. As though it wasn’t plain and clear that there was only a few, related individuals in charge of the fate of the country.
OSCE finally admitted that electoral results with 90% or more of all casted votes in favor of just one party or one person were not to be labeled “free and fair”. However, its retaliation was to defer by two years its gift to Astana: the Vienna-based organization honored Nazarbayev with the first post-Soviet chairmanship in 2010.
Oil Workers: When Were We Socialist?
(c) The Coat-of-Arms of the Kazakh SSR
Socialism was superimposed in the lands of post-Tsarist Russia as a natural consequence of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. However, a few countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia had seized the opportunity of the fall of the Romanov dinasty and created their own independent sovereign states. These were “taken back” by St. Petersburg shortly after and to their administration, the Politburo often assigned native Russian cadres. Without attachment to the population and in direct contact with the central organization of the USSR, the local secretaries were in charge of administering the division of labor within the Union, which became stricter and faster-paced with Stalin’s plans, especially around the period of the Second World War. While Khrushschyov was rising to power, Leonid Brezhnev, the future Party Secretary, was assigned the highest post in Kazakhstan. The Khrushchevian “Virgin Land policy” accompanied by Brezhnev’s corrupt practices initiated a whirlwind mechanism that brought in a strong re-personalization of local politics in Central Asia and a rigid and corruption-ridden economic structure. Dinmukhamed Kunayev became the uncontested leader of the Kazakh Communist Party for decades upon Brezhnev’s departure to Moscow.
The fundamental question here is where to find Socialism, with capital “S”, within the experience of Soviet Kazakhstan. How and when did Kazakh workers emancipate themselves from the alienation typical of industrial economic relations?
To such a question posed by my Socialist imaginary interlocutor, I would respond in historical terms. Kazakhstan has been dominated by “hordes”, nomad dinasties descending from Mongol tribes that were charged, throughout history of different degrees of prestige. Upon annexation to the Russian Empire, tribal politics faded away, given the little of emphasis posed on it by Russian governors. Tribal politics however, managed to survive the neutral “Soviet” and “Kazakhstani” periods when the law did not treat citizens differently according to the horde they belonged to. In fact, today, even without a formal legal framework, a much stronger caste system permeates the Kazakh society.
Kazakh has also been the “storage compartment” for chemical, spatial, and nuclear industries, which constantly called for skilled Soviet labor, – besides Russians, many Ukranians and Germans settled in the northern regions, especially near the Baikonur cosmodrome – and for dissidents from the Caucasus, who, shortsightedly, hailed as liberators the Nazi army during the battle in Stalingrad and were sent to labor camps in the Kazakh steppes. St. Petersburg and Moscow have in turn operated as the deus ex-machina of the fate of the land of the Kazakhs, especially in terms of the working class.
When Marx was writing about his solution of the contradictions of capitalism, he had in mind English factory workers, not nomad peasants and foreign skilled workers installed in a man-made industrial complex. Lenin could not have forseen this either, notwithstanding his comprehensive study of the peasant question, because he came from a very European environment. What is here to be argued about what came to be “the Kazakh working class” is that it has never seen an original institution and the atomization of the country has led to a very stable country united under the flag of the main party NUR-OTAN and the figure of Nazarbayev, who was able to build a widespread cult for his persona and to become the dear leader of Kazakhstan.
(d) NUR-OTAN – Nazarbayev’s Party
The workers have had little chances to organize and to grow an understanding of their condition, especially in the oilfields. There, skilled workers earn from three to four times as much as the national average wage and are often protected by the immense structure of multinational corporations, who act as benevolent giants, as long as they can extract oil without hassle. The difficulties in building a class conscience has brought to a imperceptible movement against the violation of human rights and liberties that this one-man regime carries out every day, not least the very right to protest. One fact is certain: there has never been any hint of Socialism in Kazakhstan.
To draw a similitude, independent Kazakhstan at 15-20 can be compared to the People’s Republic of China at 50-60. There, dissent with the established power framework is causing riots and protests that are unknown to the media and of which there probably is no record. However, the protest is acephalous: a political direction of the struggle is lacking, and what is hailed as “democratic opposition” in the West is generally driven by wealthy businessmen that only maintain the objective of overthrowing the established power to replace the political figures with more friendly allies. [4] Meanwhile, there are widespread corruption and nepotism tackling workers’ rights with a clear distinction between local manpower and foreign skilled contractors – which has enhanced social unrest within the working class (see below).
In the Press and in Academia
On the day that marked Kazakhstan’s 20 year anniversary of the independence from the Soviet Union, clashes between workers and the police erupted in Zhanaozen, an oil town on the eastern shore of the Caspian sea (see yellow pin on the map below). At least 14 people are reported killed in the incidents, many more were injured and over 70 were arrested. The official source of information in Kazakhstan, KazInform has also pointed out that 46 sites were “looted and burned” during the mass protests, including one house pertaining to the director of the operating company UzhenMunaiGaz.
(e) PressTV.ir – An Image from the Protest
One of the President’s Aides told the press that “All citizens of Kazakhstan condemn the events in Zhanaozen”, seizing the role of people’s spokesman. The Federation of Trade Unions, in cahoots with the structure of power, released a declaration condemning the incidents and assuring that none of their affiliates took part in “inconstitutional and illegal actions”. Kazakh authorities labeled protesters with the much worn Russian term хулиган, “hooligan”, often used to address naughty children, and established a three-week long state of emergency in the town. It must be noted that, during the clashes, state authorities acted with with an extraordinary firm fist against the spread of violence. Notably, “Kazakh telecommunications firm Kazakhtelecom turned off social media site Twitter, while phone service in Zhanaozen was reported to be unpredictable.”
(f) The Riot in Tengiz
Protests had arised in 2004 in the Caspian oilfield of Tengiz, and later in 2006, when oil workers from Kazakh origin came to clash with Turkish workers, all employed by the TengizChevroil consortium. This ethno-international confrontation was not a single case in Kazakh-Turkish relations [5]. Hardly just a personal quarrel, it is a sign of the careless approach to labor issues when multinational ventures are assigned energy projects in countries with lax legislation on workers’ rights. It is unsurprising then that in Nazarbayev’s latest condemnation of the Zhanaozen protests, he referenced the oralmany, ethnic Kazakhs from other countries, and asked them to “be grateful to the state.” [6] It is clear that more than an Arab Spring- or terrorist-inspired uprising, the government is trying to play the card of Kazakh authenticity in order to placate the spirits in the country.
Western and the Russian-based media, for different reasons, aim at the same objective. Kazakhstan is a good partner only when it is 100% stable. The first sign of instability triggers very harsh language, acrobatic comparisons, and evergreen allegations. The US Department of State did not hurry, but resolved to condemn the violence three days after, although with much more caution than the OSCE. RIA Novosti titled that the clashes could be a product of the Arab Spring, however fortunately the article itself was a much more clever read. European and American newspapers throw the “terrorism” buzzword in order to make up for their lack of understanding of such a remote region in their readers’ minds.
Thanks to a native scholar, Adil Nurmakov, we learn who financed the organization of the protest from behind the scenes. Mukhtar Ablyazov is a businessman that co-founded an opposition party in 2001, the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, and was then arrested in 2002 and sat through a very political trial. Authorities released him after three months of prison upon the promise-obligation that Ablyazov would not be involved in politics anymore (the DCK was dissolved in 2005). The newspaper Respublika and the TV station K+ are directly linked to him and were the only source of information for the Zhanaozen events. How impartial this source could be is for the reader to judge. Be it possible to draw a middle line between governmental news agencies and not-so-democratic opposition, we would live in a logical, almost mathematical world. Alas, we cannot and our judgement must remain devoid of any quick resolution.
[UPDATE] To further blur the picture that many consider perfectly clear in the past few days Nazarbayev has decidedly beheaded the giant holding Samruk-Kazyna, which controls KazMunaiGaz and was chaired by his son-in-law Kulibayev. Dinara Nazarbayeva (or Kulibayeva, depending to the occasion), one of the most influential Central Asian women according to RFE-RL, must be very disappointed seeing her husband and future leader of the country being sacked just like two KMG board members after the Zhanaozen riots. The president perhaps thought that by giving a clear signal of holding the bridle, the raged horses rampaging the streets of western Kazakhstan would be hindered from more action.
The Headless Chicken Keeps on Running
Something holds true however. There is increasing unrest in many countries where capitalism has failed to concede enough protections to those that are being exploited. Capitalism has learned the lesson of crisis management and, due to the apt use of Cold War rhetorics, it has survived the most dire crises throughout the XX century. Nonetheless, debates within business, academic, and political circles seem to prove that capitalism has forgotten the lesson. The hurriedly defined “Arab Spring” [7], the “OccupyWallSt” movement, the white collar protests in Moscow illuminated by the LED light of twittering smartphones, and the Zhanaozen clashes are all offsprings of the same uneasy sentiment. An unconscious class is rising up against the financial system, the great protagonist of the post-Berlin wall era. An economy alienated by itself, where money is generated by money, has provoked a mass discontent vis-a-vis political structures that are unable to sustain themselves through election and welfare.
Where will this bring us to? A graphic similitude can be individuated between the protests and chickens that keep scurrying even after having had their heads cut off. This everlasting period of crisis hinders our ability to stop and think, gather together and design a better world. When you are striving for your daily share of bread or rice, it becomes very hard to reason on of the best way to end inequalities and reach a happy life among happy people. And, what’s worse, there is no room for confrontation and discussion in the highest form. It becomes very hard to share ideas on what to do and how to organize in order to transform will into action. Therefore, we witness confused and disconnected protests that the media is trying to tie back together but in fact have each a peculiar root. Should we finally realize that it is not the single issue but the whole system that is rotten and needs a revolution – in the scientific definition of the term – then we could finally understand that the path to follow has always been in front of our, shortsighted eyes.
Notes
[1] From a private conversation with a Kazakh diplomatic officer in Washington DC, March 2011.
[2] See writings by Aleksandr Solzhenitsin (! – yes, the one known and praised in the West for writing “Gulag Archipelago”), Sergei Karaganov, Andranik Migranian, and Igor Ivanov.
[3] Interestingly, Aqmola means “white tombstone” in Kazakh and was renamed Tselinograd during the Soviet occupation. After regaining the original Kazakh name, Nazarbayev thought it would be nicer to change the name of the prospective capital in something more pleasant than marble-for-graves. This is where the name Astana, directly translating into “capital”, was drawn from. Too bad that, as it always happens in such complex, bureaucracy-ridden states, the name of the province could not be changed. Just like today’s St. Petersburg, Russia’s western jewel mounted in the Leningrad region, Astana lies in the Aqmolinsk province. The permanence of old jurisdiction names led to an awkward consequence for the “capital” of Kazakhstan, which sits in the “white tombstone”.
[4] See the cases of Khodorkovsky in Russia and Tymoshenko in Ukraine.
[5] See Saulesh Yessenova, her article on Central Asia – Caucasus Analyst “Worker Riot at the Tengiz Oilfield: Who Is To Blame?”, February 21, 2007 and her chapter “Tengiz Crude: A View from Below” in Boris Najman, Richard Pomfret, and Gael Raballand (Eds.), The Economics and Politics of Oil in the Caspian Basin: The Redistribution of Oil Revenues in Azarbaijan and Central Asia, Routledge, London, 2008.
[6] Source: Twitter account of Nate Schenkkan, @nateschenkkan
[7] Don’t read this article, please. It is a juvenile ethnocentric attempt at individuating an “Arab Spring” offspring in such undefined and incoherent protests in Kazakhstan.
Photo Credits:
(a) (d) KazInform
(b) kjfnjy album on Tumblr.com
(c) Wikipedia
(e) PressTV.ir
(f) http://roberts-report.blogspot.com/2006/10/pictures-from-fridays-unrest-at-tengiz.html
When violence ensues as a means for voicing people’s opinions, the State has to fight back. Why is violence an unacceptable instrument? I am 99%, agree with 99% of what the protest is lamenting, but am not sure of the 1% of the questions they’re leaving out. As a non-violent person, I have to come to terms with violence, its roots, its meaning, and its consequences.
Giarre, Italy
In the past week we’ve been witnessing widespread violence during some of the demonstrations that are uniting the “Ninety-Nine Percent” against the wrongdoings of the capitalist society. To be explicit, Italy and Greece have shown the fiercest episodes of violence. In the United States, violent police repression has not met any violent reaction from the camping crowd.
What is the picture of the current situation globally? The 99% is protesting against the crisis that the capitalist financial groups have contributed to create. They are also blaming governments who have proven unable to take a single step in favor of the many in these times of hardship. There’s little in the 99% program as far as solutions are concerned. That’s because the 99% is everyone, and not even common sense gets to be that common. Tax the rich, free the market, help national companies, liberalize the markets, lower taxes (and so on) are incompatible demands. The positive sides of the protest are: the capacity to respect each other’s opinions and the acknowledgement that people have indeed a say in politics.
Politicians have tried jumping on the bandwagon of the protest, in order to gain support for the next elections. However, the movement has politely (sometimes roughly) asked them to let the 99% speak, excluding them from the proportion. This can be an interesting point for debate. How can one claim to be practicing “perfect and pure democracy” when the 1% is deliberately excluded? Representative democracies constantly exclude one minority or the other, but this movement calls for cornering one tiny slice of society and denying them the widely-chanted democratic values.
Politicians have looked down on the movement because of its lack of organization and structure. Without a clear hierarchy, it is more difficult to synthetize the thoughts of the 99% in a program to come out of the crisis. Without a chief and a board, responsibilities are unclear, control is harder, and predictability is zero.
These past two paragraphs lead to my first conclusion. The State and the parties are acting in a very conservative, quasi-fascist manner because they have not understood the movement. Also, they don’t want to admit that this crisis is their fault and that the system they’ve been part of is corrupt (not just money-wise, but its mechanism has proven disruptive for our social life). So police is violent, violent groups (otherwise easily targeted) are left free to rampage cities such as Rome and Athens, yes, the nests of what we now call “Western democracy”, and the media spreads terror lexicon on our faces.
But, is violence not the right answer? No. According to the State, parties,the 99% protesters – according to everybody – violence has to be censored, rejected, condemned, hated, incarcerated; it needs special police forces, special laws, special articles on the newspapers. Even “special reporters” have used their skills with their mobile phones to record and denounce the violent hooligans at the rallies. The novelty here is that these “special reporters” are not journalists, they are from the crowd. They are citizens, the 99%, the average person. The new kind of civil war is conducted on YouTube, and there’s three sides in it: the 98.9%, the 0.1%, and the 1%. Thanks to the fact that we make up these figures, it will always round up to 100%. The last time I was confronted with this kind of “social police”, I was reading George Orwell, Nataliya Ginzburg, Boris Pasternak. I hope such kind of society is not what the 99% movement stands for.
OK, so violence is not the right answer for who is in power or who votes for them. So why is that the democratic institutions are responding so violently? Is it just to abide to the weberian precept that the State should own the monopoly over the use of force? No. The State is trying to reinforce and protect itself, to become compelling for the many. It is only by becoming the paragon of any societal interaction that the State can continue living. And not having a grip on violence weakens the structure. Without being apologetic of violence as a way to foster dialogue – it is not – I think violence should be regarded as one way to express social discontent. For this reason, I think and I hope, the Italian 99% movement has not taken a bold stance against violent groups.
It is crucial for those who would rather like to build a new society based on equality and freedom of expression to deal with violence. Just denying it or rejecting it won’t make the discussion go further.
These are my serious thoughts on violence, in the next days I’ll outline my silly plans to solve violence among people and finally reach a human condition.
bottleneck analysis 