We always harbor the illusion of having hit rock bottom, but reality reminds us of the truth: there’s always worse.
And the saddest part is that the responsible people who should contribute to not fueling this boundless drift (at least seemingly) — about which we wonder where it might lead us — play along, becoming accomplices in fact.
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The local newspaper informs us that, following recent anti-racist protests demanding the removal of external symbols of certain figures — with the statues of several famous personalities being the prime targets — a “neo-Bourbon movement composed of nostalgics of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the Bourbon dynasty” is requesting the removal of the statue of General André Masséna for acts committed during the Napoleonic military campaign in that now-defunct kingdom in 1806.
Without delving into the analysis of this historical fact — as it’s not the argument here — one should first question the actual existence of this movement, which no one has ever heard of.
As for the nostalgia of the inhabitants of the southern regions of the present-day Italian Republic, there hasn’t been any collective or manifest mention since the birth of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.
History can be analyzed and commented on as one wishes but not rewritten.
This initiative seems to either be a hoax or the equivalent of the anonymous letters found in the mailboxes of buildings where owners and tenants settle their private disputes.
That said, how can we not be surprised that instead of ignoring this absurd request — presented on what grounds? — and throwing the letter where it belongs, in the trash — the mayor of Nice pays it attention and importance, and while rejecting it, explains his decision: “we do not touch the history of Nice [ …] In Nice, we do not dismantle statues.”
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for reassuring us!
It’s a shame that Christian Estrosi, faced with the request from these “nostalgics,” did not think of seeking advice from his Palermo counterpart, Leoluca Orlando Lo Cascio, who — coming from a “weighty” family of the city and educated at the prestigious San Luigi Gonzaga lycée run by Jesuit fathers — would have cleverly advised sending the applicants “ad minchiam,” showing efficiency in decision-making and classical culture (even in a derivation from Latin to …latinorum).
Isn’t it time to put a firm stop to all these buffooneries where anyone claims the right to demand anything and be given attention?
It is true that the mother of idiots is always pregnant, but there is no obligation to be carried away by the musings of the offspring.
