Giambattista Vico or Giovan Battista Vico, born on June 23, 1668, in Naples where he died on January 23, 1744, was an Italian philosopher of politics, a rhetorician, a historian, and a jurist.
He is credited with the proposition “verum esse ipsum factum” (“the truth itself is in the doing”), which is part of his theory that events occur and repeat themselves, albeit in different forms.
Upon reading the remarks and considerations that follow, we must unfortunately acknowledge that certain politicians have made his premonition possible.
Today, politicians across the spectrum are fiercely competing to capture the security and xenophobic impulses that pervade public opinion.
This phenomenon is not unprecedented. It already occurred in the 1930s.
From the beginning of the decade, the right and the far-right blamed immigrants for the very severe economic depression that had just exploded. The social crisis and political antagonisms fueled violence in which foreigners were sometimes involved.
These events foster a growing sense of insecurity, a sentiment manipulated by journalists and politicians who practice amalgamation by incriminating all foreigners living in France.
They are labeled with a definition that says it all: undesirable foreigners. But this is not enough for the national-security right, which calls for stripping naturalized French citizens of their nationality if they commit acts deemed “incompatible with the quality of French citizens.”
But there remains another step on the ladder of identity assignments: that of the “French race” which must be protected.
French “racism” thus aims to defend “national identity.” The first concern is migration, the second threat being represented by Muslims, the internal enemies.
Isn’t contemporary France in a situation comparable to that of the 1930s?
This historical reminder highlights the mortal danger to which democracies are exposed when they are faced with relentless security and identity one-upmanship, colonized by politicians, journalists, and other experts.
In the 1930s, France under the influence of Maurras fell into the dishonor of Pétain’s Vichy regime.
Today, it is gradually distancing itself from the country of human rights.
