A matter of the heart

The challenge is not to defend or promote democracy. Rather, to love it. And love – as we know – requires commitment, care, availability. Michele Nicoletti does not mince his words. A philosopher at the University of Trento, a former parliamentarian, he was among the protagonists of the Social Week of Italian Catholics.

Professor, what does it mean to love democracy in concrete terms?
It means understanding that democracy is not a simple form of government, but a form of life. We tend to think that the human species is very individualistic, but each of us needs care and attention from birth. Democracy is the same thing: it does not generate itself, but is the fruit of decision and commitment, it must be chosen, wanted and desired. Look at democratic countries: the people who live it first wanted it, sometimes they fought to achieve it as in the case of Italy after fascism. For this reason we must have an emotional relationship with it, which remains, despite everything, the political form in which people can realize themselves to the best of their ability.

At the heart of democracy is freedom…
Yes, not to be understood as the absence of impediments, but as the possibility of governing oneself. There is a negative value (freedom from) and a positive, creative value (freedom to). In ancient times, free people were distinguished because they could choose their own life, the exact opposite of slaves. If the profound meaning is precisely self-government, equally important is trust in others: they too can make valid decisions to fully realize themselves. This applies to individuals and peoples.

Is there a way to fully respect the freedom of others?
Let's start from the assumption that equality between different people is not natural. Our original condition is asymmetric, democracy instead pushes us to create communities based on equality between equals. Relationships in a democracy are therefore not based on force or imposition, but on discussion, comparison. In democracy, you cannot do without the other and their freedom. This also applies to love where there can be no coercion and obligation. True love is based on being together freely. When there is no freedom, there is no relationship between equals but domination and submission. In democracy, I have an essential need for the freedom of others.

Why is it that in our era, after the tragedies of the past, the logic of the strong man is returning?
Democracy must make services work, otherwise people will not love it, but it cannot only have the task of being efficient. Democracy is slow and complex because of the discussions that are typical of a complex decision-making process. Decisions must certainly be made, but the problem lies in how they are made. The question is: do we want to be involved in decision-making processes or not? Do we want to be protagonists or suffer the decisions of others? The risk is to interpret freedom in the wrong sense, as in the case of totalitarian regimes in which it was understood as the disengagement of citizens from discussions and decisions.

We have seen this with the worrying signal of abstention. What does this crisis of participation depend on?
Democracy is the possibility of making decisions regarding the distribution of resources among its members. For this reason it must be a form of real and not symbolic power. Real participation imposes rights and duties that oblige us mutually. Let's think about the role of parliaments, they have a fundamental task: to decide with financial laws the resources and their distribution. But if people do not feel truly listened to and involved, or resources are spent inadequately, the risk is disaffection that increases due to the actual inability to make one's reasons heard.

Is the answer to start again from great ideals or from concrete and daily practices?
From both. In my experience as a university professor I perceive that many young people want to fulfill themselves without neglecting community life. There is certainly a very widespread hyper-individualistic narrative, but it has no foundation because no one can survive alone. We are surrounded by a sense of strong competition that pushes us to believe that we will save ourselves alone. But the reality is different. Just think about recycling: without the help of many small, widespread daily gestures it could not be achieved. In reality, even personal enterprises have teams and communities behind them. We must tell ourselves the importance of the community. Dreams and ideals play a fundamental role: for those who live in slavery, freedom is a dream to pursue. Today politics does not help to imagine the future that does not yet exist, but in the past it has happened. Our fathers dreamed of a better world for their children, now it seems that the future will be worse for many reasons. The difficulty in thinking about the future also involves politics. But without thinking about the future there is no democracy. During Nazism, the desire to imagine a different future was enough to be locked up in a cell.

We live in difficult times. What are the signs that worry you and which give you hope?
There are many worries due to the increasingly widespread signs of authoritarianism. But the worst sign is the disaffection for democracy: thinking that it is no longer the best form of life. In the new generations, however, I see a renewed interest in friendly relationships between peers, a sort of sincere rediscovery of the community. I also find a very strong awareness for the environment, greater than in the past. Finally, a new mentality based on respect between men and women and the acceptance of diversity. We have hope!


Matteo Spicuglia
NP Focus
NP December 2024

To watch the meeting with Michele Nicoletti recorded at the Arsenale della Pace in Turin on Tuesday 3 December 2024: https://www.youtube.com/live/ZaDwnH9R690?si=kboi9HEmK8x0rOQX