A pact for a new beginning

It happens not only at the end of the year that some elderly people call 113 or 112 for company. It's a defeat for everyone. It is the dawn of the crisis of a society increasingly deprived of the values of the past. Pope Francis says: «Forgetting the past is like a tree with dry branches that looks towards the future». And Indro Montanelli: «There is no tomorrow without yesterday. They are the effects of what Orwell had imagined, almost a century ago.

It's sad but it's like this! At least ten political structures have passed, we have had extraordinary popes like Saint John Paul II and Ratzinger, then Francis arrived over ten years ago, but the loneliness of our elderly is always the same: the same, bloody, full of tears. And it is right to ask: "Why?" There are as many faces of him as there are people. There are those who seek it, those who suffer it. Those who suffer from the lack of an emotional bond and the plan of a family, those who don't. Those who feel ill after a few days of lack of social contact, those who willingly do without it, even for a long time.

A European Union survey confirms that there is an ongoing "epidemic of loneliness". Loneliness is more widespread in Ireland, with around 20% reporting feeling lonely. The lowest levels were observed in the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Croatia and Austria.

But Italy is among the first to have the most deserts of the soul. The most affected? Elderly and disabled people. From Recanati the very sad story of two sisters who died of starvation in their home, found "by chance" a year later. 12 people have already died so far on the streets in civilized Italy due to fragility and cold.
Covid passes, isolation remains. Fortunately, things are now being addressed. The first experiences of "condominium carers", "community nurses", "social concierges", assistance networks or even telephone conversations, "solidarity condominiums" (very few!!) in which a lot is shared are born. , much more than normal by doing justice to the three million civil cases on the high seas, many of them between neighbors. Loneliness is one of the most devastating emergencies of this society already struggling due to the shortage of work, public health in difficulty, growing poverty. And, perhaps, it will take all the Italian imagination to resolve it or at least harness it.
Lonely elderly people end up bored, feel useless and realize they have no daily goals. Loneliness is often a feeling that also affects couples during old age. Spouses may support each other on a daily basis, but it is not uncommon for them to no longer receive visitors and are no longer in contact with other people.

Is it possible to break this vicious circle? Yes. No one saves themselves. Older people cannot defeat loneliness alone. Volunteer groups do their best but their efforts are not enough. Politics must realize that if after Covid we start again with young people for work, for a society with a few more smiles we need a pact between young and old, a pact between generations as in the post-war period.


Gian Mario Ricciardi
NP February 2024