AA. VV.
Limes

“Ah, if only I had more time…”

I believe that over the years with the various accounts I have created a hefty tome of an encyclopedia, I think I've given out tens of thousands of stars (more than a few "ad minchiam"), tons of likes on rarely listened to tracks, and ammmmmore more than you find at night on those streets, not quite in the historic center. All this to increase something objectively essential: the DeRango. I admit it: if I looked at myself from the outside, excluding work hours, I could easily be defined as a serial time abuser given the hours I spend here to feed my insatiable ego. This drug, combined with all the other useless activities I mechanically do at home, makes my days and with them my age fly by. Sometimes I feel a bit like Officer Drogo but instead of waiting for the enemy that doesn't arrive, I wait to have time.

Let's be clear, I believe that a bit of healthy goofing off for hobbies is a right in life and losing hours is a luxury we must seek from time to time: Hesse wrote a great book about it “L’arte dell’ozio” and I recommend it to you. Slowing down and diverting oneself is essential, as is not taking oneself too seriously. That said, it is also perhaps right to carve out hours to develop social relationships and a minimum of critical spirit. I use the adjective essential not by chance but because I am convinced that it is now more than ever. The society of social networks has given us a simplification of information, a radicalization, and extreme synthesis of it that is unparalleled in history and is dramatically eroding critical thinking and socialization.

LIMES

And it is also for this reason that five years ago, so in all likelihood it was seven, I subscribed to this Italian geopolitics magazine. I did it because it reminded me of a special person who is no longer around and who often read it. I admired that person and remember many nice discussions we had together, often over a drink. So I got the online subscription: I probably read about 10 articles in a year. I have my own rhythms but besides being lazy I'm also stubborn and so after another three years I treated myself to the print subscription and it's a whole other thing. One way or another I force myself every month to “find the time” to read it and I must admit that it is stimulating reading. I find that often the information in newspapers and media is biased and in any case generalizing: it considers us as stupid children and thus simplifies with two colors in two tones: white, very white, and black, very black. The end.

Limes appeals to me because it talks to us about the color gray in all its thousands of shades. It's a less flashy tone, but I believe it's the one that comes closest to better capturing reality. The magazine has almost 30 years and is directed by Lucio Caracciolo and in every issue (200/300 pages at most) you find the same format: editorial with maps strictly in color followed by several parts that explore themes almost always touching all continents.

The new issue that has just arrived and which I used as "cover of the work" will discuss the U.S.A. and their internal crisis. In 2022 there was a lot of talk about Ukraine, but in the recent “A Whole Different World” the multipolar world that is taking shape with the war zone (“Caoslandia”) approaching our borders was analyzed. I do not want to go into the details of the various issues, it would be foolish. What I want to try to express is that I like the professional and aseptic way in which opinions even distant from each other are presented. The magazine is Western but extremely critical and professional. It has the merit of letting you hear more bells and so you find yourself reading the same events presented in two/three articles that have a completely different approach. There are interviews with politicians, diplomats, military personnel, representatives of national/international companies and above all, you can enjoy a boundless bibliography. If an article interested you, you can go to the website to search for it: automatically under the text, you will find references to previous issues that have already addressed that topic.

The magazine has a medium to long-term vision. It makes you understand that balances are constantly being questioned and that the interconnections that are created almost daily are simply incalculable. A very dense forest in which I like to try to venture... between one prank and another.

Every time I finish an issue I feel more ignorant and I have to admit that all in all it's a great feeling. I can't stand people who think they know everything.