Voto:
Ezekiel, on the day of my paternal grandfather's funeral, we were all welcomed and embraced by the entire town outside the church; it wasn't just a simple ritual. I was, besides being moved, extremely surprised. Solidarity and closeness still exist in some places, from what I've experienced. Of course, this will always be a subjective matter; not all fellow townspeople can be the same. None of my relatives have ever mentioned a word about '68 to me. However, I believe the changes in customs have been felt, albeit indirectly, in the years that followed, but not everywhere in the same way. Unfortunately, in the Calabrian cities I know, life maintains customs with which I can only disagree; conversely, towns and countryside preserve a greater sense of solidarity and closeness, as I mentioned before. Certainly, I must say that there persists, and I believe will always persist, that strange sense of rivalry animated by friendly banter towards neighboring towns: these are mechanisms that only those born and raised there can explain! I read the text of "Piccola città" by Guccini, and honestly, I don’t find ANYTHING in it that reflects the thoughts and feelings my father and I have for our roots. Speaking of your maternal grandfather, you wrote, <<My grandfather on my mother's side was from Veneto, from a large and very poor family; he basically ate only bread and polenta and risked dying. He was the firstborn and fatherless, and thanks to the classic "sacrifices," he managed to study and become a director at Necchi, and went to live in France. I never heard him speak of the fabulous bucolic idyll of pre-war Italy.>> Honor to your grandfather, but weren’t we talking about Italy in the POST-WAR period? Italy before the war was under a fascist regime... Forgive me, but your gratuitous criticism regarding my character seems completely unacceptable to me. I have always worked jobs while studying since I was 16. Perhaps if you read my profile, you might better understand who I am. I fight daily to create a future for myself; I finished university despite barely being able to stand, and I am working, making tremendous efforts. I won't go further. I find it absolutely unacceptable and offensive to speak of a good peasant as a good savage: it's not even a "myth"! Rather, I am referring to old values, primarily that of family, which still dominate in my small homeland and in my heart today. Most of the time, I am not even understood by my friends from northern origins; fortunately, however, I have met a girl who can understand and share certain things. Of course, we owe progress to those who came before us; I find that obvious, so it's right to honor it. In conclusion, I have not spoken of any regrets for that era, which I obviously did not personally experience, but only of a worthy memory of what was, of which I will always carry in my heart the interpreters, who, by the way, were never just poor, starving, and ignorant laborers.
