De Lorenzo

“…according to J. Stuart Mill, in cases where the common opinion is correct (as when it is believed that the Earth is not flat), a widespread and unchallenged consensus ends up depriving the opinion itself of any driving force, of any intellectual and emotional grip on those who accept it, but since they find no one who thinks differently, they are almost never forced to defend it, and therefore to better understand its foundations. There is a need for someone to support the thesis that the Earth is flat not because the Earth is flat but because all of us who rightly believe that the Earth is not flat need to come into contact with the evidential and argumentative strength of our opinion, and we will never do so unless we are forced to by someone who has another opinion. Diversity has value, then, only in a context of rigorous and merciless discussion […]. Current diversity […] that stops at the threshold of every personal opinion presuming to “respect” it, is the diversity of tourism, of those who are content to think that the world is beautiful because it is varied and do nothing to change it (or do much to change it, but only by turning it into a tourist destination)”

E. Bencivenga, “Philosophy as an Instrument of Liberation”, Milan, 2010

I. Who he is.

He has collaborated with Debaser since June 2009 [but has been retired for transfer to another position as of June 2010, after saying farewell to the site], and, after successfully completing a probationary period, he became in October of the same year the main political and historical commentator of the site, thus filling a gap that users, even unregistered ones, had felt in recent years in this container.

His interventions are limited to the discussion of historical-political documentaries or television broadcasts of primary importance (section: "Oculistiche") and books, essentially essays or classics of thought (section: "Interiori").

At times, with the support of the site management and editorial staff, he also publishes editorials, in which he deals with issues related to contemporary problems.

In the past, he had provided the site with a brief biography, later removed to protect his privacy and not to raise doubts about his personal identity, from which it emerged that after graduating from high school [omissis], and his military service in the Corps of [omissis], he enrolled in the Faculty of [omissis], which he later left for personal reasons, privately cultivating studies of a historical, political, and philosophical nature.

He therefore brings together on this site his passions, his inclination for writing and communication, his desire to involve Debaser’s users—who have surpassed the musical specialization to gain a more generalist stamp, placing it among the most interesting sites on the net—with reflections that would otherwise remain private or restricted to a select circle of followers.

II. Why he writes on Debaser.

His reference models are Ernesto Galli della Loggia, Angelo Panebianco, Piero Ostellino, Pierluigi Battista, Paolo Mieli, Sergio Romano, Gianpaolo Pansa, Augusto Minzolini, Ferruccio De Bortoli—that is, journalists and writers who have made informational and expository balance their hallmark, overcoming ideological barriers otherwise spread in the country.

From these Authors he draws inspiration for his reviews, seeking an exposition of the deep themes underlying films, documentaries, TV shows, essays, classics of thought, characterized by a problematic approach, open to contributions from all, deliberately abandoning, as a methodological choice, any preconceived thesis, which represents the main obstacle to a proper path of awareness and personal emancipation.

He addresses every form of communication—whether visual or written—without ideological or conceptual prejudices, understanding the positive and negative aspects of every manifestation of the human intellect and weighing them in search of a balanced judgment, returning to himself and his readers the anthropocentric and humanistic perspective of Protagoras, who identified man as the “measure of all things.”

III. Past Criticism.

His beginnings with reviews of writings by Silvio Berlusconi or focused on particularly sensitive issues in the current historical-political context, such as the Lega Nord, the G8 of 2001, the figure of Bettino Craxi, the issues of discrimination against homosexuals and their social representation, the relations between media and the formation of consensus, the boundaries between faith and reason, have led some users of the site to the mistaken belief that De Lorenzo is among the “right-wing” writers, having not promoted—as per his methodological approach—theses dear to certain fringes of the left or far left.

Such reasoning appears utterly specious; a close reading of his writings—to which reference must be made—shows that he has never expressly professed any political creed, or any particular ideology, but has limited himself to presenting, with the objectivity that can generally be expected from any individual, the issues underlying the work reviewed.

The very fact that he has never participated in the debates raised by his reviews is indicative of De Lorenzo's neutrality with respect to the comments that may arise from his writings, in the belief that once they become text and are published online, they cease to represent his opinion and become the property of the reader.

This does not mean, of course, that the author disdains debate, which he always follows with attention and participation, intervening if anything to moderate its tone, particularly appreciating the fact that his reviews can be the occasion to promote initiatives of collective relevance: let us recall, among others, the event publicized by the user “Fosca” at the end of the review of “Chi ha paura della Muccassassina”, by Wladimir Gudagno-Luxuria.

IV. What they say about him.

Debaser users have not always been generous with De Lorenzo, probably for the reasons highlighted in par. III and for the mistrust with which most members evaluate authors like him, often confused with "fakes" (i.e. pseudo-users, specifically created by other site users with the aim of mocking others, stirring up confusion, revitalizing a stale environment where clichés abound and the usual suspects, often perpetual university students, talk among themselves like old-fashioned intellectuals, acting as judges of what should and should not be done, sometimes with rude and disrespectful tones, covered by internet anonymity and the excuse of not truly knowing their interlocutor).

Here are some of the most critical comments, reported for accurate and complete information:

FIQUATA Data: 25/6/2009 19:1 | Voto: 1 | Voto al Libro: 1

Other comments follow and will follow in time; however, it is necessary to stop at a statistically indicative sample.

Modesty, a sense of proportion and appropriateness dictate not to transcribe positive comments, private messages, or letters of various kinds: this is because praise and good results achieved are victories of the past, while here the focus is the future.

IV-Bis. The “pseudo” parody.

A curious and unusual reaction to De Lorenzo's writings came from a user who renamed themselves “De_Lorenzo”, author of a personal profile clearly modeled on this very model, adopting its style, structure, and content, reversing them with a distorting perspective.

That same user then reviewed, for the purpose, an album by Michele Apicella, a musician much appreciated by Silvio Berlusconi.

The initiative is appreciable and clever, albeit based on a faulty premise, then subject to irony and reversal: namely the reactionary and politically aligned nature attributed to the writings of the real De Lorenzo, whose premises and aims are not therefore properly understood, as previously indicated.

In this, the value judgment underlying the action of such a user-fake is not, therefore, unlike the positions of the users seen in par. IV, showing a type of reaction that will be dealt with in detail in par. V), let. i).

V. An Impossible Dialogue?

The negative comments highlighted above seem to demonstrate that the dialogue between De Lorenzo and the average user of the site still struggles to reach satisfactory shores for both parties.

Note, incidentally, how to the author's arguments, presented with care and logical structure, there often follow rebuttals aimed not so much at deconstructing, with meticulous patience and analytical spirit, De Lorenzo’s points, but rather apodictic, misleading, or pretextual attacks on his person; that is, given the context, on his nickname.

Evidence for this is, among other things, the review of the classic by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, "The Communist Manifesto": none, or nearly none, of the over one hundred comments on the review refutes the historical outcome of Marxist philosophy or the harmful implications of the thought of the two 19th-century German authors.

In every case, the attack is aimed at the anonymous contemporary reviewer, a mere interpreter of the spirit of the times.

The reasons for all this may seem hidden, but can be outlined as follows: to De Lorenzo’s rational, or at least reasonable, arguments, there often follow irrational and unconvincing replies, unless the audience has a prejudice against the author.

The forms of apparent refutation of De Lorenzo and the means by which they occur are varied:

i. mockery: jokes, witticisms, creation of “fake-epigones”;

ii. disbelief: astonishment, dismay;

iii. hatred: threats, dire predictions;

iiii. arrogance: insults, arrogance, discredit;

iiiii. fear: detachment, avoidance, suspicion.

For now, the dialogue—that is, the struggle rationality-respect-decorum vs. emotionality-instinct-passion—sees the former statistically succumbing, and with it, De Lorenzo.

But faith in reason as order—and in truth as the product of the iteration of two poles in dialogue—together with abstention from all polemic (which etymologically would be the verbal art of creating apparent enemies where there are none, a risk at Debaser), are values that do not cause De Lorenzo to give up, ever ready to review his theories, provided their errors can be shown rationally and persuasively.

VI. An Essayist Grounded in the Present.

One of the most interesting facts about De Lorenzo's activity as political commentator and essayist on the site is the author's ability to be at the heart of the action and to ride the tiger of news and current events, often anticipating outcomes and problems.

By way of example, his ability to forecast near and future events has included:

- Silvio Berlusconi and his political role: he discusses it extensively in June 2009, while in December 2009 President Berlusconi becomes the victim of a vile attack by a madman or presumed such. The hatred unleashed on the site by an impartial review inclined to consider the Berlusconi phenomenon not in Manichean terms anticipates the season of violence of recent weeks.

- Bettino Craxi: he discusses the topic thoroughly in August 2009. A few months later, with the approach of the tenth anniversary of the death of the Milanese statesman exiled in Hammamet, Craxi's name becomes the subject of a series of instrumental polemics, deriving from the choice of Milan's mayor, Dr. Letizia Moratti, to dedicate a street or a garden to the socialist leader in the outskirts of Milan, as an everlasting testimony to the modernizing spirit of this same Craxi: the one who managed to push the proletariat toward the shores of the petty and middle bourgeoisie, interpreting the needs of the masses coming out of the economic boom and the years of lead. In December 2009 the author of the book reviewed by De Lorenzo, Massimo Pini, gives a long and interesting account of Bettino Craxi's last years in Hammamet (see here).

- Lega Nord: he highlights its political centrality in the summer of 2009; it is possible that in 2010 the Lega Nord will obtain the Presidency of two important regions, Veneto and Piedmont, in any case nominating its own people to lead them, as representatives of the People of Freedom in the country's most economically and culturally advanced regions.

- G8 of Genoa: he addresses it at the start of August 2009, describing the events impartially and fairly. His interpretation is confirmed a few weeks later, with the acquittal of the Chief of Police Dr. Gianni De Gennaro from the charges brought against him for the well-known events in Genoa, for which, consequently, any conspiracy or anti-liberty intent must be dismissed. The violence of the G8 must thus be considered as isolated incidents due to the unpreparedness of the Forces of Order in the face of outbreaks of revolt during a huge mass demonstration. For further information see here

- Transsexuals: he discusses them at length in the essay on Vladimir Luxuria, defining the problems concerning the lives of transsexuals and homosexuals, making it clear that they are “all things considered normal people”, that is, deserving of a normal life despite the ghettoization coming from certain fringes of society, and therefore, net of the suffering they have suffered. It sparked accusations that PDL used that “all things considered” not in the above quantitative sense, but in a “concessive” way, accepting the normality of homosexual and transsexual citizens “despite” their diversity. Subsequent headlines focus on the trans and latent male homosexual population, highlighting a kind of ghettoization of these individuals and their clients, as well as a retrograde view of the phenomenon, based on an abstract division between “diverse” and “normal”, thus marking the liberal position of De Lorenzo, who reaffirms that these subjects, far from being different, are “all things considered normal.”

- His Holiness Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI: he illuminates his thought in dialogue with the German intellectual Habermas in September 2009, sparking a stir of controversy directed not so much at Ratzinger's intellectual contributions to science and hermeneutics, but at the Catholic Church as a centuries-old institution and above all at its connections with Italian political and social history. The Pope is not seen by his critics as a man and intellectual, but as a completely abstract symbol, and as such, to be criticized and attacked a priori. In December 2009, an unbalanced Italo-Swiss woman attacks Pope Ratzinger during the Christmas mass in St. Peter's [at which De Lorenzo himself was present, ndPDL], seeing him, once again, as a “symbol”, or “fetish” of a poorly lived Faith, much like those who criticize His Holiness a priori.

- Communists and anarchists: communist and anarchist thought is subjected to harsh criticism in autumn 2009, in reviews of works by Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, and Mikhail Bakunin, noting that the ideals they seek to pursue—in the abstract, not to be absolutely criticized—are achievable only by violence, oppression, elimination of the guarantees of the rule of law. In December 2009, anarchists claimed the planting of a bomb inside the “Luigi Bocconi” University of Milan, threatening the lives and physical safety of dozens of innocent people.

VII. The DeLo Channel Project.

In January 2010, De Lorenzo launched a new activity by founding the first thematic channel active on Debaser, "DeLo Channel - A New Way of Making Culture".

Dedicated to the arts, the thematic channel includes several essays on Italian painting, sculpture, and architecture with the aim of informing, and possibly educating, the site's young users on the enjoyment of works of art as both intellectual and emotional experience.

The aim is not only to make users proud and aware of the peculiarities of the Italian artistic experience, but also to demonstrate, through artistic sensitivity, that culture is not the prerogative of an intellectual class entrenched in old Marxist positions like Carlo Giulio Argan, but rather a universal heritage, which can be spread and understood beyond ideological barriers and conceptions that consider art as a superstructural element compared to historical and economic experience, following in the footsteps of the philosopher from Trier.

[The project turned out to be a failure and the channel closed its programming after two episodes due to low viewership].

VIII. What he expects from the future.

To write, to reflect, to study, to overcome prejudices, to debunk clichés, to instill hope for a better world, to shine a light on the dark corners of history, to reconsider the apparent truths imposed by superficial thinking, to see if the stubborn Marina Berlusconi will succeed her father in leading the most popular Italian political party, start a personal correspondence full of political-philosophical discussions with the lovely Barbara Berlusconi, and—though this is more of a secret wish—provoke intelligent debates on Debaser, the "coolest Italo-Luganese website on the internet".

Rome-Portuense, January 19, 2010

De Lorenzo

[*] No responsibility is taken for any offensive nature of sentences attributable to third parties and directed at persons, ideologies, shared feelings, public decency, or anything else.