Roger Abravanel
Meritocrazia

What are the ills that afflict Italy? We hear the answers every night on talk shows: tax evasion (with the Northeast evading taxes like no other area in the world), organized crime, the torpor of the South, the excessive costs of politics, the lobbies (lawyers and notaries above all) that block the liberalizations which would propel the economy forward, and, last but not least, the dictatorship of the unions that prevents the labor flexibility that is now a fact of life everywhere else in the world (talking about a “permanent job” in the Anglo-Saxon world is considered out of touch with reality).

Roger Abravanel (a Libyan naturalized Italian, who graduated in Engineering from the Polytechnic University of Milan at just 21) believes that these are not the only ills gripping our country. As he explains in this dense 400-page essay, Italy’s main problem is the lack of a meritocratic culture. The issue is cultural, one of mindset. For us, it shouldn’t be those who deserve it most that advance; those who strive the hardest and aim for excellence here are almost destined for martyrdom. Italy could potentially outperform any other nation but doesn’t fulfill its potential because there are too many oligarchies (not only economic but also cultural) hindering a great meritocratic revolution. Italy: a Ferrari with flat tires.

After an interesting historical overview of meritocracy (introduced in America in the first half of the last century), the author moves on to describe the Anglo-Saxon world, where merit has acquired almost the sacred character of a religion.

America has a thousand faults (as Abravanel writes, without mincing words), but it still remains the land of opportunity, because there a person is judged for what they do, not for what they are (the child of a great entrepreneur or a renowned scholar). In Italy, not only do we have Confindustria dictating the agenda to the government, but we also have the young industrialists, children of the Confindustria industrialists, who have established their own small lobby.

The density of homeless people in America is triple that of Italy (although this isn’t mentioned in the book), but the United States is one of the countries with the highest social mobility in the world. America condemns brutally but also knows how to reward generously. Young people from modest families have been accepted at Harvard for their school grades, extracurricular activities, and some just for their good character (without having excellent grades). In Italy, social mobility is practically nonexistent: if you’re born poor, you die poor.

Abravanel also talks about the great contribution made by Tony Blair in restructuring the English public administration. A restructuring through meritocracy. Only the best can take care of the most delicate and noble aspects of a country. And by best, we don’t only mean those with the highest intelligence quotient (IQ). No, best also means those who, even with a normal IQ, prioritize moral values (on which Abravanel insists a lot). An intellectually exceptional but ignoble administrator is worth less than a normally intelligent administrator guided by the principle of always doing their job to the best of their ability and serving the citizens in the best possible way. Intelligence is a much broader concept than one might think.

And how does Italy fare in terms of meritocracy? Very poorly. The world laughs at us not only for the well-known facts involving Roman politics. They also laugh at us for the lack of true meritocratic choices: in administration, politics, and universities (despite the great exception of the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, described in detail in the book). Generalizing and simplifying a bit, we are a people of cunning individuals without principles that today must take lessons in meritocracy from even dictatorial countries like China or Singapore.

But what has brought us to this level is also the sad culture of the sixties. The left, in the name of a false concern for the weaker, has built in Italy the “mediocracy”, the culture of mediocrity. Not the rightful equal opportunities that exist in America; no, here egalitarianism prevails. A word like equality—sacred when we talk about equality before the law—loses all value when we talk about real life: there are no (anthropologically) two equal people, and even if there were, those who give more should receive more. Meritocracy is simply a synonym for justice.

Our hope is that the Democratic Party (an ugly cocktail of ex-communists and ex-Christian Democrats) and this lobbyist right that has brought Italy to the brink of the abyss will disappear (democratically) from the scene. The hope lies with serious people on both sides. The future will be bright if two moderate parties are formed, one progressive left and one conservative right, divided on a few values but united in saying no to mediocrity, resignation, and the overpowering of oligarchies (economic and cultural). This is the peaceful cultural revolution that will change Italy.