From Rome
The tensions of these more than two years of pandemic and war in the Ukraine they have made Italians sadder and melancholic than ever. They fear a third world war and do not want to make any effort to change their own situation or the country, according to the 56th Censis report, an investigation conducted by the Center for Social Investment Studies, a prestigious Italian socio-economic research institute founded in 1964.
The “Censis Report on the Social Situation of the Country” details the things that most concern Italians and that came to light through surveys carried out by researchers at different levels. Apart from inflation that it has grown notably (in the last year it was 11.8% when in 2019 it was 0.6%), and that it has had a negative influence on salaries and pensions, the energy issue worries a lot especially now that winter has arrived.
Limited use of heating
Italy has lost a good part of the gas supply that it bought from Russia because of the war in Ukraine. And although some agreements are now being negotiated and have been finalized with African countries for the purchase of gas, the winter has meant that the regions had to limit the number of hours allowed for each building or house to use the heating. The country has been divided into six zones according to the temperatures they normally have in winter. The city of Rome, for example, is in zone D, and you can have the heating on from November 14 to April 7 for 11 hours a day. But sometimes eleven hours are not enough to heat a house, and that is why many people have bought electric stoves.
But the hour limit cannot be avoided, especially since the price of gas is very high and increasing consumption would mean an increase in bills that not all families can afford. On the other hand, it could even lead to a gas shortage if there is an exaggerated consumption.
And about differences in wages, the investigation showed that people hate the privileges that the rich receive today, in this crisis situation. For 87% of Italians, the difference between the salaries of managers and employees is excessive and unbearable, as are the privileges they have in companies such as millions in compensation, the use of private planes and other privileges.
At some point in the crisis generated by the pandemic, there was talk of the need for millionaires to contribute part of their profits to help the state finance the crisis. But then it was nothing. According to an investigation by Oxfam (Oxfam Committee to Reduce Hunger, an organization born in Great Britain in 1942, to bring food to women and children exacerbated by the Second War), between 2020 and 2021 the wealth of the super-rich grew by 56%. The 40 richest millionaires in Italy have wealth equivalent to that of the poorest 30% of Italians, that is to say, that of 18 million adults, according to Oxfam.
Insecurity and fear of war
According to the Census, 81% of Italians are afraid that the third world war could break out while 59% are afraid that countries will resort to the use of an atomic bomb and 58% are afraid of eventually being summoned to fight in that war.
But what is worse is that 66.5% of Italians feel unsafe to live in this country. This percentage was 10 points less in 2019, before the pandemic began.
Being a country that has the highest level of people over 65 in Europe (23.5% of the population in 2021), the issue of insecurity is exacerbated because the elderly tend to feel less safe in general. But according to the investigation, that insecurity has spread even more. 65% of Italians, in fact, feel insecure while in 2019 they were 55.5%. And the fears and insecurity revolve around different points: the risk of not being self-sufficient, the risk of becoming a victim of some crime (51.7% of the population thinks so), the risk of not being able to count on enough money to support themselves after retirement (47.7%) and, of course, the fear of losing their job (47.6%).
Although these fears are present, the Censis specified in its investigation that in the last 10 years Italy has notably improved crime control, having decreased assaults, house and car robberies. On the other hand, other crimes have increased: sexual violence, extortion and computer scams.
reigning apathy
In Italy there has been an increase in the “temptation to passivity”, says the report, which now affects 54.1% of citizens. Four out of five people do not want to make sacrifices to change something in their lives or in the country. For example, 36.4% said that they are no longer interested in making sacrifices in their own career or in order to earn more money.
The lack of interest of the citizens for the social, economic or political problems that the country itself has, is serious for the growth of a society. And apparently both the pandemic and the crisis generated by the war have increased this lack of interest.
And the most evident proof were the last parliamentary elections that were held on September 25. The first party that qualified in those elections was not that of the current prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Fratelli d’Italia (first among all the political parties with 26% of the votes) but the “party” of the non-voters, of those who abstained, of those who voted blank and who have left a deep scar on the history of the Italian Republic born after the Second World War, highlighted the report. Some 18 million people, that is to say almost 36% of those who had the right to vote (in Italy voting is not compulsory), this time they did not. In the 2018 political elections, the percentage of voters had been 73% while in the elections last September only 64% voted. “Thus, a silent retraction of the citizens lost by the Republic has manifested itself,” concluded the Censis.
