Page 124 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Prof. Paolo maddalena

“common goods” encounters difficulties here, eluding issues of public or pri-
vate ownership of the property, affirming that all that matters is the “destina-
tion” of that property, its common use, regardless of whether it belongs to eve-
ryone or is private property. This is a somewhat hasty assertion since it does not
take into account the fact that property in private ownership already has its
“destination”, that of satisfying the needs, or even just the desires, of the pri-
vate owner.

3. In the light of this premise, and limiting our examination to the Italian
situation, attention must be drawn to the fact that “territory” today is subject
to a three-fold attack: a) speculation in building and the consequent “devasta-
tion” of the environment; b) the single, prevailing, neo-liberal thought which
has also clouded the minds of jurists; c) financial speculation ultimately leading
to the “alienation” of territory. And do not forget that saving territory means
avoiding not only its “devastation” but also its “privatization” and its “aliena-
tion”.

As far as speculation in the building sector is concerned, the shameful
spectacle of environmental devastation, uncontrolled development, legal and
illegal construction and indiscriminate consumption of agricultural land appe-
ars like an uncontrollable force destroying everything in its path. The greatest
threat, however, is cultural. As mentioned before, the ominous “economic neo-
liberalism” has captured the collective imagination and, basing everything on
individual selfishness, private ownership of economic assets, on profit and
money, it has managed to trap politics and, to a large extent, civil law, which
ignores the Constitution and everything based on the civil code, written in 1942
and validated by the Statute of Carlo Alberto of 1848.

Financial speculation then presents a deadly attack. Finance no longer fol-
lows the “finance-product-finance” pathway but prefers a “finance-finance”
process, purchasing debts and making profit from the inevitable default. In this
way there is no more productive investment (apart from in Germany) so com-
panies close, workers are laid off and the recession advances, bringing with it
widespread misery. The final act will undoubtedly be the alienation and total
loss of territory in such a way that the Italian people will find themselves, like
the Jews, enslaved to Babylon.

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