In-suffering. This is the common thread linking conditions and feelings in the North. In-insufferance (with a hyphen) reverberates, at the same time, opposing and only apparently paradoxical situations. It encompasses discontent with a state, bureaucratic and fiscal system deemed inadequate to withstand the challenges of international competition. Promised reforms that never came to fruition, levels of taxation that are still very onerous, and inadequate infrastructure represent a heavy burden on the shoulders of a part of the production system projected onto international markets. Companies that before and during the crisis continued to invest in innovation and internationalisation processes, and are now beginning to reap the benefits of their efforts. The data are there to confirm the goodness of the performance: according to Unioncamere Veneto, industrial production in the fourth quarter of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016, stood at +6.3%, with even better results for SMEs. For Unioncamere Lombardy, it grew by 5% in the same interval. And these are just the latest in a positive series that has been going on for several quarters now. Not to mention the industrial districts: they, too, have undergone a process of metamorphosis, reorganising their internal structure and now becoming 'dis-large' or production chains that have extended their supply networks far beyond territorial and national borders.
These companies, their suppliers and the workers themselves employed there constitute a network of realities that has accelerated, is embracing the technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, and is confronting the most advanced markets. They would like a country system capable of supporting their innovation efforts, their projections abroad, but they do not see it on the horizon. In this sense, they manifest an 'impatience' with an (political) Italy incapable of reforming itself, of keeping up with the speed of change. They feel that they have a driving economic role for the country (69.6%), but count very little in the political sphere (30.1%). As last December's consultative referendum showed, they want more autonomy from a centre deemed inefficient. This is the part of the country that bites the bullet, while wishing it could run faster.
But, as is always the case, the average figure hides very different situations. Another part of the entrepreneurial system failed or could not accelerate. And it continues to be 'in-between'. These are the smaller companies, which are not part of international supply chains, which operate on domestic markets or have not started innovation processes. They are the workers who have lost their jobs because companies have relocated or closed down. They are all those small savers, artisans and traders who saw their savings and investments go up in smoke with the collapse of the popular banks. In these cases, the crisis continues to bite and the wounds, deep as they are, have not yet healed. And for these sections of the population, the 'in-suffering' becomes twofold: in addition to resentment, there is economic hardship.
The vote on 4 March is not just the result of fears and fears, and thus can be ascribed exclusively to the Bannon-style 'populism-nationalism' category. It is something more articulated: it saw the two dynamics of 'in-suffering' present in the different North converge, redrawing the political geography. The surprise, however, reveals the inability of a large part of the ruling class - and not only the political class - to consider the karst movements of society and the economy. As shown by the trip to the North and research by Community Media Research for La Stampa, the social lift in the North has come to a standstill, compared to five years ago, for 67% of the population and for 30% has fallen. The middle class is divided between those who have at least been able to maintain their level of status (perhaps by eroding their assets) and those who have seen their opportunities diminish. The Bank of Italy itself points out that the share of poverty in Italy remains very high in the South (39% in 2006 and 2016), but in the North it grows from 8.3% (2006) to 15.0% (2016). The population is gradually ageing and migratory phenomena inspire more fear. Those who express a welcoming orientation towards migrants are still in the majority (53.7%), but decrease compared to 2013 (66.1%), in favour of a higher aversion (from 5.1% to 16.7%). Territorial communities, rightly or wrongly, perceive themselves as disoriented, vulnerable. The list of erosive phenomena would be long, but it highlights the legacy of the crisis: a polarised society and economy, increasingly and more sharply divided than in the past. Hence, an 'in-suffering' that, in order to be reabsorbed, calls for an inclusive planning, capable of offering a new horizon of opportunities: for everyone.
Daniele Marini
