Gianni Vattimo on European integration and United States

'Politics has become the business of a small group technicians,' says the outspoken philosopher and politician

For celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome that laid the foundations of the European Union, Professor Gianni Vattimo used the only method open to a philosopher: criticism.
Last Tuesday at the Madden Auditorium of the University of Toronto, some 200 people - some standing - attended the lecture given by the Italian philosopher, and former European MP, on The Roots of Europe and the Philosophical Myth of Unity, organized by Istituto Italiano di Cultura and by the Department of Italian Studies of the U of T.
Starting from an analysis of Plato, and touching upon Friedrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger and Karl Popper, among others, Vattimo explained how the philosophical myth of unity, and therefore any attempt to bring individual lives to one model, has been rejected also as a reaction to positivism and to the mechanization of life. His conclusion was that this concept derived from the need governments feel to dominate and control the diversity of human life.
Nowadays, according to Vattimo, "it is precisely the attempt to unify the values of Western democracy that terrorism originates from, insofar as it disallows any opposition, thus turning into intolerance of the other, while a free society is based on cultural diversity." He did not spare criticism of the European Union, born after World War II "to try and keep the peace on the continent, as an appendix to NATO," but unable to be a real alternative to the hegemony currently threatening to swallow cultural diversity, i.e. the United States and consumerism; to say nothing of the Catholic Church, opposing euthanasia in the name of the supposed intangibility of life.
In summary, Gianni Vattimo had something for everybody; and jokingly said that many consider him "a pacifist anarchist."
Professor Vattimo, why do you people call you a pacifist anarchist?
"Usually I call myself an anarchist-communist, even if I know this is very unpopular. I think that after the fall of Stalinism we can rediscover the original ideal of Soviet-based communism. The Soviets were the neighbourhood councils, i.e. meetings where every citizen could play a direct role in political decision making. On the occasion of a book fair in Cuba, I will publish a new pamphlet, entitled Ecce comu, come si ridiventa comunisti ("Ecce Comu, how we can return to Communism"). I realize that this is hard to argue, but the point is that communism was ruined by Stalin, and of course by many other things afterwards, but I like the ideal of a society with ample citizen participation - which by the way was Lenin's definition of communism. I am well aware that right now referring to Lenin's vision makes little sense, and that's why I call myself an anarchist-communist; this means that I intend to launch many initiatives, inspire by the idea of the widest possible participation, without seizing power. In my opinion, the problem of democracy today is that politics has become a business for a small group of technicians, and citizens are therefore cut off."
Why do you criticize the concept of unity?
"The ideal of modernity was unification. Even now, large entities such as the European Union - which is not entirely negative - derive from a modern ideal of unity as an antidote to disorder. Today it seems to me that this idea has become unsupportable, since we all depend from the same vision of life, which thus becomes unbearable. Moreover, human tradition developed and consolidated through many cultures. It's like having many prescription drugs; getting rid of all but one means giving up on our ability to survive. Today's keyword should be diversity. I believe that the European Union must go ahead, but seriously, not as a mere appendage of the larger globalized unity centred on the United States. The EU should be something else; not an enemy, of course, but different, enlivening the horizon of world politics."
So you see the EU as not autonomous enough?
"Yes, the European Union is definitely not autonomous enough. Just think that I was a member of a committee of the European Parliament investigating Echelon, the large wiretapping system that also includes Canada, the United Kingdom, etc. We could not achieve anything. Once someone asked, 'Are communications within the EU, between the Commission and the Parliament, secure?' The answer was, 'Sure! The systems were tested by the Pentagon...' In other words, we are pretty sure that the U.S. administration knows everything it wishes to know. This is where Europe is today. I won't say that we are a colony, but I think of Italy, which is especially targeted because we have U.S. military bases on our territory. I would like to change all this, but nothing really serious can be done except make life more complicated for the overlords by multiplying forms, communities, groups. We should not let ourselves be restricted."
In your lecture you mentioned euthanasia.
"This is an Italian problem, complicated by the presence of the Vatican. I consider myself a good Catholic, but if I could get rid of Vatican influence on Italian law I would be glad; at present, euthanasia, abortion, embryo manipulation and PACS (family contracts) cannot even be mentioned, because Italian politicians are much more timid than they seem. For instance, polls find that 67% of Italians are in favour of PACS, yet politicians are afraid of being targeted by the bishops in an election. In addition, this government is very weak, and therefore easily blackmailed."
On a very different subject, what can you say about Nanni Moretti's return to the Turin Film Festival?
"The film festival has always been a good thing for Turin. In the past there was a fight about control; those who pay the expenses - the region, the province, the municipality - asked for greater control on the decisions and for greater international visibility. However, things are okay now. In my opinion, paradoxically, Nanni Moretti is the best man to fight against commercialization, so the local governments brought the enemy in. We made a series of changes so that in the end Moretti accepted again to run the Festival. We are all satisfied, because he believes in cinema more than in commerce. We shall see whether he, too, will be kicked out for not being commercial enough."

Publication Date: 2007-02-11
Story Location: http://www.tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=7016