{"id":99790,"date":"2024-03-12T10:00:59","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T09:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/uncategorized\/contro-le-passioni-tristi-torna-la-voglia-di-fare-politica-e-impegnarsi-nel-volontariato\/"},"modified":"2024-03-13T16:47:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T15:47:39","slug":"against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/","title":{"rendered":"Against the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering"},"content":{"rendered":"

We live in an age of \u201csad passions<\/strong>\u201d, to use an effective expression of Baruch Spinosa, of melancholy thoughts but also rage and widespread resentments (online comments from \u201ckeyboard haters\u201d are disturbing evidence of this). We also live in an age of deep loneliness. We lack, however that \u201cabstract fury\u201d that Elio Vittorini linked to the ability to take on the \u201cpain of the offended world\u201d in the brilliant pages of Conversation in Sicily<\/em>, that is, to move against the snares of a petty individualism paying attention to values and general interests, thus seeking to alleviate that pain and above all try to cut off its roots, to overturn its condition.<\/p>\n

And yet, those who attentively investigate trends in social sentiment and developments in public opinion cannot fail to notice, even in these dramatic months of conflict and apprehension, some trends that offer hope. A newfound interest in politics<\/strong> is one example, and reinforcement of the commitment of million of Italians to volunteering is another.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe passions of Italians: surprise growth in support for politics, the Church loses out\u201d, headlines la Repubblica<\/em> (9 March) in relation to a \u201cmap\u201d by Ilvo Diamanti, an authoritative sociologist, built on a socio-demographic survey by Demos, comparing the current data with those of a similar survey carried out in 2016.<\/p>\n

When choosing the issues that Italians are most passionate about, between \u201ctheir town, their region, their country\u201d, or \u201ctheir religion or religious community\u201d or \u201cthe team or sportsman they support\u201d and finally \u201ctheir party, movement or political leader\u201d, the link with their area<\/strong> is still at the top as in 2016 (83%), while the weight given to the Church has fallen (from 72% to 60%), that of sport increased a little (from 49% to 51%) and an upswing in politics stands out (from 35% to 48%). This upswing is in evidence not among the elderly alone, but also the young, in the 18\u201329 age group. It is also widespread, ranging over all sections of opinion, from the centre left to the centre right, with particular sensitivity among 5-Star Movement voters. According to Diamanti, the responses of both local government and institutions more generally in the dramatic Covid and post-Covid periods have brought people closer to politics and parties.<\/p>\n

It will be worth keeping an eye on these trends over time. For the public authorities and political forces, it will also be worth taking care not to waste the occasion of engagement, considering not only the current regional elections but also those in June for the European Parliament: Europe is home to our common destiny for the years to come, a strong anchor of values and interests in the face of the tensions and anxieties generated by geopolitical crises and the moves of other major international players, the US and China above all. This Europe should be viewed, even critically, as the place of hope, preventing Europeans from being overwhelmed by the bleak game of those who play on fears, by the manoeuvres and fake news of those plotting against Europe and its values. European values are an original fusion of democracy, market and welfare, that is, freedom, development and widespread well-being.<\/p>\n

A great moral and civil lesson comes to mind in these difficult times: that of Don Lorenzo Milani<\/strong>. He was a 20th-century educator, and in his lessons to the children and young people in the school of Barbiana: \u201cI learned that the problem of others is equal to mine. Finding a way out alone is avarice. Finding a way out together is politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is the value of politics, of good politics. These words also have a resonance, as an ethical and cultural horizon of reference, when reading the figures on volunteering, a shared social and civil commitment.<\/p>\n

4.6 million Italians are engaged in volunteering activity<\/strong>. They refer to 363,000 non-profit organisations and 86% of those organisations offer their services \u201cto communities\u201d. They are the backbone of the so-called \u2018third sector\u2019. This generates a turnover of around \u20ac80 billion, or 5% of the national GDP. It also employs 870,000 people, even taking into account that more than 80% of non-profit organisations have no employees, instead relying on an extraordinary number of volunteers.<\/p>\n

So we\u2019re talking about huge figures, which demonstrate a robust commitment to community action and a widespread notion of the importance of feeling part of a community by \u201cgifting\u201d one\u2019s intelligence, time and generosity. It\u2019s a reality that warrants consideration, greater institutional attention and support from the \u201cfor-profit\u201d world as well. (It was addressed at length last week during a \u201cStories of community action in Lombardy\u201d conference organised by UniCredit in Milan that talked about the support financial companies can offer.)<\/p>\n

Indeed, one of the conditions for growth is to find positive relationships<\/strong> of collaboration and exchange between market-driven businesses and the third sector, in the original landscape that also sees benefit corporations in action as well as every variation of the so-called stakeholder economy, in which a fertile concept of environmental and social sustainability, of the relationship between competitiveness and community, productivity and social inclusion can take shape. Italian companies are masters of this, as Symbola surveys show.<\/p>\n

The outlook is indicated by the President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella: \u201cA civil economy<\/strong> is emerging, comprising a field of many forces, which can contribute to defining a better balance between the market, the environment and social equity… The third sector is the backbone, not a replacement, but an independent structure representing the specific responsibility of the whole country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Accordingly, volunteering is the pillar of more robust social capital, the subject of an idea of civic engagement that has all the characteristics of a desire for good politics. That is to say, vigorous participation in an open, inclusive polis<\/em> or, better still, in a civitas<\/em> (playing with the exactitude of the Latin vocabulary) extending beyond the structures of the urbs<\/em> (physical urban spaces) and founded on the values of citizenship, on that positive intersection of rights and duties that are the cornerstone of a \u2018community\u2019. Such a union of values is shown by the etymology of the word itself: cum <\/em>recalling the concept of being together and munus <\/em>meaning both \u2018gift\u2019 and \u2018obligation\u2019. It is an intersection of bonds, a spur to contemplating a better future together.<\/p>\n

These are the political values that volunteering calls to mind, which call upon everyone in the face of an age of widespread fears deliberately exacerbated to deaden a desire to take part and to look towards a better future, to benefit the coming generations above all. It is, after all, young people who find a response to the desire to take part in volunteering, a desire that today\u2019s politics unfortunately do not succeed in seizing upon and representing.<\/p>\n

Looking at today\u2019s news, it\u2019s true that it would be easy to agree with those who despair of improving our painful contemporary human condition and identify with the character of Altan, an expert in our mood swings, who declares: \u201cI\u2019m torn between the pigheadedness of the will and the gloom of reason.\u201d Again, so as not to kid ourselves, we might find ourselves in this piercing repartee\u00a0\u2013 \u201cOld people have let us down,\u201d complains one character, the other rejoining: \u201cIt’s time for new people to let us down.\u201d<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s more to be found when you flip through the pages of Altan.<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, grandad, we\u2019re starting all over again,\u201d says a child in an impassioned cartoon, pushing a reluctant elderly man forward. There is, however, always hope for a better time to build and to live in.<\/p>

(photo Getty Images)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We live in an age of \u201csad passions\u201d, to use an effective expression of Baruch Spinosa, of melancholy thoughts but also rage and widespread resentments (online comments from \u201ckeyboard haters\u201d are disturbing evidence of this). We also live in an age of deep loneliness. We lack, however that \u201cabstract fury\u201d that Elio Vittorini linked to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,56],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-99790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-corporate-culture"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAgainst the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering - Fondazione Pirelli<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Against the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering - Fondazione Pirelli\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We live in an age of \u201csad passions\u201d, to use an effective expression of Baruch Spinosa, of melancholy thoughts but also rage and widespread resentments (online comments from \u201ckeyboard haters\u201d are disturbing evidence of this). We also live in an age of deep loneliness. We lack, however that \u201cabstract fury\u201d that Elio Vittorini linked to […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fondazione Pirelli\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-12T09:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-03-13T15:47:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wpsite-assets.fondazionepirelli.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12094322\/GettyImages-1319902461.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1010\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"fondadmin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"fondadmin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/\",\"name\":\"Against the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering - Fondazione Pirelli\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wpsite-assets.fondazionepirelli.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12094322\/GettyImages-1319902461.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-12T09:00:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-03-13T15:47:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/f47d097000832c4a6e54538c791fdf25\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wpsite-assets.fondazionepirelli.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12094322\/GettyImages-1319902461.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wpsite-assets.fondazionepirelli.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12094322\/GettyImages-1319902461.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1010,\"caption\":\"International diversity or earth day and international world culture as a concept of diversity and crowd cooperation symbol as diverse people standing together for the planet earth.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Against the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/\",\"name\":\"Fondazione Pirelli\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/f47d097000832c4a6e54538c791fdf25\",\"name\":\"fondadmin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e69498a9175ca244966e51e53c88712c024fcebe41f9a05f75657f1bb25e489b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e69498a9175ca244966e51e53c88712c024fcebe41f9a05f75657f1bb25e489b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"fondadmin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/author\/fondadmin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Against the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering - Fondazione Pirelli","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Against the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering - Fondazione Pirelli","og_description":"We live in an age of \u201csad passions\u201d, to use an effective expression of Baruch Spinosa, of melancholy thoughts but also rage and widespread resentments (online comments from \u201ckeyboard haters\u201d are disturbing evidence of this). We also live in an age of deep loneliness. We lack, however that \u201cabstract fury\u201d that Elio Vittorini linked to […]","og_url":"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/","og_site_name":"Fondazione Pirelli","article_published_time":"2024-03-12T09:00:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-03-13T15:47:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2560,"height":1010,"url":"https:\/\/wpsite-assets.fondazionepirelli.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12094322\/GettyImages-1319902461.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"fondadmin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"fondadmin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/","url":"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/","name":"Against the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering - Fondazione Pirelli","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wpsite-assets.fondazionepirelli.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12094322\/GettyImages-1319902461.jpg","datePublished":"2024-03-12T09:00:59+00:00","dateModified":"2024-03-13T15:47:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/f47d097000832c4a6e54538c791fdf25"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wpsite-assets.fondazionepirelli.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12094322\/GettyImages-1319902461.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wpsite-assets.fondazionepirelli.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/12094322\/GettyImages-1319902461.jpg","width":2560,"height":1010,"caption":"International diversity or earth day and international world culture as a concept of diversity and crowd cooperation symbol as diverse people standing together for the planet earth."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/127.0.0.1\/en\/corporate-culture\/against-the-sad-passions-comes-the-desire-to-engage-in-politics-and-volunteering\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Against the \u201csad passions\u201d comes the desire to engage in politics and volunteering"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/","name":"Fondazione Pirelli","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/f47d097000832c4a6e54538c791fdf25","name":"fondadmin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/it\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e69498a9175ca244966e51e53c88712c024fcebe41f9a05f75657f1bb25e489b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e69498a9175ca244966e51e53c88712c024fcebe41f9a05f75657f1bb25e489b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"fondadmin"},"url":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/author\/fondadmin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99790\/"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post\/"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1\/"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments\/?post=99790"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99790\/revisions\/"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99795,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99790\/revisions\/99795\/"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99782\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/?parent=99790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories\/?post=99790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fondazionepirelli.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags\/?post=99790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}