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ties . The point is to have this kind of mobilization on behalf of the na–
tional interest, the readiness for sacrifice , for hard work, in order to
change the situation. The difficulties will remain; they won 't be solved by
gifts or loans from Germany or the United States . The great problem is
that the Italian economy is locked into the international economy,
which is destroying our own. We'll have to become autonomous in many
areas , and our country can be saved only by a deep transformation of
this sort. Apart from that, there is no future for us at all.
Birnbaum:
Let's shift for a moment to the concrete situation of your own
party. You have about one and one-half percent of the vote, and six dep–
uties . Some of you are from the famous
Mamfesto
group, others from
Lotta Cotinua
(Continuous Struggle) , and there is also the head of the or–
ganized unemployed, from Naples. I have the impression that your group
functions as the conscience of the Italian Revolution. Its ideological influ–
ence, at least on the Communist and Socialist parties, and on opinion
generally in Italy, is far larger than your small size would indicate . What
future do you envisage for your party?
Caste/lina:
In this election, we experienced a great polarization of social
forces and of the political forces around the Christian Democrats and the
Communists, the big parties. In a situation of such contradictions, that
polarization was quite natural, and there was a struggle for the largest
vote . We were the victims of this polarization . Of course, our influence is
larger than our one and one-half percent in the chamber. The Commu–
nist Party did have a great success, but they are undergoing a crisis in their
strategy, and they will be unable to do what they wish . A large discussion
will ensue in the entire left, and we think that all the parties have to re–
consider, develop a new analysis and a new strategy. Our aim is not to be–
come the party of the Italian Revolution, but to be the catalyser of such a
discussion , which will lead to a new
foundation
for the left in Italy, the
whole left. That new
foundation
must include one very important ele–
ment. The left today is organized around the Communist Party . At the
moment, the other left groups are small and the Communists are large–
but the existence of the small groups makes it possible for the forces which
can eventually be detached from the Christian Democrats to join the left.
There has to be space outside the Communist Party and the Christian
Democrats, and when we think of the left, we think of a differentiated
alliance-not just a large Communist Party and nothing else . We think
that there is a role for the small parties of the center but they'll have to
find room in the left alternative and cannot do so if it is constituted just
by the Communist Party.
Birnbaum:
That leads to a final question. You may recall the celebrated
