34
PARTISAN REVIEW
an lLa li an . T o a democra ti c It a li a n . We h a ve been go ing throu gh
fascism . I m yself went throu gh fascism . I was \"Cry youn g a t th e time,
but I have a very cl ea r imp ress io n o f wha t it was like. And it was a
p erfectl y independent movement. a t leas t for the first years o f its
exi stence.
It was independent from an y o ther bi g po \\' er ill the wor ld , a nd
yet it was n o t very good fo r u s a ll the same. Act uall y, pa radoxi ca ll y,
one could even say, the fac t o f be ing dependent o n an o ther country
would be an advantage. As we experi enced under G erma n y. T h e
moment that German y became paramount in Itali a n po liti cs. fas–
cism began to declin e. And we wt're cit th e end o f th e tunn el. T h e
same thin g could con ce iva bl y evrn ha ppen with Ru ss ia a nd Ita ly.
I think th a t there a re o ther ques ti ons tha t intCTes t us, a nd these
are conn ected with wh a t is go in g on in Ita ly now: a res tri ct ion o f
freedom s tha t h as been g radua l. very slow, but h as been go in g o n day
after day a nd day after day for seve ral yea rs. Actua ll y. wh y did th is
h appen ?
I h ave my own theory. I publi sh ed an a rticl e in
Commentary
one yea r ago, ma inta ining tha t th ere is a new cl ass in Ita ly th a t is
rea ll y a n ew expl o itin g po liti cal cl ass. It came o ut o f th e a lli an ce
between th e Chri sti an Democra ts a nd th e Commllni sts th a t h as
exi sted fo r a long time. Actu a ll y. the left win g. comin g democra ti–
ca ll y, are o ften much more to th e Left. o r ew'n mort' Communi st if
you wi sh , th an th e Communi sts th emselvt's. They h a ve a lli ed
themselves in a prog ress ion th a t h as bem go in g on. toge ther with th e
welfariza ti on a nd the pl a nifi ca ti o n and with the ensla vem ent o f the
lLa li an econ om y to th e sta te power, whi ch has g iw'n to thi s cl ass a t
th e same time bo th the mean s o f controllin g everythin g a nd the
means o f expl o itin g everything to th eir own acl\·a nt age.
So it is rea ll y a Ma fi a th a t is cont ro llin g most o f the Ita li an
structure. a nd thi s is the rea ll y g ra ve sitllation a nd has n o thin g to do
with theori es o f communi sm . May be the fact tha t communi sm has
been call ed in is a symptom o f tl1(' fact th a t they now need someon e,
some p arty tha t h as the intern a ti on a l pres ti ge a nd the etiquette a nd
the hi sto ry and th e ri g idity n ecessary to cl amp down once and fo r a ll
on those who wo uld like to o bj ect to thi s sys tC'm .
Will iam Ph illips:
Th ank you . J a n e Kramer a nd Maxwell a nd then.
I ha ve you listed . We are n o t igno ring you . All ri ght ?
Jane Kramer:
I think the bes t I ca n do is to sh a re sOl11 e o bserva ti on s,
because I have come back fro m looking a t how the Part y op era tes o n
a very loca l leve l. in a sma ll comlllllnit y ",hlTt' it h as power and
