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secret masonic lodge - P2 - were confirmed. Italians once more kept
asking themselves why so many of their compatriots continue to vote
for these corrupt leaders.
During this week, another front-page event was Giovanni
Agnelli's heart attack. Luciano Lama, the Communist union leader
who easily could be the most formidable opponent of Italy's first citi–
zen, and who is pushing the maximali t line in the national strikes
projected for April- strikes centering on FIAT - was the first to send
his good wishes. Agnelli's state of health, his diet, his visitors, and
his activities were avidly followed until it was known that he was
recovering. And so were stories about the fact that Agnelli was in the
emergency unit together with charity patientg, and that some of his
workers had come to inquire personally about how he was doing;
and that they were hoping for his recovery. For in addition to being
the class enemy, the symbol of capitalist wealth and high living,
Agnelli remains, also, a paternal image - incorporating all the
ambivalences associated with paternalism.
On the surface , of course , Italy rejects these traditions. But insti–
tutions change slowly . Even negotiations among industry, labor, and
government, though very different in context, continue to resemble
the corporatist practices instituted by Mussolini: but the balance
of power is much more fluid and unpredictable. No longer worried
about fascism , Italians are serious about their democracy. Hence
they participate actively in politics . Remembering all the scandals,
and who was involved, they have become extremely skeptical not
only of their leaders , but of
all
politicians. That is why President
Reagan ought to be particularly careful when once more doing the
right thing for the wrong reasons, as he did by receiving Italy's
Socialist president , Sandro Pertini, "with open arms, in the name of
all of America." The Italians I spoke to, and those whom I heard on
television or read about in the press, were somewhat ambivalent
about the grand reception Pertini was accorded. Pleased with the
tone of the meetings, philo-Americans expected this friendship–
given Italy's "dependence" on America, and its past cooperation –
while the others paid scant attention to the ceremonials. But the
timing was considered suspect. For Italy's media have been reporting
freely about America-about our bellicose stance in El Salvador, the
debates on military expenditures, and the reports about the
simulated nuclear war in early March were published just as
President Pertini arrived in the U.S. Never before did I hear so
much fear of war - war that might annihilate Europe and its popula-
