Constitutional dynamism


I didn't vote in the constitutional reform referendum. I was abroad and actually glad to have a good excuse not to take part in yet another buck-passing farce orchestrated by our disastrous politicians. Petty folks who, due to personal limitations and partisan bias, fail to find agreement on fundamental issues, reducing everything to the usual polarized brawl and condemning the country to institutional collapse. I won't get my hands burned with the hot potatoes that these mediocre incompetents cannot handle and instead pass on to the citizens.
If I had voted, I might have chosen no. Not for the fluff reasons put forward by the opposition, which is just as guilty on the matter as the majority, but out of awareness of my inadequacy in tackling a question unsuited for non-experts.
On the other hand, I really didn't like the reasoning (if you can call it reasoning) of those who proposed voting no because our constitution is a perfect, infallible, and eternal creation that therefore must not be touched. Ever. Regardless. But where do these people live, in a glass bell?
First of all, the founding fathers, aware that their work was only the beginning, wisely included a modification mechanism. So whoever is aprioristically opposed to constitutional reforms should at least have the guts to take it out on the very people they pretend to praise.
Secondly, the original charter is framed within a specific historical moment. The world changes constantly, and over the last century it has done so at a dizzying pace. To think that a constitution drafted at the end of the war could withstand, unchanged and monolithic, geopolitical, technological, and social upheavals like those of recent decades is mind-boggling.
Take the opening as an example: Italy is a democratic republic founded on labor. Aside from the fact that it has never been clear to me why specifically on labor? Why not on dignity, or self-fulfillment, or the social and cultural development of individuals? But anyway, let's suppose that back then, between monarchy and republic, with the country to rebuild, a bit of motivational propaganda could fit. However, do you think that today, when anyone risks being replaced at work by new technologies, an article like that can still make sense? Meaning Italy should be a republic founded on the work done by Gemini or R2-D2?
And this is just one example. Many of the articles could prove inadequate to continuous change. The constitution is not a besieged fortress to be defended. It is a tool that must be consistent with the current national and international situation. If this changes and the charter is no longer adequate, modifications become necessary. But certain people parrot, moreover by shouting, slogans that have no meaning whatsoever, without even questioning the legitimacy of what they are saying.
Disarming, really, disappointing and extremely depressing.

This post was machine-translated from Italian.


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