The civil talent or the ‘spirit’ of a country, its governing bodies and people lies in knowing how to create true civil pride and hope starting from real signs that are present in the past.
by Luigino Bruni
published in Messaggero di Sant'Antonio on 03/02/2025
Civil Economy, whose golden age was the Neapolitan 18th century and whose founder was the abbot Antonio Genovesi from Salerno, stands for the truest and deepest spirit of our economy and society. In Lezioni di Economia civile (Lessons of Civil Economy), published by Genovesi between 1765 and 1769, we read very important pages about Italy and its South, which seem to have been written not yesterday, but tomorrow: ‘The Greeks called Magna Graecia and many other provinces of this Kingdom the land of wine; but they could also call it the land of grain, and not only of wheat, but of every other kind. Sicily was the granary of Rome, and now it belongs to many peoples. Its wines are the nectar drunk at the best tables, not only those of the English, but also those of the French, who are so proud of their Burgundy. Silk countries, and today almost the only serious ones in Europe. A land of cotton wool, which, by everyone's admission, is the best in the world; a land of wool, linen, hemp, all kinds of animals; a land of cheese, manna etc. etc. etc., a land of great minds...’ (p. 325 - in the Italian edition)
And so, after having sung the praises of his land, Genovesi asks himself, and we join him there: why is it that Southern Italy, despite all this wealth, does not go through an adequate economic development? Why is it that these lands do not generate sufficient ‘money’? ‘I,’ continues Genovesi, ‘will never believe that there is a lack of ingenuity. Who can be persuaded that temperate climates can generate greater brains than cold ones? Nor that there is a lack of willingness to work; there is no country in Europe where people work harder, and sometimes suffer more, than the two Sicilies. Therefore, we must conclude that there is a lack of courage, and that people are labouring badly there’. These are some very beautiful words about our South, especially if we consider that today the main problem in our southern lands is the lack of esteem shown by the rest of the country and its leaders, the perfect symbol of which is the proposal for ‘differentiated autonomy’.
For Genovesi, the reason for this lack of “courage” and good “labour” (work) is clear and twofold: inadequate schooling and the demoralisation of entrepreneurs, something that does not affect the South only. ‘The reason’, he writes, ‘can only be either the rudeness of the artisans or the pressure of the spirit; the former is a consequence of not having schools of design and the crafts among us; the latter of the wrong method of finance. The greatest burden of finance has fallen on the arts (forms of craftsmanship, trades - the tr.), and it should have been based on land; that is why the arts have been discouraged and humiliated”. True words. Yesterday, just as today, there is no future for a country when taxation continues to “discourage” and “depress” the trades, that is, artisans and businesses, and favours income. The privileges granted to income – financial, from consultants, real estate, etc. – are always the first indicator of economic and social systems being still feudal, or neo-feudal. Genovesi was aware that those qualities and those firsts in the Italian economy and ingenuity were undoubtedly real virtues, but they were mixed with vices that were no less real, as always, just like everywhere.
But a generous reading of his (work on the) Kingdom inspired the Neapolitan reforms and revolutions, it was brief but still brilliant, and it continues to feed the tradition of civil economy. The civil talent or the “spirit” of a country, its governing bodies and people lies in knowing how to create true civil pride and hope starting from real signs that are present in the past. Take away this ability from a people and all that will remain is the art of denigration, criticism, pessimism, abuse, mutual malevolence. We can no longer afford to have this happen to us.
Credit Foto: © Giuliano Dinon / Archivio MSA
