The so-called leftist ideas were born during the nineteenth century with the spread of parliamentarisms throughout Europe, and subsequently with the birth of initially popular and then socialist parties; the political ideas of the latter have opposed those of the right-wing parties, while the popular parties have sided in the center. After Fascism, therefore in the postwar period, capitalism was established, which was also approached by the socialist parties that slowly faded into social democrats, and in Italy the left was excluded from the government in favor of christian democracy. Subsequently, the ideas of the left have increasingly opposed those of the right, and in the political uncertainty those values and ideals that once characterized the left have been lost.
But today, what does the left represent and, above all, given the crisis the Democratic party is going through, does a “left” still exist? The left was born to defend the weaker social classes to protect the needs of these people and has opposed the parties that instead gave a voice to the bourgeois classes. Over time, particularly also in the nineties, this contrast was no longer current with respect to the evolution of society, which has seen a certain leveling off. From an Italian Communist party it refounded itself into a democratic party of the left, then into a democratic party, and certainly losing its identity in exchange for consensus. Many parties have taken the place of the left by proposing welfare, such as the five-star party.
Today the last Zingaretti leader announces on social media and then resigns, disappointed by the internal divisions in the democratic party, and trying to raise once again the image of the party that reaches the voters, most of whom consider the pd a former left party now sold to armchairs.
The post-consumerist and capitalist social situation has made rights that seemed apparently acquired much less obvious today; and today, as never before, social differences have returned to undermine cohesion. The challenge of the left today would be to give voice not only to the needs but to the aspirations of the people, is it possible to take a new path that is closer to the previous ideals or is the left destined to collapse?
Di Alice Colucci
