petti told me one night in Genova: norncoalition can work if it includes AntoniornMartino and Gianfranco Miglio, each ofrnthem as strong-willed as he is convincedrnthat he holds a monopoly on truth. Besides,rnZampetti explains, Italy’s problemsrngo deeper than mere corruption ofrnthe excesses of bureaucracy. It is a culturernof consumismo, nourished by an ItalianrnNew Deal that was, to a great extent,rnfoisted upon the country byrnAmerican pressure, which, for manyrnyears, included direct subsidy of thernChristian Democrats and their allies.rnThe collapse of communism was the beginningrnof the end: for Italy, because itrnmeant America no longer needed her asrna bulwark against the Soviets, but ultimatelyrnfor America. The United Statesrnin the postwar years was able to roll backrnsome of the most pernicious aspects ofrnthe New Deal, but not for long: “Whatrnwe Italians are going through today, yournAmericans will have to face tomorrow.”rnWhen I ask Zampetti if he has beenrninvited to advise either the Lega or ForzarnItalia, he smiles and changes the subject.rnLater I hear rumors that Migliorn”like the Turk will bear no brother nearrnthe throne.” The truth of this, I cannotrndetermine. Gianfranco Miglio deservesrna great deal of praise, not least as a leadingrnpolitical theorist willing to take thernrisk and support the Lega. An authorityrnon Karl Schmitt, and a long-time advisorrnto the Christian Democrats, Miglio isrnending his long career as ideologue ofrnthe Lega. A superb polemicist, Migliornenjoys stirring up the hornets’ nests beforernsetting them on fire—a good sportrnthat does not always succeed in eliminatingrnthe hornets.rnMiglio’s grand theory of federalism isrncentered on what he calls the macroregionsrn—three geographical/culturalrnareas into which all Italy is divided.rnThere is a core of truth in this analysisrnthat it would be difficult to deny. Irnspend an evening in Urbino with a grouprnof classical scholars, one of whom—arnSoutherner—suggests that all those differencesrnare in the past, but he is fightingrna losing battle. “Why,” he is asked, “doesrnthe Mafia control the South but not thernNorth?” Exasperated silence.rnBruno Gentile, one of the great Hellenistsrnworking today, goes on to explainrnthat it is Italy’s regions and towns thatrncreated Italian civilization, not the miniempirerncobbled together by the House ofrnSavoia. But, as he explains, the broadrnhistorical truth underlying the tripartiterndivision of Italy is complicated.rnThe Lombards, for example, did notrnstay in Lombardia, and the rulingrnclasses of central Italy have more than arnlittle of their blood. In fact, Benevento,rnin the far south, was one of the greatrnLombard capitals. Italian poetry, whichrnwe often think of as Tuscan in origin,rnhas its roots in the Sicilian poets whorngathered at the court of Frederick II;rnwithin the three great regions, the differencesrnbetween Torino and Veneto,rnLazio and Toscana, can be more impressivernthan the similarities; finally, there isrnthe obvious point that migration and intermarriagernhave done a great deal tornbreak down regional differences. Yourncan eat pizza in Milano, although, it isrntrue, not very good pizza.rnAt the Lega’s headquarters in Milano,rna little professor of the type the rank andrnfile might have derided a few years agorntells me that the new Italy is transcendingrnhistory and culture. The class warrnthat justified nation-states has ended,rnand all the economic subdivisionsrnof Europe can join together in a newrnEuropean union based on economic andrngeographical regions. Noting my skepticism,rnhe asks if I don’t agree. The classrnwar will end, I tell him, when the earthrnfalls into the sun. I put down my notebookrnand suffer through a textbookrnlecture on the real meaning of worldrnfederalism. For this I came all the wayrnfrom Genova and took buses across mostrnof Milano until I thought I must be inrnSwitzerland.rnPopulist movements, when they beginrnto be successful, inevitably attract thisrnkind of lumpen intelligentsia. But thernreal leghisti I run into in the followingrndays are reassuring. I have dinner withrnmy friend Elvio Conti, one of the originalrnmembers, and a journalist fromrnComo, who shows me her article “ElviornConti: apostolo della Lega.” Therernremains, in fact, the sense of a religiousrnmission in the Lega, and their faith inrnBossi as an incorruptible leader has nornparallels in contemporary America.rnWhatever may be said of them by theirrnenemies, these are simple, decent people,rndriven by neither bigotry nor greed.rnThey want to control their own money,rnit is true, and many patriotic Italians findrnthis a sign of disloyalty. I spoke with arnpolitical scientist who ridiculed the policyrnof one Lombard mayor who insistedrnupon all signs being written in Italian.rnWhat next, a Lombard-only rule? I alsornhear of policies restricting hospital admissionrnto local residents, an exclusionrnthat, if carried to an extreme, would bernas unjust as it is inhumane. But there isrnnothing sinister in the desire to recreaterna sense of small community and personalrnresponsibility.rnThe “apostle of the Lega” explains:rn”Each of us has to work to buy and thenrnto cook food for himself and his family.rnBut what if we received a food allowancernwithout having to work? This opens therndoor to every form of corruption andrnturns power, ultimately, over to thernMafia. The basis of federalism,” he concludes,rnis responsibility. Conti, who neverrnwent to university, has a much betterrngrasp of the theory than the intellectualsrnswarming toward the dominant party inrnNorthern Italy.rnPerhaps the real future of the LegarnNord lies in the hands of the men andrnwomen under 25 who make up 25 percentrnof the membership. L’Europeornquotes a young militant from Varese,rnwho explains his allegiance to the Legarnin striking terms: “I love Varese, I love myrnfamily and what my father has built onrnhis own with his domestic utensils company.rnI like action, and federalism is arnstimulus to action. I like regional differences.rnFor this reason I am opposed tornmultiracial society; when I go to Sweden,rnI want to find Swedes, not Muslims.”rnIn the empire of lies, an honest appreciationrnof human differences makesrnone a bigot, but neither Bossi nor hisrnfollowers are bigots. They are people—rnor should I say a people—who have begunrnthe long process of rediscovering thernessentials of human life, and to do this,rnthey shall have to forget all the pseudoknowledgernwe have been accumulating,rnat least since the Enlightenment. Whatrnthe Lega needs at this point is a philosophyrnand a religious faith that go deeperrnthan mere politics, and the most obviousrnphilosopher to turn to is not the skepticalrnliberal, Benedetto Croce, butrnanother Napolitano, Thomas d’Aquino.rnThomas Fleming is the editor ofrnChronicles.rn40/CHRONICLESrnrnrn