Lecture at Liberi Comuni d’Italia

GIOVANNI BIRINDELLI, 4.5.2014

(English translation of the lecture which took place at Liberi Comuni d’Italia – Siena, Italy, 4.5.2014)

 

Decadence manifests itself in an extremely real, concrete, tangible way: an entrepreneur committing suicide, a company closing down, a person losing a job, a family not managing to make ends meet, an olive grove being abandoned to itself. Therefore, it is instinctive and even reassuring to try to counter decadence in an equally real, concrete, action-oriented manner while, at the same time, avoiding and even making fun of philosophical chatter. However, even though the decadence we are seeing manifests itself in a very real and concrete way, its ultimate cause is purely philosophical: it consists of the abstract idea of law which, in the Italian case, has been imposed by the Constitution.

From the Gentleman to the Parasite, through the Informer and the Thief (English translation)

GIOVANNI BIRINDELLI, 14.5.2013

(Original Italian publication, 31.10.2012: L’Indipendenza, Movimento Libertario – Catallaxy Institute)

The concept of the gentleman, a term originally used exclusively in reference to men but which describes qualities any human being may possess, man or woman, was admirably described by Samuel Smiles in 1859: “The true gentleman has a keen sense of honour, scrupulously avoiding mean actions. His standard of probity in word and action is high. He does not shuffle or prevaricate, dodge or skulk; but is honest, upright and straightforward. His law is rectitude – action in right lines. When he says YES, it is a law … Above all, the gentleman is truthful“[1]