Roberto Saviano: "My life between adventure and failure"

Rome - "I'd like not to see life's journey as a race, but if we have to see it as a prize, I've lost. Was it worth risking so many years of my life? Was it worth finding myself in such a state of distress now at a time like this?

Was it worth being harassed in this way? Some would say yes, Mauro Rostagno would probably say yes, being an experimenter with social alternatives. I find myself saying that it was a bit like letting ourselves be massacred, not realizing that in many cases we were alone, probably not understanding that exposing ourselves so much meant becoming a target.

Roberto Saviano said this last night while speaking on the show "Che tempo che fa," hosted by Fabio Fazio on Nove. The writer spoke about his life, political conflicts, and what he believes is the current threat to the democracy of free countries and citizens.

"That perception that I was somehow lumped together with the establishment, the media, the newspapers—I am lumped together with these categories that have never protected me or given me anything, or relatively little. So at a certain point, you realize that your choices have consumed you, and have even ruined the lives of those close to you.

So the answer is: if it's supposed to be a competition, I've lost that competition. If it's not a competition and my life is an adventure, it's a beautiful adventure."

"To silence me they act like bandits"

Saviano then spoke about the chats between members of the Brothers of Italy party, which are described in his new book by Giacomo Salvini, a journalist for Il Fatto Quotidiano, where he is also mentioned.

"These chats were filled with dozens, if not hundreds of people; it was a virtual agora. This government has always had a bandit-like attitude. We know it's a political practice. The goal, as usual, is to isolate, to use your body, your choices, as a warning. Opinion isn't the issue; it's a constant intimidation. The message is essentially 'if you criticize like he does, if you act like he does, you'll suffer the same thing he's suffering.'

The mechanism right now is truly fragile when it comes to freedom of expression; anyone can say whatever they want, obviously, as long as they're not overheard and don't exceed the attention span, at which point they pay a price. If an artist, a journalist, knows that by writing or taking a stand, if they're overheard, they'll pay the price: a project being blocked, an opportunity not realized, isolation, delegitimization, an instant dossier on you..."

And he claims that some newspapers "have been gangs against me for years; not newspapers, gangs," "and now, while they're listening to me, they'll do what they always do: intimidate, threaten, instill fear. This government does this to anyone who opposes it, and they'll do it more and more until the blood they're preparing arrives; they scare me, they behave like bandits.

Saying 'Saviano must be punished,' what do you think will happen? They're all afraid of losing their mortgage, of having private information leaked, of having social media massacres... they're all afraid. Also because newspapers aren't doing well financially anymore, so since they're no longer selling, they depend on government money. What has this attitude in chat rooms, of targeting someone and massacring them, led to?

That everyone is afraid to take a stand. In the past, they used to say, 'Take a stand to make money, you're an intellectual who chooses a political party to gain more visibility,' but today it's exactly the opposite. Those who take a stand have companies that won't invest in your YouTube channel, they're starting to shy away from films, they're all terrified that by taking a stand you'll be unbalanced. That's how they've corrupted democracy, that's what's made their path authoritarian.

"Here are the damages of capitalism on democracy"

"This is the great crisis of our time; given that the dynamics of capitalism have probably only momentarily married democracy, the idea that capitalism could be a force within democracy, the liberal idea, capable of redistributing wealth, of maintaining a balance between social classes—this was what inspired liberal thought, the liberal vision, which has completely failed."

Saviano further explained, and then added: "The arrival of an authoritarian dimension isn't so much seen in the fact that truth and lies are indistinguishable, but in the fact that it's irrelevant to discern truth and lies. If right now I tell you that bills are rising, that salaries aren't increasing at all, that mortgages are skyrocketing, that it's not true that they've fixed the streets and stopped migration flows, will any of this matter to those who vote for this political faction? I can provide any evidence, but in reality it will always seem like I'm biased, as if choosing a position means invalidating the data you're showing."