The latest Censis report paints an Italy where aversion to the West, scepticism towards Europeanism and disillusionment with Atlanticism are growing. In short, the average Italian seems ready to question everything that has guaranteed security, prosperity and rights in recent decades. The tragicomic detail? This contestation does not stem from deep reflection or a grand alternative project, but from the same old vice: complaining.

The West? Too capitalist. Europe? Too bureaucratic. Atlanticism? Too subordinate to American interests. And democracy? Now seen as a system incapable of responding to the ‘real needs’ of the people, whatever they may be. What would we prefer? It is unclear. A dictatorship of Instagram feeds? An autarkic country-festival-sized sovereignty? Maybe a ‘strong government‘, as long as it doesn’t bother us too much with taxes and laws.

The contradictions are obvious and make one smile bitterly. Democratic systems are criticised, but the right to speak, protest and vote is taken for granted. European institutions are demonised, but the billions of the Next Generation EU are gladly cashed in. One accuses Atlanticism of servility, but forgets that without NATO today we would probably be a satellite state of some authoritarian power.

We are a country that wants everything and the opposite of everything. A place where we curse capitalism but queue up for kilometres for the latest iPhone, where we invoke ‘sovereignty’ but delegate any inconvenient decision to the first populist politician of the day. And where, last but not least, one dreams of a strong authority that solves problems, but invokes individual freedom every time someone even proposes to abide by the rules.

The risk? Becoming yet another caricature of ourselves. Because, in the end, it is not that we really despise the West: we simply do not want to make the effort to contribute to its improvement. Better to wallow in discontent, pull the blanket from one side to the other and then complain that it is too short. Besides, if there is one thing we are masters at, it is this: turning privilege into a problem and freedom into a lament.

So, we ask ourselves: do Italians really want to abandon Western values, or do they prefer to continue enjoying their benefits, criticising them just enough to feel rebellious? A simple question, but perhaps too uncomfortable for our times. Better a nice indignant post on Facebook or a tirade against politics on TikTok.