L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, JANUARY 9, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS home to a plethora of positive, successful initiatives, like the venture initiated by 12 workers of a steel plant in Acerra, near Naples, who took it over after it closed down, renamed and final- ly, in 2019, brought it back to its feet. And what about the brilliant minds of Italy, those we keep saying are leaving the country, to seek better opportunities abroad? Well, some of them remained here, like the researchers of the Fondazione EBRI (European Brain Research Institute) Rita Levi Montalcini who discovered a molecule able to stop the advancing of Alzheimers. The ground breaking discovery beca- me possible also thanks to the collaboration of CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche) and the Biology Department of the University Roma Tre. Abroad, we all became fami- liar with Ciriaco Goddi — who also spoke to us of L'Italo- Americano a few months ago — and his team at the Event Horizon Telescope project, which managed to take the first ever photograph of a black hole. So, 2019 wasn't all bad for Italy, especially when you consi- der it from the point of view of Italians as a people, rather than Italy as a country and this brings us to take a closer look at the way Italians live their lives, the way they work, both inside and outside the country's geographi- cal borders: there must be a rea- son why, for instance, Italy's well being index has risen last year, in spite of the political instability and the sluggish eco- nomy. To come out with these results, ISTAT, the Italian insti- tute of statistics, didn't simply look at how much we earn, but also at many other factors that can influence our happiness and satisfaction: Italians are very happy with their families, with their health, with the way they spend their spare time. And you know what? We start feeling more content, even if not much, about the cash we have in our pockets, too. Happiness doesn't simply come from wealth and, when you think about it, Italians have always been good at under- standing that. But there is more, and that's when Italians of the New World enter the picture, too. If it's true that many young scienti- sts, artists and researchers leave the Belpaese to seek fortune abroad, we should never forget a couple of important things: the first is that they remain Italians and that their success, wherever it happens, is ultimately a suc- cess for Italy. Are we proud of Ciriaco Goddi and his team? Of course we are. And what about Luca Parmitano, who keeps the name of Italy high in space and works both for the European Space Agency and NASA? We love him, too. My point is that, in the end, it doesn't really matter that much where Italian people succeed, because their achievements are always a present to Italy. And this leads me to another impor- tant consideration: we should begin looking at ourselves more as a people rather than a coun- try. Italians are not only those who were born and live in Italy; Italians — and Italian-Americans know that well — are all those people around the world who belong culturally and emotional- ly to Italy, whose family, memo- ries, experiences, habits reach across the oceans and lead ideal- ly all to the same Motherland, a Motherland that is not made of earth and stone, but of culture and heritage. In this, the Italians of the New World are much better than the Italians of the old continent: we often fail to see the connection between "us" and "you," we often lack the understanding and the knowledge of the magnitude and beauty of Italian communi- ties around the world to appre- ciate how much richer you make Italy as a nation. This, we should learn from you, our cugini d'oltreoceano: to see Italians as a worldwide community, which is strong and connected and thrives on shared values rooted in a tradition that belongs to us all, on a language we love and speak or learn with adoration, on a way of living life that, and those ISTAT data real- ly confirm it, still puts family, serenity and love at the heart of everything. And there is more: we Italians of Italy should also embrace the respect, the protecti- ve attitude and undying love for our culture and heritage Italian- Americans have, because someti- mes we just seem to forget how amazing it all is, and focus only on the negative. But more than anything, I think we should begin realizing there isn't really any difference between we Italians of Italy and the Italians of America, Australia or Germany: we belong together, as an immense, centuries-old family, that spread out all over the globe. And so, when one of our researchers or artists or doctors makes an ama- zing discovery in some other part of the world, it's a success for Italy just the same. The title of this article asked a question: what does Italy need in 2020? I think the answer is clear: it needs to get to know better all Italians keeping its name high in the world, including those who no longer live on its soil. It needs to learn from its cousins abroad how to love itself a bit more and how to make of the values and culture it stands for a reason of undying pride. Continued from page 4 Ciriaco Goddi, member of the team that gave to the world the first photo of a black hole (Copyright: Ciriaco Goddi) Italian exports grew in 2019 (Copyright: Dreamstime)

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