The title has something to do with it, but we’ll talk about it at the end. Let’s start with Matteo Salvini. It is fortunate that the Court of Palermo acquitted him. And that’s the first good thing. For a reason, in my opinion, which is strictly legal: it is not acceptable that in a democracy the political choices of an entire government or of a single minister, like it or not, are subjected to the criminal judgment of a Court. And the decision not to disembark the migrants from the private rescue ship Open Arms was undoubtedly a political choice. It’s up to the voters to judge. Not to the magistrates.

It was the summer of 2019. Wounded, seriously ill, women and children had been brought ashore. Matteo Salvini, then Minister of the Interior in Giuseppe Conte’s first government with the 5 Star Movement, had instead opposed the unilateral decision of the Spanish organization, owner of the ship, to send the people on board directly to Italy. From August 1st of that year they had been collected in international waters by several boats in difficulty and, if the conditions were really so dramatic, the rescuers could have requested their disembarkation from the governments of Tunisia, Malta, France or Spain (flag of the ship Open Arms). Given that Italy had already communicated the closure of its ports.

Three good things: starting with Salvini’s acquittal

Solidarity at sea is a must and the rescue operation must end with the disembarkation of the castaways in the nearest safe port. But if this port is always and only an Italian port, because Matteo Salvini is in government, it is legitimate to conclude that those of Open Arms and many other NGOs are not only dutiful rescue operations, but also pure political activism. To which the then Interior Minister Salvini responded with an equally political refusal.

If there is anyone who has kept the castaways on board for days, giving up on looking for an alternative to the Italian port, it is the ship’s crew. Instead, it would be wonderful if non-governmental organizations finally began to divert the millions of their budgets towards that sea of ​​sand that is the Sahara desert and the Sahel region. And thus prevent the arrival of tens of thousands of people in Libya, willing to run the risk of being imprisoned and enslaved in order to land in Europe.

Because spending money at sea yields much more

Instead of renting very expensive ships, with the same money these NGOs could open dozens of schools, start job training centers, hire teachers (who in Africa cost much less than a merchant navy commander or crew). And try to convince European governments that, in the face of the dramatic demographic crisis, the regular entry of competent people, capable of immediately working and living as citizens, should be encouraged. Not by assisted people. But operating in the silence of the desert and in distant places of origin – as dozens of NGOs, including Italian ones, have been doing for decades, away from the spotlight – is certainly less spectacular. And therefore emotionally less profitable, in terms of donations and subscriptions.

The intransigence of Matteo Salvini and the obtuseness of many non-governmental organizations, which claim to bring about the revolution (of norms) using the heads of refugees as a battering ram, are nothing more than two sides of the same coin: they represent that ideological rhetoric that gives twenty years has been diverting resources from every human and entrepreneurial project, in favor of a sterile approach between good and bad, based on one’s side of belonging. The comments of some activists, such as Luca Casarini, after Salvini’s acquittal confirm this. We will have to read the reasons of the Court of Palermo when they are filed. But at least the judges had the intelligence not to fall into the trap.

The entrepreneur buys a house for his employees

The other two good things take us to Piedmont. Let’s go first to Villanova di Mondovì in the province of Cuneo, where the unemployment rate is only 3.7 percent. And where the entrepreneur Paolo Giuggia – as local newspapers report – decided to buy a building to provide accommodation for his employees. Due to their accent, or the shades of their skin, they cannot find owners willing to rent their house. Thus, until today, the managing director of Giuggia Costruzioni, which builds houses but also infrastructure, has blown the budget by renting entire hotels. Now he has decided to buy a property so that his staff (who have a salary and pay taxes) can have a roof. We are in Adriano Olivetti’s region. Where they know well that, without investment in people, any project can only fail.

Who is Daisy Osakue, the soldier of the Financial Police

We then move to the Apple Store in Turin, during the Christmas shopping. After picking up an adapter for her iPhone on the first floor and needing to make more purchases, Daisy Osakue, 28, left the department expecting to pay at the cash register on the ground floor. Other customers were doing the same. The difference was that the others were pale-faced. And the security officer, suspecting that she was a thief, stopped only her: certainly because of her apparently African appearance. He couldn’t have imagined that she was a soldier from the Guardia di Finanza, as well as the Italian record holder in the discus throw and eighth place at the Paris Olympics.

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Local news also reveals that the security guard also had black skin. Daisy Osakue, born in Turin, told of her disappointment on Instagram. We hope – as a third and final good deed – that the commander of the corps, General Andrea De Gennaro, does not punish her for expressing her thoughts without authorization. Because the financier Daisy Osakue, the entrepreneur Paolo Giuggia and even the judges of Palermo are indispensable to the construction of the Italy of the future. Merry Christmas.

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