As my blog goes to press, our news media relates that a possible new strain of a COVID-like virus has been spreading across China.

To quote that immortal baseball bard Yogi Berra: “It’s deja-vu all over again!”

All respect to the great Berra but I certainly hope he’s wrong. Five years ago, the spread of COVID across the globe became one of those pivotal “I can remember where I was” moments akin to Pearl Harbor, the assassinations of Dr. MLK and the Kennedy brothers, and 9-11. 

One and done! 

But if not, one need only look to a nation which provided a template of cool, calm and collective seriousness for the world to follow: Italy.

Yes, Italy, that nation too-often derided, both here and around the world, as an unserious nation, known only for food and fun. The current popularity of the Netflix film Nonnas and Stanley Tucci’s latest Eating-in-Italy are prime examples of this dumbing down of Italic culture. 

(Note: I suppose it’s progress to replace the theme from The Godfather with the theme from the Oliver musical: “Food, glorious food!”   But is it? As Institute chairman John Mancini has said, “America has reduced us to crooks and cooks.” In short, overcooked stereotypes.) 

After hearing the news about this potential new health crisis, I just so happened to finally open a copy of Italian journalist Beppe Severgnini’s 2022 book Italian Lessons: Fifty Things We Know About Life Now. A writer whose name is familiar to us via his New York Times best-selling books (La Bella Figura: A Field Guide to the Italian Mind and Ciao, America: An Italian Discovers the US), Severgnini’s opening chapter on COVID in Italy, and the Italians’ response to it, is a lucid and compelling salute to the true gravitas of the Italic people. 

As he reminds readers in the very first paragraph: “Italy was the first country outside of Asia to experience COVID. It was the first country to order a lockdown on March 9, 2020. The picture of Italian Army trucks transporting dead bodies in Bergamo is etched into our collective memory. The northern provinces of Brescia, Lodi and Cremona also suffered deeply; local newspapers were printed cemeteries overflowing with death notices; and every single day, another acquaintance or friend died. Crema, where I was born and still live, was a ghost town for two months. People were in a state of anguish. But they stayed home.”

A little further, he writes: “A pandemic–like a war, like any serious crisis–tells you a lot about both yourself and others. It helps us to better understand people, communities, organizations, and nations.” Did it ever!

What we learned–or should have learned—is that the Italic spirit can never be broken. During the pandemic, one of the most inspiring moments (horribly ironic phrase in this context) was a news story about Italians taking to their balconies—not to jump off, but to sing, talk, and send bottles of wine to neighbors via makeshift pulleys. “Andrá tutto bene” (everything will be all right) became the national battle cry. 

The Italians showed the world how to survive. 

Writes Severgnini: “Sixty million people, all told, did follow the rules–surprisingly, considering our reputation for lack of self-discipline.” 

And then he asks a question which very few people ever ponder: “But is it really so surprising?” 

According to Severgnini, “we succeeded in part because we had the social and psychological resources to do so: realism, resilience, inventiveness, the support of extended families, and an instinct for altruism and generosity–at times bordering on the exhibitionistic.” 

As he puts it: “We were aided by the fact that we are a sociable people. The internet provided new tools that came in handy during the emergency. Personal and family ties—the importance of which has produced a great deal of second-rate writing and opining around the world but that nonetheless should not be underestimated–proved crucial…But the strength and patience we displayed, after we put down our (aperitivo) drinks, were surprising.”  I would amend that sentence to:  “and even more surprising to the rest of Planet Earth.” 

Severgnini notes that “in Italy, there was no fighting in the streets…The vast majority of Italians–north, south, in all walks of life, and no matter the level of educational achievement–made up their minds that the lockdowns made sense; reluctantly but reliably, they therefore stopped going out and gathering with others. For once, the government owes the governed a sincere and whole-hearted thank you.” 

In sum: “Italians have given ample proof that they are capable of being patient and, if necessary, even diligent.” 

Our Institute has promoted this idea from our inception. And by that we mean stressing 3,000 years of Italic history: the very beginning (Roman Empire), the middle ages (Il Rinascimento), and modern times (the “economic miracle” after WWII). 

It is a rich legacy in which Italian Americans could share—a feast, not mere food crumbs. The time has come to put away childish spatulas. -BDC