Does the left party have a problem with luxury?

Italian press is running a propaganda campaign. The theme? Sullenness. When Vanessa Friedman analyses the look of 'alt-right prime minister' Giorgia Meloni abroad among Armani suits, starched shirts and Bottega Veneta bags to complete the look, the domestic spotlight turns on the outfits and buying habits of the Italian left wing for several reasons. First, there is the case of the mother-in-law and wife of MP Aboubakar Soumahoro (Green-Left Alliance), which led not only to an investigation into the family's alleged illegal activities, but also to scrutiny of a "swanky lifestyle' at the expense of charities, including bags, suitcases and luxury eyewear, 5-star hotels and high-fashion brands. On the other, Pier Luigi Bersani and his Christmas surprise for his wife, ruined after pictures of the former PD secretary in a Roman luxury shop appeared on the cover of Libero: "Bersani at Vuitton. Then he goes to La 7 to talk about inequality", a tweet says. But while in the first case the affair itself is unclear and deserves an investigation by the competent authorities, in the second case the contradiction of these anachronistic and ever-same leftists has come to light with force. Criticism hailed not only from opponents and the press, but also from people like Laura Boldrini, who declared in an interview on Rai Radio 2 that money should be spent according to moral principles and that therefore anything superfluous is hardly permissible for her. A sermon that would have made sense in another historical era, but which today only illustrates how disconnected the vision and self-representation of politics (and especially the left wing) is far from reality and the present.

A legacy of those stereotypes that have characterized the Italian right or left for decades - «sneakers or tennis shoes still have a slightly right-wing flavour, but wearing them all dirty and a bit untied is more stupid than left-wing, blue jeans, which are a sign of the left, with the jacket go to the right» sang Giorgio Gaber. Until the 1990s, before the spotlight on America revolutionized our idea of consumption, the clothing choices of political parties diverged widely. Today, we can hardly tell the voting intentions of Generation Z - assuming they vote - by the way they dress, but «twenty years ago it would have been obvious, forty or fifty years ago it would even have been self-evident. In the late 1960s and 1970s, a dress was a political statement, an accessory a sign of belonging, a haircut (or not) an attitude», writes Micol Sarfatti on Corriere. Over the years, the line between right-wing and left-wing clothing has become increasingly blurred, gradually shifting from the type of garment to its price range: while for Daniela Santanchè a Birkin collection was never a problem because it in no way clashes with the lifestyle we would expect from the right, Fausto Bertinotti's cashmere cardigans were a little too precious for a leftist. Public opinion seems to expect the same from Calenda and a De Magistris, even if the two are positioned at the extremes under the great umbrella of the 'left', because anyone who dares to speak of equality and rights must inevitably sprinkle his head with ashes and commit himself to frugality: the only way to appear credible in the eyes of others. 

Commenting on recent events, Andrea Batilla writes on Domani: «Boldrini's fundamental error lies in the rhetoric of a left to which the French have given the name 'gauche caviar', to regard luxury, excess, visibility and obvious waste as something morally inappropriate, unjust or reprehensible. The aversion to luxury and its display has two historical roots. The first is Marx's theory of commodity fetishism and the second is Catholicism.» Indeed, the Left and the Church have one thing in common, the preaching of that morality which they themselves oppose, and from this fundamental contradiction, from the human fallibility in the face of the greatness of ideals, a dilemma arises, as old as the world but always current. For if Laura Boldrini - who, we recall, receives a salary of €14,000 per month - wanted to buy herself a Louis Vuitton bag for Christmas, it would certainly not be a matter of state and, frankly, would not even prevent her from talking about equality on La7.