LaRouche Reps Address
Italian Entrepreneurs
by Our Wiesbaden Staff
On Nov. 10 in Rome, Claudio Celani, an Italian representative of Lyndon LaRouche, was the main speaker on the second day of the national congress of Giovani Imprenditori (Young Enterpreneurs), the youth section of the National Association of Small Enterprises (Confapi). Attending were about 170 delegates, up to age 40, all owners or managers of small- to medium-sized enterprises, from all the Italian regions. The two-day congress featured debates and interviews with leaders from all the political parties, along with Mrs. Catia Polidori, chairman of Confapi Giovani, and economist Massimo Lo Cicero.
The theme of the congress was "Risk and Taxes," highlighting the plight of the industrial entrepreneur in a world hostile to industry and technology. The meeting was conceived as a challenge to the political establishment to defend independent industrial activities, i.e., those, who have the full burden of investment risk, but no protection.
The event took place in the midst of political turbulence, including a jacobin assault against the "Palazzo" (the Government and Parliament) by oligarchical media and radical movements. In many respects, this climate is similar to that which prepared the ground for the rise of Mussolini's Fascism in 1922, with worsening conditions for most of the population, and the inability of the political class to break out of an agenda dictated by the oligarchy, which, on one hand, ensures the worsening of the crisis, and on the other hand, discredits the political class as such.
The dissatisfaction of the Giovani Imprenditori with this state of affairs was made clear in the opening speech of the congress, by chairman Catia Polidori, as well as in the way she confronted the political leaders on the podium. At the same time, the entrepreneurs are aware of the jacobin danger, and their effort is aimed at defending institutions by "kicking them in the rear," so to speak.
Typical was the episode that involved Deputy Prime Minister Francesco Rutelli, who hosted the first day of the congress. Polidori, referring to Rutelli's past as a radical environmentalist, asked him: "You were once a demonstrator against nuclear plants. What made you change your mind? Can you explain that to us?" Rutelli, who is currently balancing between his past, and a current bid for "moderate" votes, fell into the trap. He began musing about the difference between "ideology" and "reality," admitting that, in fact, he is only in favor of "research" into how to build better nuclear plants, but not of building them now.
Reviving Nuclear Energy and the 'Land-Bridge'
Nuclear energy was prominently addressed in Celani's presentation the next day, in the presence of a prominent array of national political leaders, including former Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini, Deputy Parliament chairman Pierluigi Castagnetti, Deputy Minister of Economic Development Alfonso Gianni, and former DS (Left Democrats) secretary general Piero Fassino.
Celani made a slide presentation, starting with a map of the Eurasian Land-Bridge, and focussing on 1) LaRouche's analysis of the systemic collapse; 2) LaRouche's solution to the collapse, including the "Firewall" concept, the New Bretton Woods and the Continental Land-Bridge project. He "introduced" Lyndon LaRouche, who was already familiar to many in the audience, showing a photo of LaRouche in Rome last September, meeting with the head of the Senate Labor Committee. Celani identified LaRouche as the only economist who has understood the systemic crisis because he looks at the economy as a dynamic thing. All other economists, especially those who have been awarded a Nobel Prize, are discredited because they use linear statistical methods.
He then showed how the Anglo-Dutch system, which has dominated officially since 1971, has destroyed the world economy, and how Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's large-scale introduction of derivatives in 1987, prolonged the life of the bankrupted financial system, but aggravated the situation. Now, the collapse is on, and the only solution is a change of the system.
He went on to illustrate the firewall concept—as developed in LaRouche's Homeowners and Bank Protection Act—the New Bretton Woods idea, and the Eurasian/World Land-Bridge, including high-technology projects such as Transrapid, nuclear energy, etc. He concluded by reminding the audience that in 2005, the Italian Chamber of Deputies had voted in favor of a New Bretton Woods conference, but government institutions in Italy are not sovereign: they are blackmailed by the oligarchy through the use of media and jacobin mobs. Political leaders must therefore reach a non-factional agreement to pursue national interests and involve popular support for big projects; otherwise the nation will be destroyed.
Celani's speech was greeted with applause, and many delegates approached him afterwards to invite him to speak at their regional associations. There were mixed responses from the politicians. Gianni, said that, although he finds some of LaRouche's ideas "eccentric," he agrees with many of them. Nicola Latorre, a senior parliamentary leader of the Democratic Party, attacked "those who believe that Italy can give up industry." UDC leader Bruno Tabacci called for an end to a political system which forces voters to behave like "soccer fans" vs. political parties.
This was the second time in a month that a LaRouche spokesman had been invited to address the Confapi. On Oct. 23, Andrew Spannaus gave the keynote to the founding conference of the Ascoli-Piceno chapter of the group. During that conference, LaRouche spoke by telephone hookup. In his short remarks, LaRouche addressed the issue of the role of small business:
"I would hope that we are defending, effectively, the local industries, which as I emphasized then, I thought would be the best security of the region against what would be hitting Italy as a whole, especially the collapse of the major industries around the northern part of Italy. As you know, then as now, I was very much in favor of large public infrastructure programs for essential infrastructure for nations as a whole, internationally, but with a greater emphasis on smaller, privately held industries, as opposed to giant industries. I'm not against giant industries, but I think a dependency on these industries exclusively is a great source of weakness, and tends to prevent the rational development of local regions within nations."
