A profound reflection on the European spiritual crisis and its roots, analyzing Italy’s potential role as a “power of peace” in an era of increasing militarization.
The hidden face of the european spiritual crisis
Beyond numbers, beyond economic statistics and political analyses, Europe faces an unprecedented European spiritual crisis. A crisis not born yesterday but rooted in decades of choices that have slowly eroded the soul of the European project, transforming it into something unrecognizable compared to its founding ideals.
The European Union and the Euro, conceived as instruments of peace and prosperity, have revealed themselves as vehicles of decline and warlike tendencies. This isn’t a recent drift but a tendency inscribed in the very structure of the Union, manifesting today with disturbing force in rearmament plans and increasingly aggressive rhetoric toward the East.
Militarization concerns not just arsenals and defense strategies but penetrates European social fabric. It translates into suffocating conformity of thought, a compression of public debate that represents the indispensable precondition for preparing populations for war. A system of domination and lies manipulating public opinion, transforming the European Union into an increasingly dystopian regime, capable of violating even its own treaties and fundamental human rights.
The italian sacrifice on the euro altar
For Italy, the last thirty years of European integration represent an era of marked retreat. The data speaks clearly: while from post-war until the 90s our country had made extraordinary economic progress, reaching and sometimes surpassing nations like Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, the adoption of the Euro blocked this growth.
The single currency nullified fifty years of relative economic progress, bringing Italy back to levels comparable to those of the economic boom of the 60s. Not a simple monetary instrument, but a constraint suffocating the Italian economy and society, contributing to a regression not only economic but also political, cultural, and demographic.
Italy was the perfect “sacrificial victim” for the Euro. With its state industry and a model of relations between capital and labor that historically used the Lira’s flexibility, our country abandoned currency devaluation for a presumed exchange rate stability, resulting in a dramatic devaluation of labor.
A crisis of meaning before economics
This “inexplicable blindness” of Italian ruling classes cannot be understood through economic categories alone. It reflects an implicit, unconscious, and technocratic constitutional process that replaced the formal Constitution with a “new economic constitution.” A process led by elites who believed the country ungovernable except from an external source, leading to acceptance of the Euro as an external monetary constraint and NATO as a geopolitical-military constraint.
Europe in decline: the european spiritual crisis as root cause
The European spiritual crisis emerges clearly in this void of meaning. The Euro and EU weren’t just economic instruments for Italy but a spiritual response to the radical crisis of its political structure at the end of the 20th century. The collapse of grand political narratives left a vacuum that Europeanism claimed to fill, presenting itself as the “new Sun of the future.”
Western civilization, having ended a historical cycle (1789-1989), is failing for lack of “credit,” unable to offer a horizon of meaning, especially to younger generations. The implicit idea in the current system – life as a senseless competition destined for nothingness – generates depression and absence of desire, pushing toward isolation.
Three revolutions to overcome
Facing this situation, a collective work of “reconstruction” based on three fundamental revolutions is urgent:
1. Institutional Revolution
Putting Parliament and Government back at the center, overcoming the current de facto semi-presidentialism where the President of the Republic exercises powers well beyond his constitutional function. A constitutional reform is necessary to redefine the institutional structure and restore the effectiveness of the democratic principle.
2. Economic Revolution
Reconceiving the economy as an instrument serving politics and human beings, reversing the current hierarchy that sees finance and oligarchies dominating politics. Moving toward an economy that promotes the full development of the human person, addressing economic, social, psychological, and cultural obstacles.
3. Geopolitical Revolution
Italy has given its best in history when it had a universal vocation and a capacity for mediation in international conflicts. Its strength lies in the possibility of being a “power of peace,” expressing its geopolitical projection through mediation and peaceful conflict resolution.
An alternative to the nationalism/globalism dichotomy
The true alternative to the false dichotomy between nationalism and globalism lies in the possibility for each nation to self-determine in its sovereignty and democracy, then enter into relationships with other equally sovereign states for the pursuit of justice and peace, according to the ideal of the United Nations and Article 11 of the Italian Constitution.
These times, although difficult and painful, also contain the seed of rebirth. The revelation of the European spiritual crisis is an opportunity for a new beginning. A “prophetic gaze” is necessary that, while seeing the ruins, maintains an “immaculate” heart, not contaminated by dominant rhetoric, capable of radical criticism and imagining new worlds.
Engaging new generations
To engage young people, often folded into digital solitude, it’s fundamental to offer not empty words but a living example of faith, dedication, and hope. They need a “great ambition,” a “great desire” that pushes them out of apathy – the ambition to change the world, to be “rebuilders.”
This requires passion for knowledge in every field and awareness that every aspect of reality needs rethinking. It’s an invitation to become “workers” in the “abundant harvest” of the present, investigating reality and announcing a different vision.
A new horizon for Italy and Europe
Alongside political and cultural action, work on one’s consciousness is an indispensable survival kit. Practices like meditation, understood as creating an “inner silence” of abandonment and trust, allow access to energy and lucidity that enable more effective action in the world.
Facing media perpetuating the dominant narrative, the invitation is to turn them off and build an alternative culture. It’s necessary to be aware of the “subtle weapons” of daily poison they use, observing them with detachment to defuse them.
Addressing the root causes of the european spiritual crisis
The current situation demands a radical analysis of the causes of the European spiritual crisis, recognizing the central role of the Euro and European Union in the decline. The way out doesn’t lie in adaptation to failed dogmas but in a profound institutional, economic, and geopolitical revolution, rooted in the rediscovery of a spiritual horizon and collective identity centered on peace, sovereignty, and service to the human person.
At this historical crossroads, Italy can rediscover its most authentic vocation: being not a military power but a power of peace, a beacon of mediation and dialogue in a Europe that has lost its soul. The European spiritual crisis isn’t simply an economic or political issue but a collapse of values and vision requiring a complete rethinking.