Si says that two clues make a proof. What do three prove? And since «Coincidences don’t exist» as the head of the most watched detective series in the world repeats (NCIS), then you just need to line up three weighty expressions in the last two months to understand that today being good is becoming an assertive, dense, “political” gesture, perhaps even subversive.
The first was Susanna Tamarowith a long speech in August on Corriere della Sera from the title Let’s get back to the good. The real one; Then Roberto Saviano at the Mantua Literature Festival: «I believe in goodness like Grossman, because too many times justice has disappointed and goodness is immediately measurable».
And finally Wanda Marascowinner of the Campiello Prize, ready to immediately state: «Good is simply done, without looking at misery, sloppiness, corruption, violence, having in mind another possible world».
Two volunteers look after in a kennel (photo Getty Images).
His novel, With your back to this world (Neri Pozza) tells the true story of the doctor Ferdinando Palasciano, a stellar example of human generosity. After all, it is not necessary to have a religious belief to choose that human mix of kindness and altruismattention, empathy, compassion, generosity which is goodness.
Vito Mancuso, an Italian theologian, is the first to “ignore” God: «Good is linked to nature, to the harmony that governs it, to order and organization. Good is the logic of being, starting from atoms. If there is harmony, then the system works. This applies to a wedding, a company, a football team. For everything. Goodness and goodness are the most powerful form that exists.”
“With our backs to this world” by Wanda Marasco (Neri Pozza)
Against the current (but advantageous)
In short, we need it to make any reality workbe it natural, human or social. Not surprisingly, a few years ago Stefan EinhornSwedish doctor, titled his book It pays to be good (Mondadori) demonstrating the thesis presented.
And now that there is widespread malice and hatred displayed for the adversary, goodness seems to be the only effective response. In the pneumatic vacuum of politics and in the cold of ideologies, striking a blow by demonstrating attention towards others has the flavor of a small silent socio-cultural revolution.
“It pays to be good” by Stefan Einhorn, (Mondadori).
And it is also a low blow to the mystique of “realize yourself”, “pamper yourself”, “think about yourself”, supported by behaviorists and psychologists. In other words, it’s a effective antidote against individualism, narcissism, selfishness and indifference.
Let’s be clear: this silent revolution has nothing to do with widespread do-goodismoften cloying, which for some seasons has prevailed in certain broadcasts or interviews. Because making beautiful souls is easy in words, facts are another thing.
Wanda Marasco also remembers this, who not only put doing at the center in her novel, but now says: «We must distinguish between intellectuals and those who really workthose who show mercy, even as a lay person, and those who trace everything back to their own narcissism, with a sometimes snobbish attitude. There is no solidarity without ethical method, listening, participation. It’s about giving up your ego and distinguishing the effects of good and evil. Good is done and that’s it. Towards everyone.”
Bertolt Brecht however, with his usual lucidity, wrote: «No one can be good for long if there is no demand for goodness». And today there is a lot of it, between the economic crisis, wars and social malice. If even Roberto Saviano extols the good because it is “immediately measurable” and more effective than justice, isn’t this the certification of the profound crisis in politics?
In 2024, the over 130 thousand non-profit organizations and the millions of volunteers (men, and many young people and women) have filled some gaps in the State with their work, while generating over 84 billion euros, equal to 4.4 percent of GDP.
From you to us
Goodness, by age-old custom, is a “vocation” officially attributed to us womencalled to be generous in giving to children, elderly parents, companions, loves, grandchildren, friends, colleagues, often paying for the excess of altruism.
«Men and women, it’s the same: it’s about returning to “us”. We must transform goodness into civic action, it is the entire community that must be structured around gestures of goodness. We must move from doing good as an individual gesture to active citizenship»: he says it Francesco Cirillosociologist and director of Assobenefitthe national association for benefit companies (they operate with the aim of generating a positive impact on society, ed) who also recalls: «Society is transformed not only with laws, but also with daily behaviors. The intermediate bodies are in crisis. And let’s face it: you feel better about yourself for doing good. It’s natural, it’s normal. At the same time, a “subversive” act is being carried out, because the logic of indifference is broken.”
Neuroscientists have also demonstrated that it feels better to “be good”.: the chemistry of emotions tells us that the release of dopamine and oxytocin is also associated with activities that bring satisfaction, recognition and joy.
Doing good is worthwhile, as the Swedish doctor said, because it recharges the mood: it’s a clever reward system put in place by the brain. One could even say that we are selfish even when we are generous, almost a paradox, but Vito Mancuso recalls another, more ethical aspect, citing the examples of the magistrates Giovanni Falcone, Paolo Borsellino, Rosario Livatino, killed by the mafia: «Goodness makes sense to the extent that it serves justice. If it is a goodness that does not take responsibility for opposing evil, it makes no sense. It is justice understood not as legality, but the utopia of a society capable of giving everyone their due.”
A constant presence
In 2025 the 800 years of Song of Creatures of San Francesco and in 2026 the initiatives will continue in memory of the death of the saint of Assisi, powerful drivers to ignite interest in the saint as an example of life. Like a karst current, the warning to be good is therefore powerfully re-emerging. And if it was once only religious, now it is also secular.
Roberto Saviano remembered David Grossman, perhaps the best-known Israeli writer, who lost a son in the war and has always invited his compatriots to be human. These are his words: «In this era of terror and madness, the small goodness, radioactive grain crumbled in life, has not disappeared. It is the goodness of man for another man, a goodness without witnesses, small, without great theories. We could call illogical goodness. The goodness of men beyond religious and social good.”