Category: Edoardo Tricerri

There is no such thing as a stupid electorate

11/9/2016

POLITICS
Edoardo Tricerri

2016 will be remembered as the year of political upsets. From Brexit to the US presidential elections and to the FARC referendum in Colombia, it seems as if pollsters and political scientists got every possible prediction wrong. These unpredicted — and to some extent unpredictable — results have left the general public speechless as ordinary people from all over the world tried to put themselves in the shoes of Americans or Colombians without being able to grasp what could have driven a person to vote for the highly controversial Donald Trump or to repeal a peace agreement. The day-after of every single one of these electoral outcomes, regardless of whether it was the 24th of June in Britain or the 8th of November in the States, has then been characterised by identical trends in news reporting and social media as the public opinion’s rising voice expressed its contempt for the results, labelling voters as ‘simply stupid’. Yet, as former Italian Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti repeatedly used to say, when it comes to politics things are a bit more complicated and nuanced than that.

Labelling voters as ‘simply stupid’, in fact, obscures a big portion of the debate, degrading the underlying fundaments of democracy and making it impossible for us to understand what drives rational individuals to make such striking choices. By defining ‘them’ as stupid and some sort of ‘we’ as the lucid holders of the truth, media and traditional politicians fail to understand what has caused and will continue to produce these electoral outcomes if a more honest and thorough discussion is not put in place.

In the US, the economic data of the Obama administration conceal more than they reveal. If on one hand it is true that unemployment is at 5%, it must also be taken into account that real median household income has yet to return to 2007 levels, with one sixth of non-educated men still out of the workforce and with rural median income still falling after 8 years from when the Great Recession triggered. In this scenario, voters, disappointed with the poor outcomes of ‘politics-as-usual’, have chosen to wink at politicians at the extremes of the political spectrum in a desperate call for radical solutions that could better their lives. Similarly, in Britain, despairing working-class voters at the losing end of the free-market system, have chosen to believe that any sort of radical change would still be better than preserving the status quo, thus opting out of the EU.

To label the anger, fear, desperation and hope of all these people as stupidity would compromise our understanding not just of politics but of all the domains of social life. These people are the same voters that endorsed Bill Clinton in 1992 and massively supported Jeremy Corbyn contest for Labour’s leadership, therefore, their choice needs to be put in the broader scenario of a changing world. As rational individuals, they have pondered the promises of policy delivery put forth by Donald Trump in America and by the Leave Campaign in Britain, choosing that the hope that was brought to them by those two movements was one worth believing.

Despite what you might have read on Facebook, Donald Trump’s election is not a flaw of democracy but rather its underpinning fundament, the idea that we, as the people, can choose our representatives. There's therefore no such a thing as a stupid electorate, but rather the incompetence of those who cannot grasp the anger fuelled by desperation of ordinary citizens that struggle to provide for themselves and their families.

If traditional politicians want to invert this trend they will have to start from understanding the shortfalls of their political message and build up from there, realising that indeed, only hope trumps fear.

Edoardo Tricerri is part of the Editorial Board of The Manchester Magazine. He is a final year Politics and International Relations student at The University of Manchester

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Life as an Exchange student at Sciences Po Paris

3/13/2016

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STUDENT LIFE
Edoardo Tricerri

If you search on Google the reasons why you should go on an Exchange abroad, the first thing that pops up is a graph of how living and studying overseas will increase your future prospects in the job market. Apparently studying in another country decreases your chances of long-term unemployment by fifty per cent, whilst the unemployment rate of Exchange students five years after graduation is a fourth of those who stayed at their home university.

When I chose to send my application for an Erasmus exchange in Paris, such data was as irrelevant as the R in Marlboro.

Don’t get me wrong, working towards shaping your future is dramatically important, yet I believe that the opportunity to live in a different country with different habits and culture cannot be reduced to a faulty line to be added on your CV. Exposing yourself to various cultures, finding out the predominant customs in a new country and bounding with people who have a different view of the world is crucial not just for your personal growth but also in shaping a world in which values of tolerance and friendship topple hatred and inane nationalism.

Pardon me this broad idealistic digression, but as I write this article I’m sitting in the same Parisian café where Hemingway came to compose his novels and Jean Paul Sartre discussed with his fellow intellectuals the underpinning concepts of Existentialism, probably I thought that through osmosis I would sound as bright as they did. Therefore, before I make a fool of myself, let me get back on track and tell you a bit more of my life as an exchange student in Paris.

Paris is a beautiful city, from the most typical Eiffel Tower and Louvre museum to the less renowned touristic attractions there is not a place where you can stand without appreciating the magnificence of the history that took place here. The tiredness you experience when you get out of Uni at 9:30 p.m. after a long day of classes quickly vanishes as you look at the majesty of the City of Light. Every single corner here has a story that waits to be told, in those rare moments when you manage to isolate from the city’s frantic daily routine you can hear the sound of silence whispering unwritten tales. When assignments are not approaching and deadlines are just a distant threat, there are few things I enjoy more than wandering without a precise destination until I get lost discovering new places.

Apart from its cultural heritage, Paris is amazing for the different realities that merge and mix in the city. As you walk by the streets, you can find Starbucks next to a traditional Boulangerie, McDonalds competing with a French Brasserie, enjoy a German pint or pour sparkling champagne. Paris is the crossroad where the efficiency of the Anglo-Saxon world meets the warmth of continental Europe, despite the stereotypes, people are kind and friendly without being intrusive.

Similarly, French higher education combines a firm and effective organisation with a pleasant degree of independence. The impression here is that you are being shown the path to follow without anyone forcing you to do so, books are suggested but not mandatory, the choice of which and how many readings you should do belongs to you.

The biggest difference between French universities and The University of Manchester, instead, concerns student life. Societies at Sciences Po are not as relevant as they are in Manchester, there are fewer social events and far less occasions to meet new people, an aspect that definitely makes me miss UofM. Yet, with a bit of effort, making new friends is anything but a challenge.

Just a couple of days ago, as I was exchanging a casual chat with a French student I had just met, we started talking about what happened in November. The friendly smile on his face quickly disappeared as he remembered and started talking. He told me about the nightmare he experienced that night, the panic that pervaded him as he couldn’t get in touch with his girlfriend and how fear characterised the followings day. Then something slightly changed in his eyes, he stared at me and said “The 13th of November hit us pretty bad, we were all scared, it was hard for us to get back to our usual life, but as soon as spring gets here things are going to change; we will be back, happier and more cheerful than ever, we will go out and make this city alive. Trust me, you could have not chosen a better time to come here”.

And I, as a student, as a human, cannot way for that.

Edoardo Tricerri writes for The Manchester Magazine on topics from sport to international politics. He is a Politics and International Relations student at the University of Manchester, currently on a semester abroad at Sciences Po Paris

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Not for sale, but for the love of the game

2/15/2016

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FOOTBALL
Edoardo Tricerri

The first time I walked into a stadium holding my dad’s hand I was a few years old, it was a warm Sunday afternoon and the sun shined in a crystal clear indigo sky. Despite the countless days and games that have passed since then—as a cliché as it may seem—I have vivid memories of everything that was going on in that day. I remember emerging from the stairs and admiring the vastness of the pitch, I recall the teams warming up, the referee’s whistle and how, as the game went by, my sight was caught by the vibrant men standing on the opposite side of the stadium.

Those men were jumping, yelling, cursing and chanting in so many different ways that none of them was distinctly comprehensible, yet, the unison at which they moved made them the beating heart of the stadium. As I understood few years later—when I first walked into those stands—for the span of the game those men did not exist. As they entered that sector, they ceased to be husbands, fathers, students, professionals and immediately became a unique entity bounded by the equally inexplicable passion for the same team. In such atmosphere football had an interclass unifying social function, inside stadiums you could find, standing shoulder to shoulder, the factory owner and its worker, the businessman and the clerk, the bourgeois and the proletariat. Football was an irrational, superstitious tribal demonstration, but that’s what made it so special.

Then money came in.

Throughout the last twenty years football slowly turned into a show business, with tycoons from all over the world and from different business areas—often with no genuine passion for the clubs—entering the sector and gradually exploiting football. At first, it was ‘pay per view’ television, which detached football from its holy temple. Deprived of its proactive role the supporter soon became a spectator, thus turning football into a show with no substantial differences from any other TV programme. Then came legislative repression, as if watching a game sipping a pint or smoking a cigarette would somehow threaten someone’s life. Eventually, it was the extortionate price of tickets, which priced out even the most ardent and loving supporters.

It is news of recent days that next year’s tickets for Anfield will reach £77, with fans’ boycotts and demonstrations expected. However, the protests over the excessive prices of home tickets have been consistent around the whole country, as phenomena like the Liverpool one are becoming predominant in the British Premier League. As honestly explained by Arsenal Boss Arsene Wenger, in the years to follow the extra television revenue for Premier League clubs will consistently be used to buy players rather than cut ticket prices, thus even further draining stadiums, until the point in which all supporters will be replaced by wealthy costumers.

Supporters who have held their place through thick and thin, people that were there in a cold rainy Wednesday night of a third round FA Cup game and that overpaid a ticket to watch a July friendly will have to say good-bye to one of the ‘loves of their lives’ in the name of ruthless profit making. City fans that had cheered their team when it swayed between Championship and Premier League, United supporters that witnessed Massimo Taibi poorly defending their goal, they all have been robbed of a precious part of their life, and will not likely have it back.

Now try for a second to imagine a stadium with no fans, with no chants, with no pathos, would it still be football? If those men weren’t there, if you didn’t have people cheering, yelling, crying for their teams, if they hadn't been there to witness an unexpected win or the umpteenth loss, then who'd be bothered about football, really?

In such a depressing context, I like to think of the Roma fans that in Barcelona—even though their team was down 6-1—kept on cheering their team, as one of the safeguards of this corrupted system.

Despite the money they might invest in players, trophies won’t buy passion.

Edoardo Tricerri writes for The Manchester Magazine on topics from sport to international politics. He is a Politics and International Relations student at the University of Manchester

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After Paris, free speech must be used wisely

11/18/2015

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SOCIAL MEDIA
Edoardo Tricerri

A poorly lit secondary street, inexplicable gunshots, a grotesque voice yelling “what’s going on?”, lifeless bodies dragged face-down and people desperately holding onto windowsill, onto life.

It is with the images of the frantic moments outside the Bataclan still on my mind, that I switched on my phone on Saturday morning to check Facebook and Twitter. What I found on my feeds was almost as painful as what I witnessed the night before. A tragedy, the harshest tragedy in Europe since WWII, had quickly been turned into a ruthless social media political quarrel. From “Why didn’t the media cover *insert country here*?” to people ranting because of the absence of a Lebanon flag profile picture filter on Facebook, it seemed as if everyone’s need was to distance himself from the excessively mainstream position of condolence and empathy towards the victims of Paris.

The debate had in fact quickly shifted towards a policy analysis with the most discording, and sometimes ridiculous, positions being held by the most different people. I found advocates of bombardments regardless of the civilians that may be involved, I read comments of people claiming “you shall not respond to violence with violence” hence condemning any military action, the catastrophe was randomly blamed on Conservatives, Corbyinism, Israel, the EU, the US and on any other political entity of any sort.

As I do not want to put myself in such a clueless opinion rodeo with judgments driven by fear and vision blurred by anger, I suggest we all take a step back. There will be a day to analyse past policies and to advocate for new ones, there will be a day for ruthless policy makers to blame what happened solely on immigration and for negationists to assert that the attacks have nothing to do with religion, but that day is not here yet. Today we are still shocked by the crude images of Paris, we shall pay tributes to the victims and not exploit the tragedy for our needs. We owe it to the victims, we owe it to the families that will go home to an empty bed, to the children that will grow up without the caresses of a mother, the leading example of a dad.

We have the fortune to live in a country and attend a university that are a crucible of different identities and cultures. Make good use of them. Meet new people, learn about different customs and traditions, share a pint with someone new, taste their food, question your home country’s stereotypes, avoid prejudices, talk to that kid from that country you thought existed only on geographical maps and you will discover the beauty of respecting and appreciating the differences. In light of what happened Friday we ought to do so in order to create a better future, not to strengthen us in the overused “we against them” dichotomy but rather to enlarge the “we” in a general sense, so that there will not be any sort of “them” in the future.

We should all think, doublethink and rethink about our opinion on complex issues such as counteractive measures against terrorism before sharing them with the world. Investigate before coming to conclusions, challenge yourself before clicking send. Question widespread ideas and if you’re not sure about what to think it is perfectly fine to take your time. Free speech is a great value. Especially in times like this, it is important we use it wisely.

In loving memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Paris,
Sit vobis terra levis.

Edoardo Tricerri writes for The Manchester Magazine on a range of topics that go from sport to international politics. He is a second-year Politics and International Relations student at the University of Manchester

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There is no such thing as a stupid electorate

Life as an Exchange student at Sciences Po Paris

Not for sale, but for the love of the game

After Paris, free speech must be used wisely

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