To transform the invisible into the visible

Disability resides in society not in the person

The strong Italian public debt, which has reached 160% of the gross domestic product, does not derive from wrong strategies of politics and companies but from corruption, tax evasion, a mafia system funded by those who should fight it. The ruthlessness of these corrupters, tax evaders and mafia members is not limited to satisfying their own greed, on the contrary, thanks to their privileged position within the private economic power, public administration and political personnel they make the population pay a very high price, in particular to the weakest such as Persons with Disabilities.

A recent international research by the Rand Corporation, (US think tank), in 2020, estimated that corruption costs the economy of European countries 900 billion euros a year and the Italian one at least 237 billion, equal to 14% of ours. gross domestic product.

Every year the Economy and Finance Ministry publishes estimates on tax evasion in Italy. On the 2017 data (the latest available estimates), tax evasion in Italy amounts to almost 109 billion.

I underline these terrible numbers because their size should, I believe, clarify the urgent need to tackle the problem of tax evasion, corruption and mafias with new parameters, passing from the purely judicial to the cultural concept, and to do this it is necessary to promote listening paths aimed at affirming the value of honesty still far from being shared by our country system.

I underline these terrible numbers (also) because if we manage to defeat the cancers of corruption, tax evasion and mafias in our country, the quality of our services would improve, to me, as a person with disabilities, very dear, that of Health and that of Mobility. Precisely for this reason, in a short time I will publicly share a project to which I am dedicating so much, the equation of civil disability with accidents at work so that finally every person with disabilities can win their freedom and dignity. Because every disability, (physical, intellectual, cognitive, sensorial and psychic), is defeated by freeing millions of people and their families from a sad and painful imprisonment.

In all this, I am convinced that the contribution of civil society will in itself be a factor of progress capable of shaping and promoting pluralism, contributing to more effective policies, equitable and sustainable development and inclusive growth. The sensitivity of civil society has always played an important role in promoting the rule of law and respect for democratic values, in the emancipation of frailties and in combating discrimination by giving a voice to people who are prisoners of disabilities and, last but not least, to transform the invisible into the visible.

Salvatore Cimmino