At long last, Italy decided to build a structure linking Sicily and the mainland. It will be a continental shift and a massive cultural change for Western civilization, provided Italian politics gets its act together.
This is not a bridge; it is the end of one myth and perhaps the origin of another. Western civilization began here: Ulysses and his companions sat side by side at the oars, lost in the treacherous Mediterranean, trapped trying to avoid two equally fierce and relentless monsters—the twin hazards of Scylla and Charybdis.
The bridge is a philosophical leap of the mind. It hoists an anchor of the collective imagination grounded upon ancient Greece for 33 centuries. Scylla and Charybdis will no longer be divided and divisive but united.
Sicily will not be an island any longer, much like in the 1960s when suspension bridges and high-speed rail turned highly seismic Japan from an archipelago into an Asian Britain.
The bridge will transform the country, Europe, and Africa. At this point, it must be built soon and well—otherwise, it becomes a farce that would dissolve the nation.
However, according to cynical observers, wary of Italian conditions, there are four possible outcomes for the project:
1. Much will be spent, but construction won’t even begin.
2. Much will be spent, a site will open, but work will halt in the early phases.
3. Much will be spent, construction will finish, but the structure will fail certification.
4. Much will be spent, the bridge will pass certification, but it will close after the first critical issues arise.
Luigi De Pierris, an expert in bridge studies, was skeptical of the project years ago. Now he believes it will stall at points three or four.
The crucial point is that the bridge has been approved. Therefore, beyond past controversies, everyone should hope the project is completed. All will suffer if it stops or is done poorly. Today should be a day when the country unites, as wasting public money, losing international standing, and fracturing national cohesion leave everyone defeated.
This is not Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini’s problem—it is Italy’s problem and that of the Italian people. A serious country must debate an issue until a decision is reached. Afterwards, the decision must be implemented. History will then judge. If nothing is implemented, a country ceases to exist. Rome can’t join Sicily and Calabria and split Italian politics.
From now on, it should be fair to denounce corruption or errors if they occur, but not the project itself. It must be finished. In this, there are no governing parties or opposition—there is only Italy. The problem then is: Is Italy there?
