Luzzara, issued ordinance against nastiness: the "fines" will be visits to art places and book readings

The municipality of Luzzara (province of Reggio Emilia) is the first to endow itself with an “anti-kindness” ordinance to punish those who are guilty of displays of nastiness, rancor or anger, both verbally (in “physical” places but also on social networks) and physically: it is an ordinance issued by Mayor Andrea Costa, who considered the measure necessary because of the spread of violent episodes: “suffice it to consider,” reads the text of the ordinance, "a large part of the communication that can be traced on so-called social networks where, accomplice the absence of de visu confrontation, many people feel free to use expressions that incite hatred, to persecute single individuals by agitating real media lynching campaigns or entire social categories by practicing differentiation by race, religion, political or sexual orientation, census and belonging."

Thus, recalling the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and pointing out that the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union proclaims the inviolability of human dignity, the mayor of Luzzara, believing that it is his duty to guarantee the safety and physical integrity of all citizens as well as to preserve his community from the dangers of “nastiness,” prohibits all manifestations of nastiness and invites anyone to report violations of the ban to an appropriate email address.

There will be no monetary penalties: the “fines” are visits to museums to admire at least two works among the Vatican Museums’ Laocoon, Bernini’s St. Theresa, Myron’s Discobolus, Caravaggio’s Pieta Rondanini, Caravaggio’s Conversion of St. Paul, Giotto ’s frescoes at the Scrovegni Chapel, and also book readings (such as Primo Levi’s If This is a Man, Marguerite Yourcenar’s The Memoirs of Hadrian, Tahar ben Jelloun’s Racism Explained to My Daughter, but also reading the dictionary of the Italian language), reading the Constitution, visiting places such as the Solferino ossuary, the Fossoli camp or the Cervi Museum in Gattatico, as well as watching some films such as Life is Beautiful, Inside out, Philadelphia, The Spotlight Case, participating in theatrical performances of plays such as Medea or A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and performing at least 10 hours of volunteer work.

In short: Mayor Costa’s idea is that badness should be fought with culture. The text of the ordinance is available on the City of Luzzara website.

In the photo: the Scrovegni Chapel.

Luzzara, issued ordinance against nastiness: the "fines" will be visits to art places and book readings

Warning: the translation into English of the original Italian article was created using automatic tools. We undertake to review all articles, but we do not guarantee the total absence of inaccuracies in the translation due to the program. You can find the original by clicking on the ITA button. If you find any mistake,please contact us.