A pretty weird country

Italy is a pretty weird country.

A normal citizen has to work for 40 years in order to – hopefully – get a pension at some point in his life.

A MP gets this after 5 years of service. There are even those who have been MPs for a day and get a pension of more than 3.000 Euros a month.

This is just one of the many things that differentiate us from what is now widely considered as a “caste” of politicians.

Politicians have evolved from representatives of the people into some kind of modern nobility.  

They live ignoring laws, protected by an immunity that applies to virtually every crime, from corruption to mafia crimes. And this is often not enough, as they change laws in order not to be persecuted.

 Their “reign” is based upon the indifference of the Italians – ready to worry about a football match, but too ignorant and superficial to analyze the decisions of our government. Those who try to protest – as in the case of the MP Antonio Borghesi – are ignored or denigrated by many of those TV channels and newspapers owned by our Prime Minister.

We haven’t been a democratic country for years, so much so that we can’t decide our own candidates – parties do this for us. And we don’t even understand what this means.

We are going through a new fascism. Less violent, for the time being. But with the same roots and the same ends: deny the rights of the majority in order to defend the interests of the lucky few.   

Fuck you

This song by Lily Allen is, first of all, a moral declaration.

This “fuck you” is for all those who discriminate against homosexuals (so much so that it’s almost become an anthem against sexual discrimination)

 But it also applies to all the bigots and racists around us.

We are tired of listening to your narrow-minded views. We’ve had enough of the hatred and fear that you spread like a mental plague.

Fuck you!

In the world we’ll build there is no space for you!

We are greedy

Italians, rats stealing Swiss cheese !

The Swiss campaign against Italian immigrants makes us reflect – or at least it should make us reflect.

By labeling as rats the tilers from Verbania, the lawyers from Lombardy, and the Romanians who reside in Italy, this campaign denounces the assault of 45 thousand Italians who “steal Swiss jobs”.

Many in Switzerland have been criticizing the opening of the borders for years, much in the same way as our very own Lega. The only difference is that this time we are on the wrong side, on the same boat as the usual Romanians.

Experiencing this kind of discrimination first-hand, understanding what it means to be considered rats stealing Swiss cheese and jobs, hopefully will teach our fellow Italians how counterproductive the current racist path actually is.

The Lega chisels you

“Federalism is near. We’ve pushed until we found the right way for it, the democratic way. As Albertoni [president of the regional council in Lombardy] said, everything has been arranged and we’ll be voting in Lombardy. Therefore we bring you today the beginning of Federalism inside our institutions. A great novelty: once we were your means to ask the Government about Federalism. Today, however, we bring you this Federalism. Yes, today we begin our Federalism inside the institutions. This is the great novelty: the federalist fight that the various regions will fight by asking to the Government, to the State, the right to their autonomy.”

With these words Umberto Bossi announced in Venice the beginning of federalism. Finally, after years of empty promises, Lega Nord keeps its word. Everyone, even those who thought that, once in power, the upper echelons of the Lega would have abused of their power to help friends and relatives, has to face the truth. Federalism has begun!

It’s just a shame that this speech is dated September 2006!

Bossi has been talking about Federalism for decades. In the meantime the municipalities no longer receive the council tax. Highway fares increase in the North whilst they remain unchanged in Rome. Government goods are on sale to privates (i.e. multinational companies). In Piedmont Cota and his friends are helping their friends and relatives.

On the streets there are signs that read: La Lega ti Frega (the Lega chisels you). Once upon a time Rome was the one (supposedly) stealing.

Scenes we’ve already seen

There is a weird atmosphere in Italy.

Luckily, I’m one of those people who still have a job and a decent life, and I rarely have the time to worry about those manifestations on the streets and in the harbors of the country. 

On the 21^st of July the unemployed of Naples, marching and pleading honest jobs, went as far as diving in the sea to stop the ships packed with tourists sailing towards the islands of the region.

What worries me, however, more than the daily frequency of these protests, is the reactions these manifestations cause.

Firstly I’m scared by the increasing use of force to forbid even the most civil protests. If we all agree that we can’t defend acts of vandalism by the protesters, we can’t defend police attacks on common and harmless people either.

It happened with the population of L’Acquila after the earthquake, but also with groups of students.

Not only.

Now the fear of independent voices is such that the police goes as far as stopping people who MIGHT protest.

It happened a few nights ago in Milan.

The police didn’t allow some people to reach Piazza del Duomo because they had already protested against Berlusconi.

For hours they were kept away from the “scene of the crime” (the presentation of an award to our Premier) by some sixty cops. They – all in all 20 people without banners or flags – could have shouted unwelcome words. They could have!

Leaving a curious parallelism with Minority Report (where Tom Cruise arrests criminals before they have the chance of committing a crime) this piece of news has the same nostalgic taste of those documentaries of the Istituto Luce.

Only difference: now, instead of those grey and black shirts, we have suits and ties, or maybe a nice jumper. The substance, however, seems to be the same.

The Big Kahuna

This is an extract from a truly unique movie, The Big Kahuna. It doesn’t need comments, it just has to be read.

“Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing. 

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss. 

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch. 

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's. Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance. Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel. 

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.”