{"id":10880,"date":"2016-01-27T10:00:39","date_gmt":"2016-01-27T09:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/?p=10880"},"modified":"2016-01-26T21:16:15","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T20:16:15","slug":"proud-to-be-italian-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/italian\/proud-to-be-italian-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Proud To Be Italian? Part – 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following Geoff’s article I Don’t Feel Italian<\/a> I thought I’d write a few words about my personal take on patriotism.<\/p>\n

\u201cL\u2019Italia fa schifo\u201d<\/strong> said a couple of teenagers one day to a rather taken aback Geoff when they realised that he was English. Personally, I wasn\u2019t at all surprised by this phrase as I used to say the same when I was a teenager: Italy seemed so backwards, so provincial, so un-modern, so old, especially with regards to music.
\nI wanted real rock, metal, punk, techno, etc., not the tedious stereotypical litany of \u2018amore fa rima con cuore\u2019<\/strong> full of romantic violins. That’s pretty much all there was.
\nEven our architecture, our cities, in fact everything seemed so old and boring to me. When I went to stay in Berlin there were all these tall smart modern buildings sprouting up everywhere. And what about those trendy German shopping centres, with indoor caf\u00e9s and restaurants next to multi-storey clothing stores, with glass elevators and escalators. That’s what I wanted!<\/p>\n

But now, as a mature adult, am I still ashamed of Italy? Well unfortunately, yes, but in other ways.<\/p>\n

WARNING: brace yourselves for a rant, Dear Readers:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve lived in several different countries on two continents, and resided in a number of different Italian towns. As an adult I lived in England for thirteen years, and naturally one’s expectations change when one experiences different cultures perspectives and infrastructures. So what is it that I’m still ashamed of exactly?<\/p>\n

Politicians!<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Foto<\/p>\n

These are no doubt la merda<\/strong> (the shit), la cancrena<\/strong> (the gangrene) that is slowly, but inexorably destroying Italy. And when I say politicians I mean all of them, every single party or so called movement, on every level, from national government to local councils. It\u2019s all just a filthy game that they play to protect their power, their wealth, their position. It’s a disease which permeates every aspect of our lives. And this brings me to my next object of shame.<\/p>\n

Bureaucracy, Public Services and Infrastructure.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"burocrazia_disastro\"<\/a><\/p>\n

These are not designed to help our citizens, but rather to put them off and scare them away. The principle problem is nepotismo<\/strong> (nepotism<\/a><\/strong><\/span>). All the top managers in our public services (so called!) are chosen by political parties, no matter whether they have the appropriate skills or not (usually not!), and most employees get their jobs not based on merit, but because they have family or political links.<\/p>\n

Walk into any public office in any town in Italy and you\u2019ll see the same tell-tale signs. Check out the surnames and you’ll find the same four or five repeated over and over again: the mayor\u2019s secretary is the wife of the head of the town-planning office, and their son is the chief accountant in the council treasury, and the son’s wife works at the local health benefits office, and so on. Bureaucracy, services and infrastructure are dominated by il nepotismo<\/strong>, and la meritocrazia<\/strong> (meritocracy) is almost non existent.<\/p>\n

Okay, let’s all take a deep breath and finish with a lovely image of Il Bel Paese<\/strong>, shall we?<\/p>\n

\"Bel<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

Following Geoff’s article I Don’t Feel Italian I thought I’d write a few words about my personal take on patriotism. \u201cL\u2019Italia fa schifo\u201d said a couple of teenagers one day to a rather taken aback Geoff when they realised that he was English. Personally, I wasn\u2019t at all surprised by this phrase as I used…<\/p>\n

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