In a recent New York Times article, In A Funk, Italy Sings An Aria Of Disappointment, Italy's issues with chronic political corruption, stifling bureaucracy, aging population and costly entitlements (pensions, etc.) are discussed. Fortunately, a populist movement led by stand-up comic and popular blogger Beppo Grillo are beginning to take shape with the aim of shaking Italy from its relentlessly declining path. They are saying basta, or enough, to the corrupt and/or do-nothing politicians in Rome.
In a post today on his blog, Grillo writes:
Today, the New York Times published an article on Italy floundering and on V-day. The newspaper’s website contains a long article, a video and a series of photographs entitled “A life less dolce”.
From the article entitled “In a Funk, Italy sings an Aria of disappointment”:
“A low-tech lifestyle may enchant the tourists, however, the use of Internet and e-commerce is amongst the lowest in all of Europe, as are salary levels, foreign investment and growth. Pensions, public debt and administration costs, instead, are amongst the highest.The latest data depicts a nation that is increasingly ageing and poor, to the point where the country’s most eminent bishop has proposed an increase in the number of food parcels for the poor.
70% of Italians between 20 and 30 years of age is still living at home with Mom and Dad, condemned to an increasingly lengthy and unproductive adolescence. Many of the most intelligent ones are leaving Italy, just as many of their predecessors did just a century ago.
American Ambassador Ronald Spogli, who has an intimate knowledge of Italy dating back some forty years, warns that Italy is at risk of seeing its international role diminish, as well as its relations with Washington. America’s best friends are its business partners, and Italy is not one of the most important of these. The country’s level of bureaucracy and its unclear rules have led to USA investments in Italy dropping to only 16.9 billion Dollars in 2004, while investments in Spain stood at 49.3 billion.In Denmark, 64% of people have faith in their Parliament, while in Italy, this figure drops to 36%. Statistics show that 11% of all Italian families are living below the poverty line, and that 15% of them find it difficult to survive through to the end of the month on their salaries”.
This is how the world sees us. All things that frequent visitors to the blog already know, but it is comforting to see the facts being confirmed by an international newspaper.
In his December 13th article, “In a Funk, Italy Sings an Aria of Disappointment” Ian Fisher quotes Rome’s mayor Walter Veltroni as saying that Italy is “…a country that has lost a little of its will for the future.”
I believe the mayor could have expressed his sentiments in more precise terms.
I do not believe that Italy has lost its will for the future, nor do I believe that Italy has lost its will at all. However, I do believe that Italy may have temporarily misplaced it. I suspect that, like a prize fighter, Italy has taken a few more blows to the head in the past few years than would be considered “within comfortable limits” and is feeling the effects of fatigue. I also believe that this feeling will not endure.
Italy has had a long tradition of being the “come-back kid.” Over the centuries the peninsula and surrounding islands have been conquered, liberated, conquered again and united. Since the early days of the Roman Empire, Italy has seen economic depressions and great losses, but these adversities–both periodic and finite–have resulted in a country that is both proud and strong, rich in history and culture.
I also applaud and at the same time, chastise Ian Fisher for the preciseness of his article’s title. There is a reason why Italy sings both arias of joy and despair: because it can. Because it created the medium in the first place. Ian Fisher chose his metaphor with precision but perhaps his intent might be aided with a somewhat more substantive definition of what an aria really is:
An aria is but a short song sung by a single voice. It is a small part of a much larger and greater operatic work that only reflects the individual character’s emotional state. It does not, however, represent the entire opera, nor does it necessarily portray the emotions of “all” of the characters in the opera itself.
For the opera to work, other voices need to sing, and other songs need to be sung.
I cannot say who the “individual” was who sang this particular aria, but I do not believe it is at all accurate to call the character “Italy.” Italy sings with more than just one voice, so it could not have possibly sung the aria that Ian Fisher describes. This aria, then, more accurately represents a single individual or entity, and the opera in which it is contained may tell an altogether different story.
I doubt that the entire opera has even been written yet.
I would surmise, therefore, that this oeuvre is far from over.
Michael David Todaro
Posted by: Michael David Todaro | February 05, 2008 at 01:31 PM
In his December 13th article, “In a Funk, Italy Sings an Aria of Disappointment” Ian Fisher quotes Rome’s mayor Walter Veltroni as saying that Italy is “…a country that has lost a little of its will for the future.”
I believe the mayor could have expressed his sentiments in more precise terms.
I do not believe that Italy has lost its will for the future, nor do I believe that Italy has lost its will at all. However, I do believe that Italy may have temporarily misplaced it. I suspect that, like a prize fighter, Italy has taken a few more blows to the head in the past few years than would be considered “within comfortable limits” and is feeling the effects of fatigue. I also believe that this feeling will not endure.
Italy has had a long tradition of being the “come-back kid.” Over the centuries the peninsula and surrounding islands have been conquered, liberated, conquered again and united. Since the early days of the Roman Empire, Italy has seen economic depressions and great losses, but these adversities–both periodic and finite–have resulted in a country that is both proud and strong, rich in history and culture.
I also applaud and at the same time, chastise Ian Fisher for the preciseness of his article’s title. There is a reason why Italy sings both arias of joy and despair: because it can. Because it created the medium in the first place. Ian Fisher chose his metaphor with precision but perhaps his intent might be aided with a somewhat more substantive definition of what an aria really is:
An aria is but a short song sung by a single voice. It is a small part of a much larger and greater operatic work that only reflects the individual character’s emotional state. It does not, however, represent the entire opera, nor does it necessarily portray the emotions of “all” of the characters in the opera itself.
For the opera to work, other voices need to sing, and other songs need to be sung.
I cannot say who the “individual” was who sang this particular aria, but I do not believe it is at all accurate to call the character “Italy.” Italy sings with more than just one voice, so it could not have possibly sung the aria that Ian Fisher describes. This aria, then, more accurately represents a single individual or entity, and the opera in which it is contained may tell an altogether different story.
I doubt that the entire opera has even been written yet.
I would surmise, therefore, that this oeuvre is far from over.
Michael David Todaro
Posted by: Michael David Todaro | February 05, 2008 at 01:32 PM