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| Italy tales: 'It's like a circus with clowns entertaining the mass' | Italy tales: 'It's like a circus with clowns entertaining the mass' |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| I'm beginning my journey in Turin, the northern city which was, for four brief years, the first capital of a united Italy. This weekend it has proved it still has considerable political pulling power, with Mario Monti, Beppe Grillo and Silvio Berlusconi all descending on the northern city the weekend before the Italian general election. | I'm beginning my journey in Turin, the northern city which was, for four brief years, the first capital of a united Italy. This weekend it has proved it still has considerable political pulling power, with Mario Monti, Beppe Grillo and Silvio Berlusconi all descending on the northern city the weekend before the Italian general election. |
| But in the spirit of this blog, I'm shunning the big guns for local people – more of that in the morning. In the meantime, here is a selection of the masses of emails I have received over the past few days. | |
| Unfortunately, but not altogether surprisingly, disillusionment and disengagement have emerged as a key theme. | Unfortunately, but not altogether surprisingly, disillusionment and disengagement have emerged as a key theme. |
| Luca Arnaud, architect, Turin | Luca Arnaud, architect, Turin |
| I came back to live in my hometown after six years in London. Six years in the Big City is something of a long spell which could widen your horizons and reshape your mind. During this period I obviously accustomed myself to British habits, from bacon sandwich on Friday morning to Private Eye magazine every fortnight (and the Guardian a bit more often), from teatime football matches to politicians who resign in cases of wrongdoing. | I came back to live in my hometown after six years in London. Six years in the Big City is something of a long spell which could widen your horizons and reshape your mind. During this period I obviously accustomed myself to British habits, from bacon sandwich on Friday morning to Private Eye magazine every fortnight (and the Guardian a bit more often), from teatime football matches to politicians who resign in cases of wrongdoing. |
| As you would probably guess it is really difficult for me to settle down back in Italy, the reality of which I already knew and had, in some way, tried to forget. During my stay in the UK I decided not to read any Italian newspaper as a matter of mental hygiene. This allowed me to drift away, little by little, from its awkward political and social situation which seems to have sunk the country in a kind of "tits and ass" oblivion for the last 20 years. | As you would probably guess it is really difficult for me to settle down back in Italy, the reality of which I already knew and had, in some way, tried to forget. During my stay in the UK I decided not to read any Italian newspaper as a matter of mental hygiene. This allowed me to drift away, little by little, from its awkward political and social situation which seems to have sunk the country in a kind of "tits and ass" oblivion for the last 20 years. |
| But what really distinguish this country and its people is the absence of public spirit added to a general consensus over tax avoidance and lack of keeping laws and civics. There is a saying in Italy which goes "o Franza o Spagna, purché se magna" (France or Spain as long as we can eat) It comes from the political situation on the peninsula during the 16th and 17th centuries when France and Spain fought to hold sway over different Italian areas. The indigenous politicians were unable to watch over their municipality borders and to save at least a bit of independence they supported indifferently the one or the other. This is, unfortunately, what we are still doing. | But what really distinguish this country and its people is the absence of public spirit added to a general consensus over tax avoidance and lack of keeping laws and civics. There is a saying in Italy which goes "o Franza o Spagna, purché se magna" (France or Spain as long as we can eat) It comes from the political situation on the peninsula during the 16th and 17th centuries when France and Spain fought to hold sway over different Italian areas. The indigenous politicians were unable to watch over their municipality borders and to save at least a bit of independence they supported indifferently the one or the other. This is, unfortunately, what we are still doing. |
| The other big problem is the easy way the Italian people fall in love with populism, an affair which could lead, at its worst, to fascism, on its curtain-raiser-rascal side to Silvio Berlusconi and, on its modern web-option version to Beppe Grillo. We still don't know where Grillo could impel the country but we do know for sure what Berlusconi, with his scoundrel kind of policy, will do. | The other big problem is the easy way the Italian people fall in love with populism, an affair which could lead, at its worst, to fascism, on its curtain-raiser-rascal side to Silvio Berlusconi and, on its modern web-option version to Beppe Grillo. We still don't know where Grillo could impel the country but we do know for sure what Berlusconi, with his scoundrel kind of policy, will do. |
| I have completely lost my trust on this country and its people even if I will vote for the next elections because is important to do it, I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but that is the way we have to live in Italy. | I have completely lost my trust on this country and its people even if I will vote for the next elections because is important to do it, I know it sounds like an oxymoron, but that is the way we have to live in Italy. |
| I have to run some errands. Not an easy task in this country: I will have to cross the street passing SUVs parked on the zebra crossings, argue with some chap who will try to jump the queue at the post office and get cantankerous after I discover 10 pages of the newspaper I bought are dedicated to the pope. | I have to run some errands. Not an easy task in this country: I will have to cross the street passing SUVs parked on the zebra crossings, argue with some chap who will try to jump the queue at the post office and get cantankerous after I discover 10 pages of the newspaper I bought are dedicated to the pope. |
| Gianmarco Caprio, 20, graphic design student, Aquino | Gianmarco Caprio, 20, graphic design student, Aquino |
| I wouldn't really call mine a story, just a condition which I share with many people my age in this country: I will be voting for the first time this year, yet I still don't know who am I going to give my vote to. | I wouldn't really call mine a story, just a condition which I share with many people my age in this country: I will be voting for the first time this year, yet I still don't know who am I going to give my vote to. |
| I think the main reason is that I've developed a sort of sickness from politics: you may have noticed that here in Italy we get so much of it – on TV, or just when you hear people talk in a bar – that one can reach the point of saturation. I've had enough of politics, and of the same politicians that dare to come out and still make the same old populist claims. I'm just not buying that, and I'm hoping that, at this point, a larger portion of the population will do that also. But at the same time, I've learned to know this country and the "mechanics" behind it; therefore, I know for sure that somebody like Berlusconi is still going to get a few good votes, just because he represents a specific area of the population (entrepreneurs and such) which would benefit from a new Berlusconi-led government. | I think the main reason is that I've developed a sort of sickness from politics: you may have noticed that here in Italy we get so much of it – on TV, or just when you hear people talk in a bar – that one can reach the point of saturation. I've had enough of politics, and of the same politicians that dare to come out and still make the same old populist claims. I'm just not buying that, and I'm hoping that, at this point, a larger portion of the population will do that also. But at the same time, I've learned to know this country and the "mechanics" behind it; therefore, I know for sure that somebody like Berlusconi is still going to get a few good votes, just because he represents a specific area of the population (entrepreneurs and such) which would benefit from a new Berlusconi-led government. |
| As for my thoughts on the candidates, I'd say that I'd definitely like it if [Pier Luigi] Bersani won this time. He comes off as honest and very simple (his language is very different from the obscure language politicians often use, which we call "politichese"), and I believe he'd do good for Italy. Another candidate who I'm very much in favour of is Oscar Giannino, who is an economist-turned-politician and a very flamboyant personality. He, like other "minor competitors", doesn't get much TV-time, and is not a threat for anyone in this elections, but I might just vote for him because I already know that Bersani is probably going to win anyway. | As for my thoughts on the candidates, I'd say that I'd definitely like it if [Pier Luigi] Bersani won this time. He comes off as honest and very simple (his language is very different from the obscure language politicians often use, which we call "politichese"), and I believe he'd do good for Italy. Another candidate who I'm very much in favour of is Oscar Giannino, who is an economist-turned-politician and a very flamboyant personality. He, like other "minor competitors", doesn't get much TV-time, and is not a threat for anyone in this elections, but I might just vote for him because I already know that Bersani is probably going to win anyway. |
| I must add that I'm hoping to be able to move abroad next year, as I'm kinda pessimistic about the future of this country. Having lived and studied abroad already (in the UK and Ireland), I can safely say that I also don't really feel like I belong here and that living somewhere else would be more satisfying for me." | I must add that I'm hoping to be able to move abroad next year, as I'm kinda pessimistic about the future of this country. Having lived and studied abroad already (in the UK and Ireland), I can safely say that I also don't really feel like I belong here and that living somewhere else would be more satisfying for me." |
| Anonymous | Anonymous |
| I will not vote; I would never vote in this country. It's like a circus with clowns entertaining the mass. A beautiful country, MY beautiful country, in the hands of corrupted people, telling you stories which sound like fairytales, never becoming a reality; a backward country, made of people who are often complaining, nagging, crying, but not doing anything to change what bothers them. | I will not vote; I would never vote in this country. It's like a circus with clowns entertaining the mass. A beautiful country, MY beautiful country, in the hands of corrupted people, telling you stories which sound like fairytales, never becoming a reality; a backward country, made of people who are often complaining, nagging, crying, but not doing anything to change what bothers them. |
| Italy is still so behind, Italy is "old", governed by old people with old minds and old spirits. I lived in the UK for more than a decade; I feel like I have returned to the stone age in Italy. I want to leave, without turning back. As an Italian, as a human being, it is painful to see that we are becoming the laughing stock of Europe. | Italy is still so behind, Italy is "old", governed by old people with old minds and old spirits. I lived in the UK for more than a decade; I feel like I have returned to the stone age in Italy. I want to leave, without turning back. As an Italian, as a human being, it is painful to see that we are becoming the laughing stock of Europe. |
| Somehow Italy is like London in the 1950s. I am referring to immigration. The same people who are governing the country are not doing anything to fight institutional racism and the high level of ignorance which you can breathe in the air. The day will come that I will leave "my Italy" again and I will only return 'on vacation'. It has nothing to offer, especially to young people. They will not get my vote." | Somehow Italy is like London in the 1950s. I am referring to immigration. The same people who are governing the country are not doing anything to fight institutional racism and the high level of ignorance which you can breathe in the air. The day will come that I will leave "my Italy" again and I will only return 'on vacation'. It has nothing to offer, especially to young people. They will not get my vote." |
| • Thank you to everyone who got in touch, and do keep them coming Along the way I'll be tweeting interviews and other posts using the hashtag #StoriedItalia2013. | • Thank you to everyone who got in touch, and do keep them coming Along the way I'll be tweeting interviews and other posts using the hashtag #StoriedItalia2013. |
| You can contact me on Twitter at @lizzy_davies or by email at lizzy.davies@guardian.co.uk. Ciao | You can contact me on Twitter at @lizzy_davies or by email at lizzy.davies@guardian.co.uk. Ciao |