tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post143084758856623089..comments2023-10-11T12:03:05.848+00:00Comments on Universal Thoughts: Dolce Vita RubbishedHazar Nesimihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03906681712746544309noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post-39439672015463173862008-01-14T15:28:00.000+00:002008-01-14T15:28:00.000+00:00I wish that many countres that have similar chroni...I wish that many countres that have similar chronic inability of governments to govern and endemic corruption attain similar level to that of Italy, for Northern Europe will not be a beacon for anybody. Anyway Italy brings hope that incompetent but joyuous and active people can achieve things by trial and error rather than grand design.Hazar Nesimihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03906681712746544309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post-59416816828020963482008-01-13T23:24:00.000+00:002008-01-13T23:24:00.000+00:00Mussolini said, "It isn't difficult to govern Ital...Mussolini said, "It isn't difficult to govern Italy; it's useless." <BR/><BR/>Just one of many reasons for this is contained in the phrase 'the Italian government'. The phrase might lead you to think that there is a central authority in Italy. There is not. There are several. Or rather, wherever there is a constituted authority, there is also a parallel one. <BR/><BR/>On a national level, there is the State, and there is the Church, which has taken a very long time to learn that its holiness is best preserved without political power. But few people trust the state. Italians' enthusiasm for Europe is really repulsion of their own politicians. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, their real loyalties are local. But here it gets really interesting, because alongside the local authorities, there is the church, the biggest local business and, in the south, the biggest business of all: the Camorra, 'Ndrangheta, la Sacra Corona, or La Cosa ('The Thing', better known as the Mafia). <BR/><BR/>So, in a sense, Italy is <I>not</I> governed, not as we would understand it. However, it works. Not so well, recently, but overall the record is remarkably good. And in some ways (this is my theory), it is because of, not in spite of, the corruption. The distribution of wealth is better than it is in the UK because the real economy is often working for the people seemingly excluded from the economy of the official figures, which are never to be trusted.NoolaBeulahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02181815160785834692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33755875.post-63809039307628774212008-01-13T16:07:00.000+00:002008-01-13T16:07:00.000+00:00Yeah rubbish collection presents many practical co...Yeah rubbish collection presents many practical complications in fact. The confusion stems from the fact that there is no universally agreed-upon definition of rubbish. Some citizens for example have been mistaken for rubbish by rubbish-collecting authorities and they were collected in conditions that are clearly against human rights tenets. This confusion needs to be sorted as soon as possible.Vannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11814025517185126126noreply@blogger.com