Tag Archive: Mario Monti


ITALY IN A COMA – IT’S SERIOUS

Filed under: Books, Gender, Good causes, Italy, Politics — Leave a comment
July 4, 2013

GIRLFRIEND IN A COMA  directed by Annalisa Piras (UK / Italy, 2012)

This documentary film ,co-written and narrated by ex-editor of The Economist, Bill Emmott, looks at Italy as an open wound in the heart of Europe.

As with Emmott’s book (Good Italy, Bad Italy) it examines the nation’s virtues and vices, borrowing the image of the country as a metaphorical girlfriend from the song by The Smiths and quoting liberally from Dante’s Divine Comedy.

In my view, it spends too long looking at the background to the crisis and too little on proposing a way out of the mess. The strongest messages rightly assert that ,if change is going to come, it is going to be the result of the more active role of women and a more enlightened attitude from the new generation.

Lorella Zanardo, who made the film Il Corpo Delle Donne, is therefore right to target her message at schools since the older generation already seem like a lost cause. This is also why it is less important to hear what Umberto Eco and Nanni Moretti think and more crucial to find out what the younger generation have to say. Continue reading →

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ITALIAN ELECTION – THE CRIMINAL, THE COMEDIAN AND THE PROFESSOR

Filed under: Gender, Italy, Politics, Television — Leave a comment
February 25, 2013

beppe_grilloSilvio_BerlusconiI live in Italy but am not an Italian citizen. Though I was unable to vote in the general election, I do obviously have a vested interest in the result.

I am writing this post before all the votes have been counted but already a number of things are clear.

The number of people who still view Berlusconi as a legitimate leader remains frighteningly high. To my mind, this indicates a level of ignorance that difficult to understand. With large parts of his support coming from the South, it shows that the Mafiosi are also still on his side. Continue reading →

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REVOLTING WORKERS

Filed under: Italy, Politics, Television — Leave a comment
November 30, 2012
A strike affected classroom

A strike affected classroom

Italy is dominated by fraud, tax evasion and inequality; it’s also a country where the rich remain cushioned from the worst aspects of the economic crisis.

For all Mario Monti’s appearance of being a steadying hand, he has backed down from early promises to introduce a fairer and more transparent tax system which would mean that the wealthy pay more.

Meanwhile, the education system is a shambles, pensions are cut, public services go from and to worse and unemployment is still rising.

Even those fortunate enough to have found work are mostly on short-term contracts with practically no job security.

Today, for the umpteenth time this year, the main Italian unions called a general strike of public sector workers.

I participated by cancelling my lessons but wonder why I bothered. This type of action has become so common that the media coverage is practically non-existent and, aside from a little transport disruption, there is not much effect on the general public.

I lose a day’s pay so the state actually saves money. Withdrawal of labour is the age-old way to voice protest but rather than signifying a change of direction it’s a gesture that is as effective as pissing in the wind.

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NOT SO SUPER MARIO

Filed under: Italy, Politics — Leave a comment
May 30, 2012

Whatever else you say about Italy’s caretaker premier Mario Monti, he is not usually a man to speak first and think afterwards.

His measured, robotic voice shows that he is not in the business of making a drama out of the financial crisis.

He restores the notion that economics is a boring but necessary part of political life.

But his skills as a economist are greater than those as a politician.

In response to the latest match rigging / bribery scandal to hit Italian soccer he has stated publically that it would be better if soccer matches were halted for up to three years. This, he reasons, would allow the time for reflection needed to set the sporting house in order.

Monti was at pains to point out that he was voicing a personal opinion but, predictably, the media are not about to let facts get in the way of a good story and report his statement as if it had become official government policy.

Disillusionment with money-grabbing soccer players is one thing, but advocating a total ban on the sport  is both illogical and counter productive. These greedy sportsmen, who have plenty of solid role models in the form of politicians,will rightly face criminal charges and are unlikely to play again.

Measures should then be taken to expose and demonise the unscrupulous organisations who are paying them to throw matches.
Obviously, this is a bit like saying that we need to root out drug barons as much as the dealers. I realise that to succeed totally it requires an overhaul of ingrained social and cultural attitudes which,let’s face it, is never likely to happen.

This doesn’t mean that we should give up the fight against corruption when we find it and resources should be applied to this task rather than proposing unworkable solutions that merely grab the headlines.

Monti would do well to focus on getting the nation’s books to balance and learning when it is diplomatic to keep his mouth shut.

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