2008: un po’ d’ottimismo, nonostante il degrado
Monday December 31st, 2007 | 12:17 pm | Uncategorized
A few thoughts at the end of the year after some optimistic (and surprising, for some people) articles by il Sole 24 Ore. Italy is condemned to an inevitable decay? No. It’s true that the country is losing ground (even if politicians often deny it), but I am with the people who think that we can still invert the trend. To do it we need some faith in our possibilities, a change of the political system, but also the willingness to modify some of our personal attitudes versus the public good.
Riflessioni ferroviarie, dopo l’articolo del NYT
Saturday December 15th, 2007 | 08:08 pm | Uncategorized
“Italy is in a funk”, wrote the New York Times. In my opinion, something worse is happening, because Italians do not believe any more that the political class, any political class, will be able to solve their problems. Even the small ones, like the dirty toilets in the trains. Incompetence, unefficient or corrupted administration, but also bad behaviour by some citizens combine in a tangle very difficult to solve.
Viva la democrazia! Sì, ma quale?
Sunday November 11th, 2007 | 10:18 am | Uncategorized
How do we imagine democracy in the 21st century? I don’t think that the system of electing political representatives for four or five years, as envisaged two hundred years ago, is still satisfactory for the citizens of modern states. On the other hand the forms of direct participation, now technically possible through the Net, are very dangerous because the majority is uninformed and tends to decide without considering all the aspects of each issue. Other systems are under trial: “democracy by ballot” (a group of citizens is chosen to get informed and decide on each issue), “democracy by media”, mobilizing people through television or internet, or “primary voting” on very general issues, just to confirm a ruling class that has already been selected. Each system has its own defects. Probably the only possible, even if partial, answer is democracy through the multiplication of local initiatives offering to the citizens a place to debate, as once it happened in the party meetings. It’s a process just starting in Italy, but the demand for participation is high.
Mi chiamo Speroni, mio nonno era mugnaio sull’Olona, però…
Sunday September 30th, 2007 | 07:41 am | Amarcord, Europa, Nord e Sud
About the risk of secession in Italy, my family name, the hurried way in which people read articles on the screen…
Grillo apre la terza fase della comunicazione politica
Sunday September 16th, 2007 | 08:33 am | Uncategorized
There are four reasons behind Beppe Grillo’s V Day success, (“where V stands for a very rude Italian expletive”, explains the International Herald Tribune). Grillo is a very talented comedian; his proposals are very simple (probably too simple); people in Italy are really looking for an alternative to the actual political class; and he knows how to use the mix between virtual interactivity and real encounters of his fans. Probably thanks to him Italy is entering a new phase in the techniques of political communication, where controlling televisions or carrying busloads of people to demonstrate in Rome is not enough to have success.
I rivoluzionari del senso civico
Saturday August 25th, 2007 | 04:28 pm | Uncategorized
“Senso civico” means being concerned about the public good. It’s an attitude which in Italy is lacking, and this explains the weakness of our political system, in the left as in the right wing. From Michele Salvati to Beppe Grillo, columnists and bloggers discuss this point, without being able to find a solution. May be we should start froom the network of people who show “senso civico” in their everyday life. As “Una Città”, a not so well known monthly magazine published in Romagna, points out.
I precari? Sono la maggioranza dei lavoratori
Tuesday August 21st, 2007 | 03:25 pm | Uncategorized
Beppe Grillo started a crusade against precarious jobs in Italy. The problem is real, but the “Biagi law “which the extreme left wants to change is not responsible for it. Only a broader reform of the work laws, including higher indemnities for unemployment, can offer a real change of the situation.
