Thursday, February 15, 2007

Italians Focused on Law of Universe NOT Mortal or Cause & Effect :) :)

The ANNOTICO Report

A couple of reasons Italians seem to have disdain for mere mortal laws.

Italians undervalue the law of cause and effect, and overvalue the law of the universe

More specifically.

Italy has about 90,000 laws on the book, where France had 7,325 and Germany 5,587. "The problem is with so many rules, it's almost impossible to obey them all, and they are applied badly," "Italians are almost forced into illegality by a poorly functioning system."

The Vatican with promises of salvation, with it's own series of admonitions, that don't seem to fit current standards. Nod and ignore.

Italy's history between 1520 and 1860, almost 350 years of "Foreign" fragmented Exploitive Rule, rule. Faced with greedy and hostile authority over many chaotic centuries, Italians fell back into what is often called "familism," the idea that only the family can be trusted. Everything outside the realm of family and clan can be ignored or tricked into submission.

The cynicism of that period has carried over, with Italians even since their "Reunification" have not had confidence in their own politicians. Many of the centrist politicians who have governed Italy since World War II were plenty corrupt. Currently as an example, 25 of the Italian Parliament have been convicted of crimes, mostly for corruption.Therefore, if our leaders don't follow the laws, why should we?

Italians consider themselves saints, heroes, improvisers and artful fixers; and above all we are cunning,"

And then too, don't forget their incredible "Individualism"

Sometimes, rogues just aren't charming, Italians find

International Herald Tribune

By Ian Fisher

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

ROME ....The shrugged shoulder is real, a daily reminder that part of Italy's charm rests on the fact that it does not much care for rules. Italians can be downright poetic about it, this inclination to dodge taxes, to cut lines, to erect entire neighborhoods without permits, or simply to run red lights, while smoking or talking on the phone, or both.

"We undervalue the law of cause and effect," said Lisa Tumino, who runs a bed and breakfast here near the Vatican. "We overvalue the law of the universe."

This nugget was mined with a single, simple question: Why was Tumino, in her beat-up white Nissan, illegally parked on Via delle Fornaci, along with two dozen other drivers, on a recent rainy day when they clogged traffic, made the roads more dangerous and acted, in fact, against the law?

Boiled down, Tumino was saying: No sterile, one-size-fits-all rule book applies here. Italians prefer a more individual justice for their reality and the long history that shaped it. In this case, ancient streets don't allow for adequate parking.

But every now and again, Italians wake up to the unpleasant reality that, however lightly it can be explained away, breaking the rules is also part of Italy's malaise....

Beppe Grillo, the Italian political satirist, keeps a running list on his Web site of members of the Italian Parliament or Italian members of the European Parliament, 25 in all, who have been convicted of crimes, mostly for corruption.

Just last week, an Italian newspaper reported the existence of a new little town outside Naples, of 50 houses and 435 apartments, for which not a single building permit had been issued. About 31,000 illegal structures reportedly went up in 2005 alone.

Just last year, Italy slid into the last place in Europe for direct investment from the United States, after the economy had struggled for years. Businesspeople, both foreign and Italian, complain that the complicated culture of rules those broken, as well as those impossible to understand is one major reason.

Paolo Catalfamo, now managing director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy, recalled the six years he spent managing an American investment fund here.

"The issue I spent most of my time on was trying to explain to my headquarters in San Francisco why the rules they received had to be interpreted," he said.

"They didn't get the concept that rules don't have one meaning only, that they have many meanings. They had a very hard time."

Like most things in this nation, built on layers of the past, physical and mental, it is not always easy to explain why this is.

The standard answer encompasses Italy's fragmented history, of often arbitrary regional rule by foreigners, local nobles and a church with claims of the blessing of God.

On the latter subject, some experts claim that the Catholic Church, which grew up here, holds no small responsibility: Sins can be committed, then forgiven.

There is no single standard for salvation; each person's life is weighed on its own.

Relatives worried about where their dearly departed ended up can pray for personal intervention from some 2,500 saints a system perfectly calibrated for Italy's individualistic ethos.

Faced with greedy and hostile authority over many chaotic centuries, it is argued, Italians fell back into what is often called "familism," the idea that only the family can be trusted. Everything outside the realm of family and clan can be ignored or tricked into submission.

"We are a people of saints, heroes, improvisers and artful fixers; above all we are cunning," a 1986 study on Italian values concluded, finding the nation's mind set little changed over time. "Our cunningness consists of believing that others will take advantage of us if we do not first take advantage of them."

The state responded to its own weakness by imposing too many laws. Alexander Stille, a Columbia University professor who has written several books on Italy, cited figures several years ago showing that Italy had about 90,000 laws on the book, where France had 7,325 and Germany 5,587. But they are badly enforced: Italy also has the slowest courts in Europe.

"The problem is with so many rules, it's almost impossible to obey them all, and they are applied badly," said Stille, who most recently wrote "The Sack of Rome." "Italians are almost forced into illegality by a poorly functioning system."

While many of the centrist politicians who have governed Italy since World War II were plenty corrupt on their own, many experts argue that this anti-rules culture reached it apex in the political career of Silvio Berlusconi.

Stille goes as far as to argue that Berlusconi, who was twice elected prime minister, was so canny that he created a political constituency out of tax cheats and people with illegally built houses.

"If you ask me for 50 percent or more in taxes," Berlusconi once famously said, "it's unjust and I feel morally justified, if I have the possibility, to evade them."

And, dutifully, after both of his elections, in 1994 and 2000, he introduced amnesties for unpaid taxes and illegal houses.

In the last two weeks, in the anger over the death at the stadium, the question has risen whether anything can be done to change things.

The short answer, most experts say, is: probably not. The government of the new prime minister, Romano Prodi, is weak, with power spread thinly among nine coalition parties.

Still optimists hold out hope: Catalfamo, of the American Chamber of Commerce, says that even if foreign investment is low, it is easier to do business in Italy now than it was 10 years ago. Others note that the nation's political class is old and cannot hold on forever.

Peter Kiefer and Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/02/14/news/journal.php

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