But these days,
for all the outside adoration and all of its innate strengths,
Its a
country that has lost a little of its will for the future," said Walter Veltroni, the mayor of
The problems are,
for the most part, not new - and that is the problem. They have simply
caught up to
But frustration
is rising that these old weaknesses are still no better, and in some cases they
are worse, as the world outside outpaces the country. In 1987,
The latest
numbers show a nation older and poorer - to the point that
Worse, worry is
growing that
Doubt clouds the
family itself: 70 percent of Italians between 20 and 30 still live at home,
condemning the young to an extended and underproductive adolescence. Many of
the brightest, like the poorest a century ago, leave
The stakes have
risen so high that Ronald P. Spogli, the American
ambassador and someone with 40 years of experience with
They need to
sever the ivy that has grown up around this fantastic 2,500-year-old tree that
is threatening to kill the tree," Mr. Spogli
said.
But interviews
with possible prime ministers, businesspeople, academics, economists and other
Italians suggest that the largest reason for this malaise seems to be the
feeling that there is little hope that the ivy can be cut, and that is making
Italians both sad and angry.
An Angry Message
Basta! Basta! Basta!" Beppe Grillo,
a 59-year-old comic and blogger
with swooping gray hair, howled in an interview. The word means
enough," and he repeated it to make his point to
In recent months,
Mr. Grillo has become the defining personification of
A few thousand
people were expected. But 50,000 jammed into the piazza, and 250,000 signed a
petition for changes like term limits and the direct election of lawmakers.
(Voters now cast their ballots for parties, which then choose who serves in
Parliament, without the voters consent.)
His message
was enough inaction and excess (Italian lawmakers are the best paid in
The whole
kettle of fish stinks to high heaven!" he yelled. "The stench rises from
the sewers and swirls around and you cant cope."
Mr. Grillo leans to the political left, but he spares neither
side in his sold-out shows and popular blog. The
problem, he said, is the system itself.
There is a link
between the nations errant political system and its worsening mood.
Luisa Corrado, an Italian economist, led the research behind the study at the
In
Two popular books
that set off months of debate capture the distrust of large powers that cannot
be controlled. One, "The Caste," sold a million copies (in a
nation where sales of 20,000 make a best seller) by exposing the sins of
The other book, "
These are
But growth has
been slow for years, and the quality of life is declining. Statistics now show
that 11 percent of Italian families live under the poverty line, and that 15
percent have trouble spreading their salary over the month.
The level of
anger is great because before you could slough it off," Mr. Stille said. "Now life is harder."
Italians rarely
associate the current crop of aging leaders with a capacity to change. They are
the same people who have traded terms in power for more than a decade. Last
year,
But it became clear
that getting rid of the center-right Mr. Berlusconi would be no magic cure. Romano Prodi, who had
served as prime minister from 1996 to 1998, won, but he was saddled with a
shaky coalition of nine warring parties.
He promised a
clean slate, but his unwieldy center-left government disappointed with its
first symbolic act: its cabinet had 102 ministers, a new record. He has pushed
through two reform packages, and the economy is growing again. "Ours is
not a happy situation, but it is better than before," he said.
But the
government has fallen once and threatens to fall again at every difficult vote.
Small proposals bring protesters to the streets, one hurdle to making changes
as protected interests seek to preserve themselves. Pharmacists shut their
doors this year when the government threatened to allow supermarkets to sell
aspirin. The cost for just 20 aspirin tablets at a pharmacy is $5.75.
The measure
passed, but the government is largely paralyzed. Voters are fed up, and Mr. Prodis foes know it.
I understand
the bad humor, the malaise," said Gianfranco Fini, leader of National Alliance, the
second-largest opposition party. "People are starting to get strongly
angry because you have a government that doesnt
do anything."
The
Generational Divide
Its a
sadness that what could be isnt " that
we are not a normal country," said Gianluca Gamboni,
36, a financial adviser in Rome, summing up how he feels about Italy, which he
loves, but which drives him insane.
Unlike the older
generation, he travels and sees how much better things work elsewhere. He does
not spare himself: he still lives with his parents, not because he wants to,
but because only now, after seven years at his job, can he afford
Mr. Gamboni is on the younger side of
Over a century,
ending in the 1970s, 25 million Italians left for better lives elsewhere. Now,
Politically,
Then there is the
family. The divorce rate has risen. Large families are a thing of the past.
Evidence of
The
generational problem is the Italian problem," said Mario Adinolfi, 36, a blogger and an
aspiring lawmaker. "In every country young people hope. Here in
We dont
have a Google," he added. "We cant imagine in
Selling
a Notion of
In September,
word spread through a house of young Romans, over beer and pasta, that Luciano Pavarotti, the tenor and arguably the worlds
most famous Italian, had died. "Damn it!" yelled Federico Boden, 28, a student. "Now all we have is pasta and
pizza!"
[RAA NOTE: Frederico: Has all the Museums, Art,
Opera, Fashion, Architecture, Engineering Marvels, Incredible History ,Cultural Sensibility suddenly disappeared??? It's
obviously the beer talking]
But it does have
Ferrari, Ducati, Vespa,
Armani, Gucci, Piano, Illy, Barolo - all symbols
of style and prestige. What
Italian wine was
an early test. Producers moved with success from quantity swill to quality. Illy, the coffee house, has flourished by combining quality
and uniformity with innovation in methods and style in presentation.
This is
where Italians are winners," said Andrea Illy,
the companys president. "Use your particular strengths, which are
beauty and culture."
But Italian
industry depended on low wages, making it vulnerable to competition from
At first
they thought this phase would just pass," said Massimo Martino, director
of Maxdesign, a furniture company. "But in
reality, many businesses ended up closing because fundamentally the market didnt need them anymore. They
didnt want to change."
Some companies
took up the challenge. Wood was the primary material there, but Mr. Martino
began to create chairs, mostly of molded plastic, well designed but
inexpensive. Others decided that competing against
Pietro Costantini, who runs a third-generation furniture company,
said he began focusing not just on the upper end - he makes extra-large
furniture for big Americans - but also on creating lines that would sell
the Italian lifestyle itself. Customers are returning.
But entrepreneurs
complain that they are alone. Politicians offered little help making
Now its
time to change," said Luca Cordero di Montezemolo,
the chairman of Fiat and the president of Ferrari and the influential business
group Confindustria. "If not, why are we going
down in every classification of competition in the country? The reason is that
in the best of cases we are stopped."
It is not clear
that this "Made in
But the
nations entrepreneurs are a bright spot in a landscape with few others.
Some argue that the younger generation is another key, if not now then when
those in power die. They are educated, they are well traveled and, as Beppe Grillo does when he is
attracting his masses, they use the Internet.
Two center-left
parties merged to produce the Democratic Party,
aimed at overcoming the systems crippling fragmentation. All sides finally
agreed that a new electoral law must be redone to give more breathing room to
the winner of the next elections - crucial for pushing through any major
changes.
But understanding
the problems is the smallest step. Many worry in the meantime that
Now it is
essentially an exquisite corpse, trampled over by millions of tourists. If
The malaise
is: I can see all that, but there is nothing I can do to change
it," said Beppe Severnigni,
a columnist for Corriere della Sera.
But, he said,
"to change your ways means changing your individual ways: refusing certain
compromises, to start paying your taxes, dont ask for favors when you are
looking for a job, not to cheat when your child is trying to reach admission to
university."
Thats
the tricky part," he said. "We have reached a point where hoping for
some kind of white knight coming in saying, Well sort you out, is over."
We Italians
have our destiny in our hands more than ever before," he said.