Italians get rebellious
The Arab Spring may have reached laidback Italy. Don’t hold your breath, though; you are not going to see thousands of slogan-shouting, placard-waving hordes gathering in the town square demanding that the government step down. Simply because there aren’t even a thousand people — population 598 — in the village of Filletino, which plans to declare autonomy from the state. Preparations have already begun — a new currency has been introduced, a national anthem is being written, a new liqueur has been launched and T-shirts with a coat of arms are selling out. A Prince may be coming along in short order.
Don’t mock it yet. True, Italians are fond of la dolce vita, but this is serious stuff. Hundreds of villagers all over the country are up in arms over the government’s fiat that they should find a way to merge with their neighbours to become more financially viable. In a country where nationhood is still a bit tenuous — the impoverished south often resents the prosperous north — think what an uprising by the rural masses could do. True, they would have to give up their afternoon siesta, but a march to Rome could well distract an already harried Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, busy trying to balance the budget and also bring his ministers in line. Enough to put off anyone from their Bunga Bunga parties.
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