Agony and the Ecstasy

Jacopo Barigazzi, Barbie Nadeau and Christopher Dickey, NEWSWEEK, Feb 25, 2008, p19-22

As recently as the early 1980s, Italy looked set to be a driving force, if not quite in the
driver's seat, of a newly united Europe. But those days are long gone. Luca Cordero di
Montezemolo, the chairman of Fiat and president of Ferrari, likens Italian government to "a
car so heavy, so expensive, so difficult to steer, so old, that whoever the driver may be, you
don't win." At this point, government is not just dysfunctional, but nonfunctioning. The same
faces have been trading places in Rome for almost 15 years as the economy has stalled.
Wherever Italians look, it seems, there are signs of rot both figurative and literal. The
streets of Naples there have been piles of garbage for months with no solution in sight. And
while Naples is stinking, Venice is sinking. Grand plans have been proposed to save the city,
but the 10-year multibillion-euro project put forth by Berlusconi was shelved by Prodi.
Tourists overwhelm Florence, but instead of improving infrastructure, the city council is
thinking of moving Michelangelo's "David" out of town to lessen the congestion. Then there's
Alitalia laboring under enormous debts that are emblematic of Italy's can't-do economy. In
2004 and 2005 the country's economy did not expand at all, and throughout the decade it has
lagged at or near the very bottom of Europe's growth rates.
Yet for all this, many Italians feel that the country still has the potential to make a
magnificent comeback if only what? No one knows. The '80s were the years of great
missed opportunities. Unlike Francewhich saw the dangers of energy shortages and built a
nuclear power grid that now provides 80 percent of its electricityItaly completely shut
down what had been a technologically advanced nuclear industry. Now it is utterly dependent
on the world market for high-cost energy. Then, Italy's public debt soared as bills for the
social programs it instituted in the 1970s started to come due. Political parties padded out the
bureaucracy with patronage jobs, and there's huge corruption. Arrests and prosecutions
exposed corruption in the old established parties that had traded governments back and forth
for generations. They were swept out of power, their leaders prosecuted, even forced into
exilebut narrow-minded venality and criminality stayed. Berlusconi has been the object of
numerous investigations, and only escaped convictions on some charges because the laws
were changed when he was in power. In Parliament, 24 have been convicted of various

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crimes, an additional 57 who have had public legal problems, plus those who've never been
caught.
A big part of Italy's problem is that it relied on outside forces too often in the past to
save it from internal problems nobody dared address. It's a society so full of bureaucratic
impediments and social fractures that "there is freedom only as long as you don't rock the
boat," says Andrea Mandel-Mantello, chief executive of an investment bank. Although
Italians are famous as entrepreneurs, it's extremely difficult to start an enterprise, or to grow
from a midsize business to a big one capable of competing globally. "It's like Rollerblading on
cobblestones," says Mandel-Mantello. Structural reforms are promised repeatedly, then
forgotten in a system where opposition political parties, even if they are minuscule, can and
do veto any major government initiative.
Yet with all the frustrations, there endures in Italy what might be called the dolce vita
factor. People still think life is sweet. Most Italians (74 percent, according to a Eurobarometer
poll last month) say they are worried about the economy. A majority (52 percent) say they
think Italy is "moving in the wrong direction." But a full 71 percent of Italians say they are
satisfied with their own lives when it comes to family, work and their personal future. While
an utter lack of civic conscience makes the country extremely difficult to govern, the strength
of the family is what allows the society to function when, as so often happens, government
fails. Family values are what keep Italy afloat. But at the same time, the loyalty to family has
helped to keep Italy a fractured nation with little sense of collective identity and little respect
for the laws of the state. People see themselves as belonging to the towns or provinces where
their families come from rather than as part of the nation-state. The book Why There's No
Mafia in Sardinia," is about the ultimate expression of a family-centric society: the Sardinian
culture of vendetta, in which clans mete out their own justice with no deference to any state or
to any organization, including the Sicilian mafia. The mafia has tried and failed to "colonize"
Sardinia. One of the most interesting trends in Italy over the last year, and one of the most
hopeful, is the extent to which families and businesses in Sicily itself have been turning
against the mafia and refusing to pay protection money. Whether the state will resist the
gangsters' influence as well remains an open question. But the record is not a good one and
Italy has yet to find a way to move on.

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1. Which subtitle would suit the article?
A) Italy on the verge of an uprising
B) Italy moving on to the next decade
C) Italy barely functions yet its people are happy
D) Italy in the drivers seat

2. Finish the sentences based on the information in the article.

In the 1980s, Italy
Italys biggest problem is that
Berlusconi got away because
Its difficult to govern the country because..
Despite the worrying economy people
Loyalty to family helped both
The only positive trend is

3. What does the author mean by

political parties padded out the bureaucracy with patronage jobs
Italy looked set to be a driving force if not quite in the drivers seat
the project was shelved
there are signs of rot both figurative and literal
narrow-minded venality stayed
theres freedom as long as you dont rock the boat

4. Make expressions.
address against the mafia
escape an enterprise
force someone a problem
make a criminal
prosecute an arrest
put conviction
refuse forth a plan
start into exile
turn to pay

5. There is a mistake in each sentence. Find it.

Those days are gone long.
The same people trade spaces in the government.
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 Naples is sinking, Venice is stinking.
Those were the years of high missed opportunities.
There is no solution out of sight.
Leaders were forced and prosecuted into exile.
The strength of the society allows the family to function.

6. Make expressions.
energy grid
power values
family reforms
bureaucratic duty
structural globally
compete shortages
utter impediments
civic under debt
lag lack of
labour at the bottom

7. Describe the economic situation IN SPEAKING in Italy with the help of the
following expressions. Use up all the expressions.
labouring under debt, no solution in sight, far slower than the euro zone, huge
corruption, nobody dares to address, internal problems, difficult to start an enterprise,
structural reforms, promise repeatedly, veto any government initiative, opposition political
parties

8. Discuss. To what extent do you think these statements apply to the Hungarian
economic situation or government? Why? Why not?
a car so heavy, so expensive, so difficult to steer, so old, that whoever the driver may
be, you dont win
opposition political parties veto any major government initiative
extremely difficult to grow from midsize business to a big one capable of competing
globally

9. Write an editorial about the similarities to the Hungarian economic situation.

Use as many expressions from the article as you can.

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Ne csak olvasd, hallgasd is meg a szvegrtseket!
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 Key
1. C
2. looked set to be a driving force of Europe; it relied on outside forces to save it from internal problems
nobody dared address/nobody dared to address internal problems; the laws were changed when he was in
power/he changed the laws when he was in power; of an utter lack of civic conscience; are still happy/think life
is sweet/satisfied with their own lives when it comes to family, work and their personal future; to keep Italy a
fractured nation and to keep the country afloat; that families and businesses have been turning against the mafia
and refusing to pay protection money.
3. political parties gave people important jobs in return for their support; Italy was one of the most
successful states and almost the most successful; they stopped carrying the project out; literally its the garbage
rotting in the streets of Naples and in figurative sense its the problems with the economy and corrupt politicians;
politicians are still use power and influence in a dishonest way in return for money; youre free to do anything
but bring about radical changes
4. address a problem, escape conviction, force someone into exile, make an arrest, prosecute a criminal,
put forth a plan, refuse to pay, start an enterprise, turn against the mafia
5. Those days are long gone. The same people trade places in the government. Naples is stinking,
Venice is sinking. Those were the years of great missed opportunities. There is no solution in sight. Leaders were
prosecuted and forced into exile. The strength of the family allows the society to function.
6. energy shortages, power grid, family values, bureaucratic impediments, structural reforms, compete
globally, utter lack of, civic duty, labour under debt, lag at the bottom

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