readings week 3

In the first "reading", the intro, the thing that grabbed my attention were the maps. After looking at them them for a bit I went through a few thought processes, at first I was shocked at the number of different maps and sepperations that were used to define people. I was well aware of the difference of north and south, however the the sheer level of socio-political analysis was amazing. This was followed very shortly by a comparison to our own country, and all the crazy ways we define ourselves and our regions, this replaced my sense of awe with a sense of normalcy about the idea. Now for some this sense may have been where it would stop, and for me it lasted an hour or so, however I then recalled that Italy is only slightly larger than Arizona. Its a thirtieth our size and just as if not more so politically complex, thats the point where my mind was blown.

"Italians lack an underlying faith in the impartiality of the state: they see it as a bestower of favours to its friends rather than the guarantor of rights for all." this quote from the second reading struck me, I read it and immediately thought of Giancarlo. As for the rest of the reading, it seemed long winded and rather round about so that three quarters of the way in I stop caring what was being said. Eventually the message was made but it seems that it could have been achieved more easily.

Also this upon Italian politics was a bit irritating, while informative and interesting (what can I say exploits regarding right winged totalitarian, rule i.e the fascists, make for a good read) plus the reading helped to re-enforce the appropriateness of the given character traits of two cliques.