Forzanuova’s current cry is “Moneta di popolo!” As far as I can make it out, the communists are wanting that to be a fixed allocation to citizens of internal money, and Forzanuova isn’t even bothering to call for a national currency – it seems to want to issue local currencies. It sure looks like an increasing number of shopowners, farmers and those all-important truckers and cabdrivers are willing to go with it.
See, this is why you should not try to really collect taxes in Italy. If the local shopowners sign up and accept the script, that’s it. Game over. You]ve got small business against big business and rural against city, and they might well develop a dual monetary system. All those lovely policies about limiting cash transactions become ever so theoretical.
I have to agree with the one commenter who said “The gravy train is about to derail”.
Scipio Africanus would have trouble solving this.
European Union…???
Good luck…even Britain is a confederation assembled by force of arms. France, a collection of duchies perhaps the oldest nation state in Europe. Germany is surprisingly unified for so recent a confederation. Italy is only about 150-160 years old (1848).
National unity in Europe is like herding cats.
There is a lot of corruption, kickbacks and under the table dealings in Europe…This is more so the case in places like Romania and everything around the old USSR. Greece is very bad and so is Italy. Legislated tax collection is sorely lacking as a result. No wonder the whole region is far past bankruptcy.
New dark age cometh.
When the going gets tough, the Italians…surrender.
This local money is called “scripp,” and it’s been tried before — in certain parts of the US at different times in the 20th century, no less.
Needless to say, it didin’t work then and it won’t work now.
Social Credit anyone? Brass in pocket. ( A Canadian political movement based on the Scots’ economist Douglas’ mishmash of collectivist/social/ conservatism theory’s; I cant be bothered to recall the details but forceful from 1930’s to 80’s in Canada: especially Alberta and Quebec… Brothers in Arms?… I might suggest that part of the present animosity between the two; Alta/Que is a legacy of the anti-Creditists factions tradition of sniping at each others voter bases and of the former Social Credit adherents detestation of each others provincial rivals; and that when the cause went away the habit continued.)
Sasquatch I am unsure what you mean by nation state. I would suggest that the smaller the current borders the older the state; reason being internal communications and a fourteen to thirty day command and control from the capital into the provinces given the state of internal roads/predictable weather and local law tradition/inertia ( this being why the Maritimes are so much smaller physically than the later Western provinces, reason being that it was just so much harder to travel two hundred mile two hundred years ago). Naval was over the horizon and trust the Admiral… Nation state to me means consolidated Empire where the center has held for long enough and that the borders have held for a couple of generations and all the locals willingly accept control/rule of Law/enscription/tax from an agreed Capital.
So Denmark, Portugal, England, Sweden/Norway and Iceland and even Poland ( w/Lithuania) have seen dynastic changes and local rule and shifting allegiances but have had a central capital to follow/defy. Also consider the Balkans. It took really major bloodshed and slaughter for France to subdue Brittany and other parts of its west after its Revolution. Something those others had already done; consolidate a Capital over its actual influence and then awe the rivals into acceptance.
Oops, Iceland is out of place and should be snuggled up by Denmark not Sweden/Norway.
“This looks to be turning into the Dragon’s Mountains of Debt, and it really doesn’t look as if it is going to be paid.”
Enough Said.
eyeties could f**k up the lords prayer if’n the pope was saying it for them….Oh wait, jobs already done….pass the popcorn the show is about to begin:-)))
To ease confusion…regarding nation state…
Patriotism is a state of mind….unit cohesion on a national scale. Italians consider themselves Sicilians, Catalonian, etc first…Italians second.
Sorta like the United states and texas(no joke).
Or our own example….while Albertans may consider themselves firmly Albertans…..they are uncommitted compared to the Quebecois……
Germany recently reunified by the end of the COLD WAR may explain German unity…..but then Scotland is seriously considering independance.
Basically EU unity is doomed when it’s fractuous membership is a collection of cat herders.
the US alresdy has local script.
anyone hear about the ithica dollar??
a great success..
they wouldnt lie to me
there are probably more locations that do the same
The latency of DE-centralizing processes is just amazing. It may take another century to fully unfold.
Ironic that the first post invokes Scipio Africanus, since the Roman Republic (and later, Empire) had one of the first extensive welfare programs, for the city of Rome. The “bread dole” (popularly known now as Bread and Circuses) was a real thing.
Thus endeth the lesson. 🙂
well there’s your problem right there…
With their new found leader, Barack Obama, the Socialist Party of America felt secure enough to announce the names of 70 democrats in Congress that belong to their caucus.”
MA Members of the Socialist Party of America Caucus are as follows:
Hon. John Olver (MA-01)
Hon. James McGovern (MA-03)
Hon. Barney Frank (MA-04
Hon. John Tierney (MA-06)
Hon. Ed Markey (MA-07)
Hon. Michael Capuano (MA-08)
plus many, many more here…
http://congressmantomtancredo.com/socialist-party-of-america-releases-the-names-of-70-democrat-members-of-congress-who-are-members-of-their-caucus/
How do you tell a communist? Well, it’s someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-Communist? It’s someone who understands Marx and Lenin.
-Ronald Reagan
When I was in Italy in 1978 and 1980 the large denominations of lira seemed to be accepted everywhere
but the 100 lira notes were all printed by local banks and only accepted within a limited region.
They were essential for making change. Euros at present seem well accepted in Italy.
The strikes and demonstrations are led by a coalition of Fascists and Stalinists?
Yep, That will end well.
Remember under the liberals . Canadian tire money was better than cash from the government almost.