Lately Italy has been in the news. Again. With news facts that repeat each other from time to time. Take Alitalia. I do not even need to research the exact number, but Alitalia makes a big loss… every day. On the many flights it makes, most of them are sponsored by the Italian government. Alitalia is not capable of getting its things together. Unions are blackmailing operations, Italian pride (and North – South differences in interest) reigns over sound business making. The government has finally given Air France KLM a go ahead to hold talks about a possible merger. Well… this might be old news.

Italy is again without government. The centre left government under Mr. Prodi has lost a confidence vote in the Senate and has handed over its resignation to Italy’s president. In this case, I do not have to bother looking up how many different governments have ruled the country since the second world war. I thought Mr Prodi’s latest was the 61st. On average there is a new government each 12 to 13 months. Quite strange for a modern day democracy, isn’t it?

You might have heard about the garbage that is piling up in the streets of Naples. Stuffed landfills, mediocre administration and mafia interference are named as causes. Germany has already offered and taken care of a small part of the garbage. Why are the Italians keeping themselves hostage?

Italy appears to me as an orchestra that has forgotten long ago how to make music together. People seem ashamed of the way their country is run, but in the end none has the power to turn it around. Governments are composed of many factions that can only tie together loosely. Although citizens might still feel they have things in common with regard to culture, sports, food and clothing, from an organizational perspective it is a ship where there are too many captains with different ideas. How long will the Italian identity keep the Italian people united?