Love makes our lives worthwhile.

I'm moving to Italy for the winter. Probably around Christmastime. And I expect to pay little attention to what's happening in the USA. Which will be nice. Because I don't particularlty like what's going on. Especially politically. Anyway, I'm a socialist at heart. I'm very much opposed to American-style capitalism. And some would-be patriots tell me that I'd be better off in another country. That I should either like America or leave it. And so I'm gonna leave it. For a while, at least. I've been to other parts of the world in recent years. Canada. Iceland. Scotland. Germany. France. Switzerland. Italy. And I like those countries. Maybe even more than America in some meaningful respects. I like some of the privileges and freedoms of expression I have in America. But I see shortcomings in America's political, economic and social systems. Big changes are needed. Especially a narrowing of the gap between the rich and the poor. But I ain't gonna see significant changes in my lifetime. Because as an individual citizen I'm relatively powerless. So I simply try to make the best of the situation. By taking advantage of an opportunity to live part-time in Italy. With my Italian girlfriend. By the way, she doesn't like Italy's government. But I'm able to commiserate with her. We can debate over which country has the worst government. Italy or America. Doesn't really matter. Because we're in love. We have our priorities straight. And that makes our lives worthwhile. --Jim Broede