Ideological and otherwise.

When I was in Rome, I picked up a book, 'The New Italians.' Written by Charles Richards, a Brit. In English, of course. That's one nice thing about Rome. Book stores that carry more than books in the Italian language. Special sections for books in English, German, French and Spanish. Richards makes some interesting observations about Italians. For instance, he says favors are exchanged. If you want something done, you seek a friend, a contact, a politician who can fix things for you. And in return some favor will be demanded, not necessarily immediately, possibly not for years. I suspect such is the way of life all over the world. Not just in Italy. Richards portrays Italy as a country where laws are turned upside down. 'Elsewhere,' he writes, 'power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In Italy the absence of absolute power has not prevented its absolute corruption. Italian political life is about cooperation and consensus. As Gore Vidal observed, the genius of America was to separate the state from religion. The genius of Italy was to separate the state from the people.' Richards says that the lack of strong government or definite policies has allowed Italians to mould a society without any real ideological boundaries. I'm not so sure about that. I know that indivdual Italians, such as my true love, have well-defined boundaries. Ideological and otherwise. --Jim Broede