L'Italo-Americano

L'Italo-Americano THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2019 www.italoamericano.org 6 NEWS & FEATURES TOP STORIES PEOPLE EVENTS it, really? When, on the 15th of April, Notre Dame burned down, the world weeped and then, imme- diately, it donated. I, for one, am among those who joined the Fondation du Patrimoine 's monthly collection of cash for the restoration of the cathedral: a drop in the vastest of ocean, m y h a n d f u l o f e u r o s b u t , nevertheless, somehow impor- tant, because tutto fa brodo, every bit helps. In exchange, I receive regular updates about the progressing works, I'm kept, so to speak, in the loop: I see where my little, humble dona- tion goes. In Italy, well, in Italy right n o w y o u s e e p e o p l e i n t h e streets smirking at the sugge- s t i o n o f d o n a t i n g m o n e y t o Venezia, not because we don't love our beautiful Serenissima, but because we think the money won't get where it's needed. B e c a u s e t h a t ' s t h e w a y o u r country works. The people of Amatrice are still waiting for their new homes, as works have been going really slow. Still, almost 20 million euro were donated to Amatrice alone and this is without counting State sponsored funding. We pay one of the highest income tax in Europe, yet, two summers ago 43 people lost their lives becau- se the Morandi bridge, part of the national motorway system, hadn't been maintained as it was supposed to. There's a pattern, wide and profound, that Italians have lear- ned to recognize with immense pain, a pattern where money never really ends in the right hands, it is never used in the appropriate way. The reason is one and simple: in Italy, cor- ruption thrives: we are the 7th most corrupt nation in Europe, and we fare worse than coun- t r i e s s u c h a s L i t h u a n i a a n d Latvia, which came out of the Eastern block relatively recently a n d h a v e b e e n s t r u g g l i n g t o r e a c h a d e m o c r a t i c p o l i t i c a l s y s t e m m u c h m o r e t h a n w e h a v e , a t l e a s t i n t h e p a s t 3 0 years. In the 1990s, when the Mani Pulite operation took place, there was a general feeling that corruption was going to become a t h i n g o f t h e p a s t , t h a t t h e Seconda Repubblica was to be a cleaner, more just system, fai- rer to citizens and more attentive to their needs. How far from truth we were: wealth began diminishing and taxes began rising, especially after the 2008 World Economic Crisis, but it was your average Jane and Joe who really felt it and paid the consequences of it. The rich remained rich and politicians became richer. Indeed, with cases of corrup- ted politicians — at all levels — making the news almost on a daily basis for the past 20 years, it's not surprising that Italians lost faith in those governing them and in institutions at large: a direct consequence of it is the lack of trust also in charitable i n s t i t u t i o n s a n d o p e r a t i o n s , hence the attitude of "I am not donating to Venice" I described above. Some say it's not a mat- ter of corruption but, rather, of slow, antiquated bureaucracy: it may be true, or better even, it is both, because a cumbersome bureaucracy makes it easier for the dishonest to achieve ruthless aims. And truly ruthless these peo- ple are. Nature always has its way, it's undeniable, and acqua alta has always been a danger for La S e r e n i s s i m a , s i n c e t h e m o s t ancient of times. But one would assume that centuries of techno- logical evolution helped making it a safer place for its people and for its many monuments. And it did, but the stupidity and greed of Man ruined it all. If you followed the news, you certainly heard a lot about " M O S E , " t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l e l e c t r o m e c h a n i c a l m o d u l e which is intended to protect the c i t y f r o m f l o o d s l i k e t h o s e we've experienced in the past two weeks. Talks about creating a series of dams to keep the city safe began as far back as the e a r l y 7 0 s , a f t e r a d i s a s t r o u s flood that reached 76 inches in height caused immense damages to Venezia and its surrounding areas. A series of laws were created and promulgated until 1988, when experiments with mobile barriers began, lasting for four years. The final design for MOSE was submitted some 14 years later, in 2002. And we are already 36 years after the 1966 floods… Works went on for 12 years, but in June 2014 they were hal- ted after an anti-corruption inve- stigation found out a network of bribing and illegal funds, invol- ving some of the most important names of national and local poli- tics. And so, MOSE was never f i n i s h e d . I f i t h a d b e e n , t h e damages Venezia suffered in the past 2 weeks would have never o c c u r r e d ; a r t w o u l d n ' t h a v e been ruined, people wouldn't have lost their businesses and sources of income. MOSE, sym- bol of what the beautiful mind of Man can do to protect and safeguard, stands there, in the lagoon, useless and inactive like a dead giant, battered by greed and neglect. A victim of money- hunger. Money: maybe Saint Basil, Late Antique bishop and theolo- gian, was right when he said that "money is the devil's dung." W e s t a n d h e r e , n o w , t w o weeks later, afraid of what the long term consequences of these events could be. Will businesses manage to get back on their feet, and what will happen when the marbles in Saint Mark will swell because of the damp, and iodine and salt will bring to an end t h e i r c o r r o s i v e w o r k o n i t s mosaic floors? Will Venetians trust new ventures to create pro- tective systems for the city, will they actually ever be created? Venezia has been guarding the lagoon for over 1000 years: our forefathers gave it to us as a beautiful gift, maybe scarred here and there by a famine and a pestilence, by a war or a battle, but intact, nevertheless. Intact, in spite of knowing a fraction of what we know today to keep her safe and with, probably, much less awareness of its incredible value. We, children of the 20th and 2 1 s t c e n t u r y , h a v e e l e c t e d Venezia to World Patrimony, a jewel that happens to be in Italy, but belongs to humanity, yet, we Italians should be on the frontli- ne when it comes to protecting her. And, as of today, we've been miserably failing. Continued from page 4 Fighting against the sea and the wind in Piazza San Marco During the last acqua alta, water level reached 187 cm, or 74 inches

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