Even in the Disneyland that is Venice, the modern traveler will not be able to escape the flowering of Political discourse during these troubled times. Here in the Cannaregio, Berlusconi’s school policy (fewer teachers, fewer school hours, less money) is questioned on the front of school buildings and just about every lamppost.
Trouble isn’t just brewing in Italy. Mike Barish of Gaddling asks Would you leave The States if Obama loses?
The question is an interesting one. I get asked for advice on likely places of refuge here in Italy quite a bit more frequently than you might think.
So that got me thinking. What if there were an “open enrollment” period for those folks in similarly industrialized nations who were dissatisfied with how their countries are run? What if Italians wishing to participate in the affairs of the US got a chance to come over as long as there were enough of us who enjoyed life in Italy to reciprocate by relocating to the boot?
It would cut down on the paperwork at least. And we reprobates could run, kicking and screaming, from people who might rule the earth without ever having seen or experienced the bulk of it.
On the other hand, if Obama wins, I’ve read that he’d certainly change the National Anthem to “99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” and make filthy rich people stand naked in a refrigerated room in front of a national television audience to symbolize his intentional chilling of the market’s freedom to make gambling instruments out of people’s mortgages.
Shoot, I’d stay for that.