Italians. No, they're not that bad, nor is anyone else, my idealist self insists. Only this. If you live in a foreign culture, you will step unintentionally into the smelly stuff you can't clean off your shoe, plus you will never change "them". The foreigners--to you--have their ways of doing things, as an old German friend of mine reminded me often: "They know what they do." The subtext was and is you are not one of them and will never be, so get used to their ways and adapt as best you can without grossly offending, or getting thrown out of the community or country.
Such has been life for me abroad for over twenty-five years. Stepping in it, "Oh, shit!" And do you really think I would settle a purchase in two meetings here at the lawyer's office? one private (without counsel) where a certain amount of cash changes hands, and another where the same thing happens but for the (adjusted) total to seal the contract--with legal witnesses--to be transmitted to the tax office? I did that. There was no other way to get the deal done to put a roof over my head and later get rid of it (did not take place in Italy by the way).
So discovering the ways these people do things is my daily classroom with, most of the time, no dire consequences, except perhaps some embarrassment and constant self-realizations about who I am and where I find myself. Never a dull moment. That's the juice of living outside one's own culture without native level language skills: Ever a classroom and self-guided psychological therapy tour. Oh, and education and therapy always come at a cost.
I do find Italians amusing, and I have written about both the ups and downs of residing in this country and my local area with fantastic panoramas and cultural lessons aplenty. But I walk softly. . . . And I have Italian friends, one or two. It is a friendly and inviting place. Lots of positive stuff, including the food which is more than pizza, pasta, and pane--and the daily obligatory religious ritual at 13.00 sharp, pranzo. I won't elaborate here. It is easier to complain or feebly explain. Just know, I love a lot about Italy including my friends and daily encounters, which are always interesting, often amusing. Celebrating Eataly? goes without saying.
You mentioned that someone you knew had a kind of systemic health problem from which s/he died. Could have been saved with the right intervention(s). So too I find Italy. The country is hobbled if not broken, not easy for ordinary people to cobble a living. A systemic problem. Fundamental changes needed in politics, government and culture--society--so that one can have a meaningful and productive life as well as get on well enough economically.
In the US, with regard to guns and violence, I think it also a systemic problem. Why do people have 'em? and use them, abuse them, and have unwanted accidents and tragedies? Many factors, many causes. Some with guns, perhaps you, collect them, care for them (weird?), trade them, go and practice on paper targets, hunt game, etc. But why do ordinary people feel the need to have a gun? Ordinary people where I have lived in Europe do not feel they need a gun. Of course there are intruders and bad people. But this is not a gun culture, nor a particularly dangerous or violent one--in part I would argue because guns are not a right (also weird!) to have and hold.
Here in the CZ just yesterday we had a shooter killing several. This is so rare in my experience here that to see that in the news is shocking. The same is not shocking in the US. Kind of business as usual I'd argue--because of the multiple things that need to change such that such incidents in the US become out of the ordinary, not common, rare, shocking again.
I am not qualified or smart enough to tell anyone what to do to solve guns/violence/threat to person and property in America. But it is more of a problem than it should be. Given who and what America is, make-my-day is every day and no one is or should be surprised. When you are a fish in the fishbowl, what else is there? You have to get out of the water and breathe different air differently from the tacit ways you have accepted as normal, that is experience life beyond familiar waters. America needs a new normal . . . but I fear that will not be anytime soon. We are so polarized, and I agree with some that we are not very bright as a nation (but if nudged--don't do it--could name a few names).
I find the article linked below interesting in regard to both of these subjects--living in a culture and making needed socio-cultural changes. Not optimistic but seems to sum up where we are. Read if you are interested, or we can just move on and set these more serious subjects aside. I for one am unable because of age, location, and other factors to make any difference. And there's the rub.
The article begins:
The United States is sick with income and other forms of social inequality. It suffers from cruelty, loneliness, greed, gangster capitalism, white supremacy, violence, sexism and a culture of ignorance and distraction. Our broken political system does not encourage critical thinking or nurture a capacity for responsible, engaged citizenship.Here is the link.
https://www.salon.com/2019/12/09/author-chris-hedges-on-trump-the-democrats-and-the-dying-american-empire/
