More on Italy

Saw this article in the NY Times today. And it made me sad. So so sad. I loved Italy because there was no Starbucks, no 7-11, no Gap. It made me sad when I saw a Disney Store and a McDonald's in Venice. Italy is great BECAUSE of its small businesses, its attention to quality and detail, it's passion, its friendliness. Why should this change? It's not like it's a backwards society where people are treated poorly, where rights are violated, where women or people of certain religions are persecuted. There's nothing about Italian culture that the rest of the world would consider "wrong" - why should it change?

I don't understand that all the things I loved about Italy, that other travelers - and note I say travelers and not tourists - love about Italy, are the same things that appear to be killing it. I think it's tragic that a culture is diminishing, that a country's people are becoming unhappy and poor, simply because it yearns to hold onto its magic, its history, its mystique, its culture. In a world that's becoming smaller and more homogeneous - at least in corporate terms - every day - I greatly respect a country like Italy for largely repelling the corporate giants. There's something innocent, peaceful, comforting about it. That you can still find the little old ladies making pasta and the handblown glass and the handpainted ceramics.

Obviously if the people are getting poorer and the nation's debt is increasing, it cannot be ignored. Who knows what the solutions and answers are, if there even are any. All I know is, it's sad to think that a country has to essentially give up who and what it is to even stay afloat.

I wonder what we travelers can do. I will try to do my part by buying as many Italian products as I can. And I will try to get back as soon as possible.