Did you know the Mafia was originally formed because southern Italians didn't want to pay taxes and be united under one government? I guess I'm just a dumb American, but I never really knew how the whole thing got started- I just knew what it was. Alessandra told me that even today, northern and southern Italians don't feel like they're part of the same country, and there's a lot of problems with this invisible division, leaving the Mafia very present in southern Italy today.
When Italy became a united republic in the 1800s, the south, which had more subsistence farmland and was more rural, didn't want to pay the taxes that the government imposed on the entire country because they'd never paid taxes before. The Mafia was formed as a kind of criminal governing body in the south, and in some parts, you still have to pay the protection fee if you own a business and don't want it burned down or your family harmed.
She also said that Berlusconi has been trying to pass a law that will force taxpayers' money to be used in the area from which it originated, which is causing major uproar in the south. Northern Italians say that they pay all the taxes, and the south uses them all up, while the south argues that because of it's rural environment and problems (Naples piles trash in the streets) they need the money and are entitled to it because of the unification of the country.
The stories of corruption are ridiculous: families taking in disability and welfare money after a member dies, people forging papers that say they're blind to claim diability, building houses on un-sanctioned land only to have them ordered demolished after taking the buyer's money, the Mafia in general.
Alessandra remarked that she wished the country had a patriotism like the US. Our conversation was sparked by my mentioning the Fourth of July celebrations back home yesterday, and it's funny to think about the differences between Italy and the US. Both countries are extremely critical of their governments and policies and problems, but the dichotomy and marriage of criticism with patriotism is what makes the US so unique, I think. Italy is fabulous, but I can honestly say I'm glad that I'm American (for more reasons than one, but you get the idea...)
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