UPDATE: The Facebook link for this group is HERE: TEA PARTY ITALIA
Dear Readers: Tea Party compatriot, Anthony Porrello, sent word that the people of Italy are planning their first Tea Party. I am using this news to post a YouTube video of “Cinema Italiano”, which was my favorite bit from the musical “Nine”.
The following comes from a translation of an Italian article on the country’s first Tea Party:
On May 20, 2010, from 21.00 at the Council Chamber of Circoscrizione Centro of Prato, there will be the first Italian Tea Party. It’s theme: “Free Italy from tax dictatorship.”
The Tea Party is a peaceful protest against excessive taxation which was inspired by similar events in the United States. Membership among all American groups number in the millions. These events have their roots in the famous “Boston Tea Party that saw in 1773, the American colonists topple the crates of tea from England in open polemic with the excessive taxation and trade monopoly imposed by the motherland. (Google Translation of article is here)
I will be having Anthony translate some specific questions that I have for our Italian compatriots, and updating this post as I get information. I played around with the “Google Translate Feature” as part of preparing the post, and I managed to translate my piece on the attitudes of young European bureaucrats, diplomats, and journalists into Italian. I should think that our Italian friends would find the following statements most illuminating:
More challenging was the insinuation of Pedro Nuno Santa, a Portuguese economist, that high taxes were absolutely no problem. He used as an example his country of Portugal, indicating he would rather be born a poor European than rich anywhere else. What recommended Portugal most is the fact that there are “fine schools” and that there are “no homeless.”
Santa seemed stunned when I shot back that “a government big enough to give you what you want is one big enough to take all you have,” as has been demonstrated many times in countries with highly centralized, socialist governments. Such a template does not recommend itself well to liberty-minded Americans. And while a highly-educated bureaucrat such as Santa might find Portuguese life lush, I am thinking that a business owner in that country, or a young person with fewer privileges, might have real struggles. A New York Times piece on Portugal’s troubled economy shows that Portuguese businessmen are deeply concerned; Portugal’s debt is expected to rise to 85 percent of gross domestic product because of rising unemployment and government spending on infrastructure projects…
One of the more amusing moments came when Shane Kelly, of an Irish public affairs firm, waxed poetic about Ireland’s free college tuition. I informed Kelly that the college isn’t free; rather, it is being borne by the blood, sweat and tears of Ireland’s producers. And, quite frankly, I am finding that the highly bureaucratized and non-diverse environment of today’s university means that a college degree is worth much less today (despite its escalating cost) than in my parent’s generation and is no longer a guarantee of individual economic prosperity.
(Mut Note: The title translation into Italian is cool — Eastman: gli occhi della mamma, naso del papà e del debito di Obama)
The Southern California Tax Revolt Coalition is helping provide information to our Italian counterparts, with Anthony serving as the translator extraordinaire. Anthony is also in the process of translating American foundational documents to the Italian Tea Party groups as well! I, myself, will be in Italy for 2 weeks in June, and I am hoping I will have more to report directly from that lovely country. I will be sure to keep you posted.
In other news related to foreign affairs, Michelle Malkin provides some savvy analysis on the continuing Obama Administration “apology tour”: Who is Michael Posner, and why is he apologizing to China?Moe Lane has an update on German attitudes toward the European Union.
In a nut-shell: Tea Parties may be Europe’s only hope.They may be ours, if the US is not going to be an EPIC FAILURE that Europe looks to be. Looks like Italy may want to ditch the European business template, too.
Great news about global Tea Party patriotism!
Unbelievable. How exciting! Keep up the great work, Leslie.
[…] this opportunity to share some dialog that I have had with David Mazzerelli, the coordinator for Italy’s First Tea Party, which will be held tomorrow, May 20, 2010 at the Council Chamber of Circoscrizione Centro of […]
[…] Tea Party Italiano — Italy's First Tea Party « Temple of Mut […]
No homeless in Portugal? I guess the good professor dont go into Lisbon much! or just try doing a search….
Click to access 9.24.09_CHPS_Grand_Rounds_PowerPoint_Presentation.pdf
It is going to take a very long time and a lot of hard work to make people understand that big government is their number one enemy. Europeans, Italians included, are so used to government entitlements that it won’t be easy for them to do without it. It takes a lot of courage and real emancipation to understand that big government takes your freedom away. Good luck guys!