Italy On the Verge of a Full Revolt

This past week has been a very turbulent time for Italy.  And it wasn’t just the grounding of the Concordia cruise ship by a playboy captain; but the grounding of the country by Euro-technocrat usurper Darth Monti, trying to impress his Keynesian buddies with his latest attempts to ‘Save Italy’!

This week saw the launch of a popular uprising in Sicily, by a group known as the ‘Movimento dei Forconi’ or ‘Pitchfork Movement’. This is not an uprising of self absorbed youth who want more government handouts; but of producers who are being pushed into poverty by government taxes and regulation. The organizers are middle aged and older; this is significant, as most power and wealth is held by this generation and they have now drawn a line in the sand.

On the 16th of January these protesters began “Operazione Vespri Siciliani”, a blockade  of the Island of Sicily. Within two days the transportation of all goods was stopped. Over the next week, nothing entered or exited Sicily.  This was no mean feat given that Sicily is not a small Island; it has a population of over five million people and a surface area of 25,711 km².

These are some of their demands:

• The arrest of all corrupt politicians.
• To reduce the number of parliamentarians
• To remove the provincial bureaucracy, as most of these politicians have been there for over forty years.
• To drastically cut the salaries and privileges of parliamentarians and senators
• To restrict politicians two only two terms in office

Not one of Darth Monti’s “austerity” measures has touched the political caste; in fact in classic Italian style, the press has dug up some very dirty scandals concerning two of his fellow tax-feeders.

The trigger for these events was the vampire state sinking it’s fangs deeper into the already hampered Italian economy; a vicious tax was added to petrol, diesel and other energy sources in December.

Though agriculture contributes only 2.5% of GDP, in the southern regions of Basilicata, Calabria, and Molise, agriculture accounts for just over 20 percent of local employment. Many goods are transported by road, and as the cost of transport went through the roof within the time frame of just a few weeks, it destroyed the farmer’s tight margins. Why work when the state steals most of your profits?

To further understand the rage, despair and humiliation it is necessary to know some Sicilian history. As Jeff says, it’s all been done before.

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