Interesting to note that in Italy, where the economy has been much worse than in the US, and the political scene even more chaotic, life expectancy has
risen well above the level in the US. The obvious difference is the availability of opiods, although one might also point out that in Italy nobody has any sense of decline, since things there have never been particularly stable or prosperous. (Compared to the US or the rest of Europe, I mean.)
Interesting also that contemporary Italy is a classic low-birth-rate society.
ReplyDeleteI've seen French people sitting in cafes sipping their coffee and relaxing without a care in the world while 100 feet away police cars trashed by protests are burning away merrily.
ReplyDeleteThe Italians are even more laid back than that. (Unless a soccer match is involved, of course.)
even in Italy, you can always drum up a sense of decline and a nostalgia for a golden past that is more and more lost
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