We had extremely democratic town councils in medieval Italy which knew the value of working together, and every now and then, down the centuries, this spirit returns.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Are we like late Rome, infatuated with past glories, ruled by a complacent, greedy elite, and hopelessly powerless to respond to changing conditions?
I was brought up in Florence, a beautiful medieval town whose rhythm is completely in antiquity.
When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.
Ancients knew that you need guidance, patronage and protection as you move from one place or state to another, whenever you cross a bridge. You had better know what you are doing when you leave one group or place to join another.
We would certainly encourage the Italian government to put forward an ambitious agenda of reform.
Towns are suffering from all these things, we should unite until we are all satisfied, man cannot be killing each other as if we were animals, as if we had no culture; that is a lack of culture.
When I grew up, and I think about City Council, I look at the men and women then - these were people who just wanted to be a part of the community and give something back. They weren't necessarily trying to use it as a steppingstone to something else. I looked up to those people.
I think our failure in the production of good town churches of distinctive character must have struck you often, as it has me, when contrasted with our comparative success in country churches.
These new young politicians have given us the confidence to start dreaming again to believe there is a better politics, and a better future for Italy in general.
Italy remained attached to conservatism. It had a political class that lived in the past and didn't build the future. The past is our strength, but it risks becoming our ruin if we walk with our heads turned backwards.