Despitef Italy’s well-known political turmoil it is difficult to understand why most Italians have such a poor opinion of their own country.

Italy has many leading sectors but citizens have a general tendency to underestimate their own country and to overrate other western countries.  Even the official media, television programs and newpapers often indulge in self-criticism and self-devaluation by highlighting inefficiencies  rather than showcasing fields of excellence, thus offering a despicable image of their own country.

Italians are hardly lukewarm about their country, they are devoted to their hometown but loathe the country as a whole. The paradox is that Italians  love their towns and hate their nation. Neapolitans love their city, while Tuscans might even identify with their whole region but neither think much of the country to which they nominally belong. Italy remains less homogeneous than most other nation states.

All in all, the fiercest defamers of Italy are the Italians themselves. If someone praises Italy for any of its qualities Italians will take pains to demonstrate that he/she is wrong and that their country is the worst place on earth. If asked why they do it they usually reply that they have a capacity to be self-critical.  But this attitude reveals a pointless and destructive self-criticism. People who are self-destructive see their flaws rather than their perfection, their blemishes rather than their beauties, their evils rather than their righteousness, they are always overly conscious of their defects, they expect to be ridiculed, they think they are flawed and others are perfect.

So maybe they should know that::

Healthcare System:

THE ITALIANS HAVE A GENERAL TENDENCY TO COMPLAIN ABOUT EVERYTHING, especially their healthcare system, but few of them are aware  that:

THE ITALIAN HEALTH SYSTEM HAS BEEN RANKED SECOND BEST IN THE WORLD BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (Who-OMS),

with only the french system ranked higher.

Healthcare is provided to all citizens and residents by a mixed public-private system. The public part is the national health service (SSN = Servizio Sanitario Nazionale).

Surgeries and hospitalization provided by the public hospitals or by conventioned private ones are completely free of charge for everyone, regardless of the income.

Life expectancy: According to the CIA World factbook, Italy has the world’s second highest life expectancy. Thanks to its good healthcare system, the life expectancy at birth in Italy is 80.9 years, which is two years above the OECD average.

Information Technology:  Italy is Europe’s fourth largest market for the Information Technology (IT) industry and the Italian Government is committed to modernizing the country through the use of new information and communication technologies.

Medical Equipment : The Italian market for medical equipment & supplies ranks sixth in the world and is highly dependent on imports. and its high per capita income and sophisticated healthcare system translate into demand for a broad range of cutting-edge medical equipment.

• Italy’s contributions to science include the barometer, electric battery, nitroglycerin, and wireless telegraphy.
• Eyeglasses are an Italian invention. Around 1284 in Italy, Salvino D’Armate was credited with inventing the first wearable eye glasses.
• The telephone was created by an Italian Meucci.
• The typewriter is an Italian invention.
• The name of Electricity measurement Volt comes from Alessandro Volta, a pioneer in the study of electricity, who invented the first battery in 1779.
• The thermometer is an Italian invention.
• The piano hails from Italy.
• Enrico Fermi, inventor of the nuclear reactor, was an Italian.

2. Famous Italian explorers include Christopher Columbus, Marco Polo, John Cabot, and Amerigo Vespucci.

The automobile is one of Italy’s greatest products.  In addition to the Fiat brand, Fiat owns the Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Chrysler brands.

With almost 40 million visitors, Italy is the fourth most visited country in the world.

Italy has the highest number of cultural sites recognized by UNESCO world Heritage, roughly 50 to 55% of the total art value on earth

Italy has the 3rd largest reserves of gold in the world, the Italian government owns equity in over 13,000 Italian companies the total value of which dwarfs the total government debt.

In Italy 78% of its citizens own a home, of that 93% have no mortgage on their home which is the highest anywhere on earth. By contrast in USA 32% of Americans owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth.

However we can also list some of the peculiarities that make Italy seem “different”: a tradition of loyalty to the region rather than to the nation; the dominance of the family in every aspect of life; the pushy attitude of the unionized labor forces in all sectors, whether they be factory workers, doctors, or shopkeepers; a multitude of political parties with strong ideological or regional leanings; a Church with a tendency to undermine rather than reinforce people’s loyalty to the state.

Limited collective identities (families, political parties, work associations, local pride, religious groups), while commendable in themselves, undermine the nation’s capacity to establish priorities for the common good, because  Italians feel diminished and despondent if their own restricted group is put in jeopardy. On the other hand government itself is rarely more than a mishmash of factions constantly “at war” with each other.

Still it is remarkable that in spite of all its flaws and the fact that, with few and short exceptions, Italy has been governed disastrously for many centuries, it has managed to become one of the world’s most beautiful, most accomplished and most wealthy countries. There is nothing to suggest that today’s Italy will prove less resilient.

Most journalists and opinion leaders generally ask “How can Italy change?” but maybe the right question should be:

“How can the world change to become  like Italy?”