European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 8, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Surviving in the face of catastrophe Leone and then got Down to the serious business of plan Ning their summer vacations. Like a Veteran prizefighter Italy s institutions and people Are coming through their Long ordeal scarred and bruised but perhaps better prepared than others to Roll with the punches and make the inevitable adjustments. Italy s Best known Veteran a one Man institution who has survived and adjusted by Jack r. Payton United press International y the accepted standards of modern Industrial society Italy should not even exist. Its institutions Are a shambles its Economy is sick its Laws Are almost uniformly disobeyed and it is beset by terrorist bands Bent on tearing Down what is left of established order. Perhaps More disturbing most of the nation s 56 Mil to to a ass whether anything can Schie Fifthe Mui billion Dollar Fiat Industrial Empire done to improve the situation. International Playboy Agnelli has settled Down to become the wealthiest capitalist and largest Pri vate employer in a nation increasingly controlled by the communist party and its powerful Trade uniting conned crises As they come and surviving As it has done in face or growth of communist influence according to a of catastrophe for thousands of years. Nem has been the Central Factor in italian events for their just could be the testing ground for a new kind of pol t decade a win continue to be for some time tics and a new Way to organize a modern Industrial com the right Wing position of ignoring the existence of the communist party is ridiculous. It s unrealistic Agnelli said in a recent Magazine interview. You can t run Italy against the communist party and million Are under 29 and 400,000 Are University graduates. Much of the nation s agonizing political terrorism can traced directly to University graduates of the late 960s who turned to extremism when they were unable to ind work. One such graduate was Renato Curcio who found that a sociology degree from the University of Trento was useless in making a living and established the red Bri Gades Urban terror gang in 1969. After five years of Industrial sabotage and kidnapping the red brigades got into the business of killing in the summer of 1974 when an attack squad murdered two members of an extreme right Wing party. Since then the gang has murdered a total of 18 persons and maimed about 60 in leg shooting attacks. Police have picked up More than 160 red brigade members and estimate there Are about 400 gang Mem Bers still on the Loose including about two dozen expert killers. The red brigades however is Only the Best known italian terror gang. Police estimate there Are about 137 such bands of the extreme left and right almost double the number of last year. Together these gangs carried out More than 2,000 terror attacks during 1977. During the first six months of i Zanelli left head of Fiat says Italy cannot this year they have stepped up the Pace with 1,487 at a pc do. tacks including 23 assassinations recorded through ignore the communists of Enrico Belg her right. June 6 6 i according to police Antiterrorist experts and state mands from the unions As Well As bread and butter Issy ments by Eade themselves much of the political maims hum Pic i a violence stems directly from the policy of cooperation be Thiafi because the major Force in the labor Moven Fereen Berlinguer s communists and the ruling Christian is the communist controlled general confederation?100 italian labor which represents 50 percent of s All touch and go Agnelli says of Italy s ing private Enterprise. The Rise of the Trade the nation s Industrial the communist cause. The red brigades has said often its aim is to trigger a revolution that would bring Berlinguer s comm but whatever the future May hold right now Italy somehow is bucking the Odds compromising meeting the d surviving i. Unity. Italian politicians some of whom Are not the most honest and efficient Are certainly among the Clev Erest. They Are tackling the nation s seemingly in soluble problems with methods that have never been tried before and have sparked debate throughout Europe in Moscow and Washington. Italian industries though facing Europe s toughest and most highly organized labor movement still manage to produce competitive products known the world Over for their Quality and style. Though the threat of terrorism and kidnapping has put an end to the Dolce Vita nightlife of the Rich and famous the average italian can still enjoy the relaxed Way of life so admired by the 15 million visitors who arrive each year to Sample delights they can t find at Home. The three hour lunch is still considered an essential part of life there and so is a skiing vacation at Mountain resorts such As Cortina d am Pezzo or a month on the Beach at Capri or outdoor dining in a cobblestones Renaissance Square simple food prepared with excellent ingredients and a carafe of wine pressed from grapes grown on a nearby Hillside Are pleasures available to almost every one. It has been said of italians that their prime Talent is surviving with style that 2,000 years of tumultuous history have taught them How to negotiate their Way through hard times. The past year has allowed them to display these talents in full five time Premier Aldo Moro was kidnapped and killed by red brigades Urban terrorists last Spring Sev eral leading politicians said it was the end of the Republic founded 32 years ago on the world War ii ashes of Benito Mussolini s in Coffee bars and restaurants talked grimly of a possible military coup and predicted tanks in the streets the following morning. None of that Moro s assassination left a critical vacuum at the Center of the shaky Christian democratic communist Alliance that runs this country it did not tear it apart As the red brigades Italy suffered its own watergate style scandal Only a month later and president Giovanni Leone re signed in disgrace there was almost none of the agonized soul searching that attended Richard Nixon s departure from office in nation s squabbling politicians put aside their differences quickly elected a respected Man to replace the Trade unions. They Are too indeed the bargaining strength of the italian Trade unions with their political backing from the communist the three hour lunch is still considered an essential part of life there and so is a skiing vacation. Or a month on the Beach party has overturned the patterns of Industrial labor re lations traditional in the West. It All started with the so called hot autumn of 1969 when months of Union agitation won workers massive wage increases and More clout in determining Industry then about half of the nation s major Industrial enterprises have gone deep into debt and Are threatened with bankruptcy. The unions and their political backers have responded by forcing the government to guarantee endangered jobs either by buying the troubled companies outright or by arranging Large scale govern ment participation. Without prior planning without adequate financial Means the italian government has assumed control of larger share of its Industry than any other Western coun try. Italy has gone beyond communism without even noticing it says film producer Carlo Ponti who became a French citizen with his wife Sophia Loren 10 years ago. This in turn has loaded Down the government with Money losing enterprises that have been a major Factor in the nation s colossal Public debt. Though Agnelli s Fiat and other Well run private Busi Nesses still manage to produce Quality products and turn profits they must contend with social and political de in nah not h Mph let a a a Saiu in us Iceni in making sure that does to -.,. Turn a the italic happen has been the 90,000-member Carabiniero Parami possible without the growing strength o the Ita an pc. Jav p Monist party the largest in the West with 1.8 million sgd terrorist weapon. Y estered members. 0,T. V,o.0 2 but even the Carabiniero and other special police unit sled by Able strategists. The. Communists have e u aged to Gam ground in every National election since i Init party Secretary Enrico Berlinguer a sharper a Ordi to novelist Morris West time resident sardinian of Noble ancestry is generally considered of Bri Deg and Simi a Guc shrewdest politician in Italy and the most original go in their Sini Ter purpose of spreading confusion Monist tactician in decades. And fear of destroying the last vestiges of Public conf under Berlinguer the communists shed their old Dence � 6 minist image promised to respect Italy s Multi party tem risk and the record wave of kidnapping often As. Moc racy and collected 12.6 million votes in the ig0ciated with it have wrought other changes in the ital National elections. Ians _ changes More obvious than a Lack of Confidence Inthis gave the marxists 34.5 percent of the vote f their Points less than the ruling Christian be wealthy or prominent italians rarely go to the Chick rats and opened the Way for a formal communist Gide a a cafe or restaurants at Niht if the d the in the government s parliamentary majority for the women leave their fur Coats and jewels at Home time in More than three decades. Berlinguer is the creator of what has Beck known As eur communism and has been push the Christian democrats to join the communists in formal government coalition he Calls the his Toiv Fiat s Agnelli travels by helicopter when possible and when he has to use a car it is a Bullet proof Model accompanied by escort vehicles filled with bodyguards. Even Agnelli is not As heavily guarded As Berlinguer As Berlinguer explains it the presence of the Chri considered the nation s prime terrorist tar get. Democrats in such a government would guarantee one of the reasons Ponti and Sophia Loren moved to continued existence of democracy and forestall a it Paris was the fear someone would Kidnap their Young ble military coup or International interference. , is no coincidence that the communist Leader first but for Ordinary mortals italians who Are not veiled his historic Compromise proposal shortly Jve Althy or prominent or the millions of foreign tourists a military coup allegedly backed by the . Centre Italy can still be a Paradise of Good weather Good food Tell gence Agency toppled the marxist regime of Sis and wine unmatched scenery and incomparable history Dor Allende in Chile. -f"?8? to to. A in the process of seeking the Compromise the con i and despite the troubles they face italians still Mam lists have had to Jettison at least publicly son their legendary Good humor flamboyant manners the key doctrines they inherited from their soviet a kits and ingenuity bearers the a King a a fastest automobiles in the world the terms dictatorship of the proletariat Fere produced by three factories not far from each other marxist Leninist have been quietly dropped fro i n Northern Italy Ferrari Maserati and Lamborghini. Party vocabulary Hermes of pans is the world s Only firm that can rival the italian party sharply criticized the soviet incl he leather goods of Gucci fend or been Cri ucal of to Tasss soft Sims but policymakers in Washington Are no Fig ten arils 3 we Don t doubt Berlinguer is sincere about his or modern Industrial design cratic Dri Nicoles " save one Western Diplomat. Bill avid skiers can still find Snow covered slopes m the?tis4--" communists have not convinced 500_years ago when painters such As Leonardo a " i in in addition to their Power on the National leva Page 14 the stars and stripes in us Umuiwi in Pineir Power we my $ me grandeur of Rome s history is written in its ouija local communist administrations watch out Tings the ruined palaces of ancient emperors the me lives of 29 million italians or 52 percent of the of Ieva defense towers that have been turned into modern lation. Day apartments the Renaissance palaces built of Traver though the cooperation Between the communism j Ine quarried from the democrats has Given Italy relatively m Ore Jhen Mere tourist attractions these Monument governments for the past two years they have Are testimony to the Long and bloody history of Italy the make measurable Progress in solving the problem uni foreign invasions the political instability and mis govern employment and terrorism. F no fa60 leading up to the nation s unification in 1870.an estimated 1.5 million italians Are out of Wop roughly 7 percent of the work Force. Of these More tic a statesman for one of those foreign invaders Friday Fryer 8, 1978. A policeman stares helplessly at the traffic chaos in Rome s Piazza Venezia. Austrian Prince Clemens von Metternich dismissed Italy in the Early 19th Century As a geographical expression whose quarrelsome population could never aspire to nationhood. Metternich was proven wrong by the italian Talent for survival its people s ability to Buck the Odds and come up with solutions just in time to Avert disaster. The terrorism the economic problems and the communist Challenge Are testing italians As they have never been tested since world War ii. Many experts some of them italians think the Chal Lenges this time Are too Tough that the nation just May fall apart. But the italians have proven a lot of people wrong Over the centuries and it s too Early to count them out now. When Adolf Hitler visited his ally Benito Mussolini in 1938, Italy was still poor undeveloped country and Rome to convince Hitler that he ruled a wealthy modern and powerful nation Mussolini or dered the construction of whole cardboard buildings painted realistically and built like movie sets along the route the German fihrer travelled through the City. The Story tells a truth about the italian character that the illusion is just about As Good As the real thing. Some 15 million tourists visit Italy every year and most of them go Home convinced that italians Are a boisterous fun Loving people who Don t have a care in the world. It is one of the reasons so Many come Back year after year. The fact is italians Are not at All As Carefree As they seem but if it makes the visitor Happy to think they Are they Are glad to oblige. They believe it s better to Send somebody away Happy than to confront him with the harsh unpleasant or Plain Boring facts of life. And it s self serving too. The waiter compliments you on making the most intelligent possible Choice from a confusing menu and pre sents the dish with elaborate fanfare. He relies on tips to make a living. The antique dealer says your taste is exquisite he could not possibly sell the chair to anyone less discriminating certainly riot at such a Low Price. You take the chair Home convinced he is right and worry later about fixing the broken leg. The customer soon catches on knows he s been conned but learns to like it. Illusion is also the main ingredient of what ital ians Call Bella Figura maintaining a Good face a Quality prize above All else. A Man May have Only one proper suit but its fit will be say the first purchases by poor italians is by Pete Milia a Carefree neapolitan or is he when they get a steady Job Are watches television sets new clothes and if possible a shiny new car things their neighbors will see and judge As signs of Success. According to writer Luigi Barzini the italian penchant for illusion and transparent flattery is not the trait of a people who find life rewarding or exhilarating but of a pessimistic realistic and resigned indeed most italians seem convinced things will turn out badly that they will be cheated miso verned or forced into financial ruin if they Are notes specially Clever. Social scientists try to explain this innate pessimism by blaming the nation s Long history of foreign invasion and internal warfare. Humiliation by foreigners and despotic local rulers they say has forced italians to be suspicious and cynical. Most italians do not Trust their neighbors. Many Don t Trust their own family. Few Trust what they read in the newspapers and almost nobody trusts politicians. An old italian proverb loosely translates As be pleasant to your fellow Man but keep your thoughts to and that is exactly what italians do extremely Well maintaining the illusions smoothing Over the rough spots and generally making life a lot More agreeable than it really is. Up the stars and stripes Page 15
