Rome Long Survived Countless Incompetent, Narcissistic Emperors, Will America Survive Barack Obama and His Successor?

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Rome Long Survived Countless Incompetent, Narcissistic Emperors, Will America Survive Barack Obama and His Successor?

By Vince 7 Comments Wed, Oct, 26th, 2016

I’m writing this while sitting on a cruise ship that’s docked in Mallorca, Spain. I’m heading to France and have just spent 4 days in Italy. I’ve only had a cursory look at the news from home, and what I’ve caught has been depressing, like this entire election cycle.

 

One of the most interesting things about this trip thus far – other than the obvious visits to Pompeii, the Coliseum and St. Peter’s – has been observing how things work – or don’t – and talking with people who live in Italy. The first thing you discover in Naples is that the place is absolute chaos. Driving is life threatening, things are expensive and the trash situation is a disaster. And that is from a tourist perspective, and we get to see the city’s good side! For Italians it’s far worse, particularly businesses, and it’s not just Naples. The Italian government takes half of your REVENUE, strangles you with regulations and can’t provide basic services for anyone. At our Rome hotel our host asked us to make sure we turned off the light in the room because electricity is so expensive it might be the difference between his breaking even or taking a loss on our stay. A friend living in Naples told us that Italians rarely turn on heat in winter because the price of gas is too high. http://www.floppingaces.net/2016/10/26/rome-long-survived-countless-incompetent-narcissistic-emperors-will-america-survive-barack-obama-and-his-successor/