Ingrid D. Rowland: Italy’s Future in Flames?

No doubt this campaign was part of what inspired the senseless attack on the museum. But the burning of the City of Science serves notice not just to Naples. Its message of brutality and despair is addressed to all of Italy. The Camorra’s message could just as easily have been sent by the Mafia, the ’Ndrangheta, or the Sacra Corona Unita, the local variants of a single large-scale criminal reality. As Italians sort out their stalemated election results, the country’s lack of a government is only too apparent. According to one recent government estimate, corruption now accounts for $60 billion of the annual budget, while another study finds that more than 10 percent of the GDP is produced by organized crime. From North to South, well-placed organizations are happily doing business in their own way, by their own methods. The most dangerous prospect for Italy right now is not ending up like Greece; it’s ending up like Mexico.

Mein Blog befasst sich in einem umfassenden Sinn mit dem Verhältnis von Wissen, Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft. Ein besonderes Augenmerk richte ich dabei auf die Aktivitäten des Medien- und Dienstleistungskonzern Bertelsmann und der Bertelsmann Stiftung.