Italian National Day

By sheer luck, Italian national day was in the first week of my residency in Milan, so we went down to the center of the city as groups gathered to strut their stuff. As near as I could tell from the the Italian posters around town, the day marks “Liberation from Fascists and Nazis” on April 25, 1945. Sounds a damned good thing to celebrate.

The first fellow we encountered was a well-dressed older man handing out small slips of paper. Apparently they outline his philosophy of life, which it seems holds that sex is the most important thing there is. I give him credit: He looked well into his 60s. My colleague Mariella declined his request to give him a business card.

Then there were the pro-Palestine demonstrators, the communists, the trade unions, the mainstream parties and a whole lot more. Finally we got a glimpse of the few remaining partisans who actually fought for freedom.

And speaking of freedom – what a refreshing thing to witness. After eight years in the thrall of the Communist Party of China it was wonderful to again see the free expression of ideas. And make no mistake, when you live in China even as a foreigner you feel the heavy hand of Big Brother.

Later we heard there was a street battle between Israeli and Palestinian factions. Freedom is messy sometimes, but it sure beats the alternative.




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