Just one doubt...Does Britain really have a low birth rate? It definitely doesn't look like in the Medway area where I just moved out from. At least not in comparison to Sardinia where I'm back staying...not many babies around
Hello Elena. Italy's birth rate is devastatingly low at 1.27 births per woman. The UK is at 1.65 which is higher but not high enough and the rate is heading in the same direction. Sad to hear about there not being many babies around in your part of Sardinia. I remember going there when my little boy was a baby, everyone always really made a fuss about him in restaurants, etc... It was lovely.
The trouble is that there are far too many old farts in the media in this country.
That kind of naff humour (topped off in this case with casual offensiveness towards another country), like the supposedly funny-for-not-being-funny "puns" you get every day in the unspeakable British tabloids, shows only too embarrassingly the age and cluelessness of the cartoonist.
Above all, however, it shows how crap, ancient and undoubtedly little Englander the editorial team at The Economist are. The Economist has supposedly built up a rep for being "the best in the business" for economic analysis for decades. I've long been sceptical about that.
Judgement in such matters as "what's funny as opposed to crap" and "gratuitous insults based on national stereotypes a 12-year-old would avoid" counts and reflects wider judgement. One down for The Economist.
Hi Mike, I actually quite like the Economist. Its 'The Intelligence' podcast is one of my daily go-tos for news, and its international coverage is really broad. Plus, the article itself was balanced. I just felt it suggested a slight denial about one of the biggest reasons behind the mess we in the UK are in. I did like the pizza-as-Union-flag though!
Perfect analisys dear Barbara. I don't bear when one people jeers onother one. Never. It's a stupid generalization. I get angry when here somebody calls the french without bidet people, for example or the german crucchi and so on. Persons are good or bad, not people. Brexit is been the worst choice the british could do, they're paying for it and they will for a long time. We can't deny that looking our new government we've a lot of reasons to be very worried. Mistakes must be paid and all of us will do, unfortunately. I shared yr article;-)
I fully agree with what you wrote. Just by case, I came across Elena Remigi and her In Limbo collection of testimonies of the consequences of Brexit on people in general, both British (as it is shown in In Limbo too) and non British. I hope something can change, and soon!
I always read and listen to you with great pleasure.
You write that, "Italy has never seriously considered anything as potentially damaging as leaving the EU, unlike the UK." As I recall from reading the Italian press before and after Brexit, there used to be regular comments from politicians sympathetic to La Lega in favour of an Italian Brexit (Italexit). Since Brexit revealed itself to be a disaster for the UK, I no longer see this suggested.
Hello Matthew. You're absolutely right. Salvini from the League used to regularly suggest that Italy might be better off outside the EU - mainly he'd mention that the EU wasn't helping Italy enough in dealing with immigration and that the Euro shackled the Italian economy. I guess that's why I said 'never *seriously* considered' leaving the EU. We'll never know what Italy might have done regarding its own membership had Brexit never happened and they're sure not leaving now. But as you know the UK (the Tories, but not just) has had an ambivalent relationship to the EU for decades. More than anything I still can't believe how much this country (uk) has changed since 2016... Thank you for your comment.
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏.
Just one doubt...Does Britain really have a low birth rate? It definitely doesn't look like in the Medway area where I just moved out from. At least not in comparison to Sardinia where I'm back staying...not many babies around
Hello Elena. Italy's birth rate is devastatingly low at 1.27 births per woman. The UK is at 1.65 which is higher but not high enough and the rate is heading in the same direction. Sad to hear about there not being many babies around in your part of Sardinia. I remember going there when my little boy was a baby, everyone always really made a fuss about him in restaurants, etc... It was lovely.
The trouble is that there are far too many old farts in the media in this country.
That kind of naff humour (topped off in this case with casual offensiveness towards another country), like the supposedly funny-for-not-being-funny "puns" you get every day in the unspeakable British tabloids, shows only too embarrassingly the age and cluelessness of the cartoonist.
Above all, however, it shows how crap, ancient and undoubtedly little Englander the editorial team at The Economist are. The Economist has supposedly built up a rep for being "the best in the business" for economic analysis for decades. I've long been sceptical about that.
Judgement in such matters as "what's funny as opposed to crap" and "gratuitous insults based on national stereotypes a 12-year-old would avoid" counts and reflects wider judgement. One down for The Economist.
Hi Mike, I actually quite like the Economist. Its 'The Intelligence' podcast is one of my daily go-tos for news, and its international coverage is really broad. Plus, the article itself was balanced. I just felt it suggested a slight denial about one of the biggest reasons behind the mess we in the UK are in. I did like the pizza-as-Union-flag though!
Perfect analisys dear Barbara. I don't bear when one people jeers onother one. Never. It's a stupid generalization. I get angry when here somebody calls the french without bidet people, for example or the german crucchi and so on. Persons are good or bad, not people. Brexit is been the worst choice the british could do, they're paying for it and they will for a long time. We can't deny that looking our new government we've a lot of reasons to be very worried. Mistakes must be paid and all of us will do, unfortunately. I shared yr article;-)
Thank you Cinzia! You've always been a big supporter of this newsletter and I really appreciate it.
I fully agree with what you wrote. Just by case, I came across Elena Remigi and her In Limbo collection of testimonies of the consequences of Brexit on people in general, both British (as it is shown in In Limbo too) and non British. I hope something can change, and soon!
I always read and listen to you with great pleasure.
Thank you Isa. I love the Limbo books. They're a real insight into the human impact of Brexit.
You write that, "Italy has never seriously considered anything as potentially damaging as leaving the EU, unlike the UK." As I recall from reading the Italian press before and after Brexit, there used to be regular comments from politicians sympathetic to La Lega in favour of an Italian Brexit (Italexit). Since Brexit revealed itself to be a disaster for the UK, I no longer see this suggested.
Hello Matthew. You're absolutely right. Salvini from the League used to regularly suggest that Italy might be better off outside the EU - mainly he'd mention that the EU wasn't helping Italy enough in dealing with immigration and that the Euro shackled the Italian economy. I guess that's why I said 'never *seriously* considered' leaving the EU. We'll never know what Italy might have done regarding its own membership had Brexit never happened and they're sure not leaving now. But as you know the UK (the Tories, but not just) has had an ambivalent relationship to the EU for decades. More than anything I still can't believe how much this country (uk) has changed since 2016... Thank you for your comment.