ITALIAN STUDENTS SCREAM FOR A REVOLUTION

After Silvio Berlusconi saw his coalition partner, Gianfranco Fini, leaving his government, he knew this could be the end of his political career. Fini had enough of the many sex scandals surrounding Berlusconi and claimed that Berlusconi was using his position only for his own welfare.

The above led to a vote of no-confidence on the 14th of December. The day before the vote Berlusconi gave the most important speech of his whole political career.

Claiming that in the present economical crisis, Italy can’t use a political crisis. Italy needs a solid government, which can address the present and coming challenges that Italy is facing with its enormous public debt. And as you can aspect from Berlusconi, always modest about his own achievements, he had to notice that this government has addressed some big challenges with positive results.

For many Italians his speech was a tirade, a theatrical one man show, without any meaning. As rumours about corruption, Berlusconi buying votes got more and more attention, the dream of the Italian students and many more Italians, started to fade away.

As expected, Berlusconi won the vote of no-confidence with a difference of 3 votes. While Berlusconi was celebrating his victory, in the streets of Rome the few hopes of the student that had remained vanished.
Many students kept protesting against the results of the votes, just to show their non agreement. The protest got out of hand, when a group of persons started to attack the police in order to get to the building of the parliament. The once peaceful intended protest turned the city of Rome into a war ground. Flying stones, shovels and helmets were used as arms.

Can we blame those persons or students for their behaviour? Students who fought not for material thing and idealistic ideas? Students who were ignored and who got send back to the college seats? They were students who only wanted to protect the right on good education for everybody. Rich or poor, there is no difference for anybody. They just want a future like anyone of us, only their government decided to cut on the high schools and universities, and to call that reforms. They aren’t reforms, just cuts and in an attempted to cover their actions, they call it reforms.

What about if your government takes everything away, your chance on a good future, your chance on becoming who you truly want to become, your chance on a normal life like your parents had?

Everybody deserves a good education and a chance on a job. No matter whether you are rich or poor, or whether you know a certain high class person. When the chance on a good education is taken away, you create a situation in where students have nothing to lose because all they had, a future, is already taken away. I’m not claiming that the violence shown in Rome is the good way to show disagreement but I sure do understand those persons.

In the days before Christmas, this year, the students again protested against the reforms this time without violence. Maybe all students realized that those ‘criminal’ politicians aren’t worth the violence, as the politicians will use it against the students.

To all the Italians, the politicians can take away your rights but never your dreams. Dream of your future and be sure, all is possible!

Posted in: World Affairs and Government