Thinking about it

When I came to Italy, one of the pieces of advice that my Dad gave me, was to never talk about politics or religion. In Britain, this is quite easy, probably all British Dads give the same advice. Italian politics, on the other hand, can be riveting. Italians pride themselves on being able to carry on, whatever the government. There are numerous talk shows every evening on the television, usually with a presenter, a number of guests from different political parties, and a studio audience. The discussions can get very heated, often with everyone talking at once and interrupting each other.
Whenever we get together with friends, the conversation easily turns towards the present political situation. People can get quite passionate, everyone has a point of view, after a lot of discussing, rarely anyone changes it.
Italians seem very informed about their political situation. My children are surprised by their British cousin's apparent indifference to politics. This could be because, they feel secure that whoever is elected will be controlled and held responsible for their actions, or it could be a reluctance to express personal views. Maybe a bit of both.
I have always had a lot of respect for politics,. At school, the history teacher told us that "War is the breakdown of politics". This confirmed my opinion that a could chat can sort out a lot of  misunderstandings.

Today, having tea with my English friend, the only thing we said about politics was that David Cameron was worried about his bald patch.

This reminded me of a joke from my teenage years.

Men that are bald at the front are intellectual. Men who are bald at the back, are sexy. Men that are bald all over, think about it a lot ...