Venice Referendum

[The Intransigent Faction]

Thoughts on this?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ent-state.html

Wealthy Venetians, under mounting financial pressure in the economic crisis, have rallied in their thousands, after growing tired of supporting Italy’s poor and crime ridden Mezzogiorno south, through high taxation.

What is this , some Atlas Shrugged bs? I see it being compared superficially with the Crimea referendum in a few different sources, but I honestly don't see a resemblance...

[Pinto Morais]

What is this , some Atlas Shrugged bs? I see it being compared superficially with the Crimea referendum in a few different sources, but I honestly don't see a resemblance...

Seems like "libertarian" garbage to me.

[Sperm-Doll Setsuna]

I suppose it's a lot like that Catalan separatism where some rich scum get pissy about having to pay taxes that go to trying to equalise the economic development.

[khad]

Seems like "libertarian" garbage to me.

Their main point of contention is that Veneto Province pays 70 billion in taxes and that a third of that money is used to balance accounts in other regions. It's political battle over tax appropriations, not a battle over the idea of taxes.

This is actually rather typical of nations with strong regional developmental gaps.

[Hrafn]

I believe the local Lega Nord are quite heavily involved in this.

[consuming negativity]

I believe the local Lega Nord are quite heavily involved in this.

From wikipedia, for anyone else who went "huh, who?":

Lega Nord's political culture is a mix of northern Italian pride, resentment for some southern Italian habits and Roman authorities, distrust of Italy and especially its flag, some support for the free market, anti-statism, independentism, and claims of a Celtic heritage. The party boasts historical references to the anti-imperialist Lombard League and to Alberto da Giussano (stylized in the symbol), the hero of the wars against Frederick I Barbarossa.[89] These historical references are the base for the party's anti-monopolism and anti-centralism.
The original program of the party identified "federalist libertarianism" as ideology.[90] In fact the party has often varied its tone and policies, replacing its original libertarianism and social liberalism with a more socially conservative approach, alterning anti-clericalism with a pro-Catholic Church stance, Europeanism with a marked Euroscepticism,[91][92] and abandoning its original pacifism and uncompromising ecologism.[93] In 2008 Bossi explained in an interview that Lega Nord is "libertarian, but also socialist" and that the right-wing he likes is anti-statist and with a "libertarian idea of a state which does not weigh on citizens". When asked to tell his most preferred politician of the 20th Century he said Giacomo Matteotti, a Socialist MP who was killed by Fascist squads in 1925, and remembered his anti-fascist and left-wing roots.[94]

[RedAnarchist]

From my experience of Lega Nord/Padania supporters, they pretty much see themselves as better than the those who live in the Mezzogiorno, or Southern Italy. They also like to see themselves as "Northern European" and "whiter" than Southern Italians, as if it somehow makes them better than them.

[PhoenixAsh]

Last time I heard they were pretty heavily represented in Venice with ~16% support. So it wouldn't surprise me if they were.

Given their position on tax and the distribution of tax money...well...it would be strategically logical to be involved.

[Alexios]

It's actually surprising that Italy has managed to stay united for this long. The differences between the North and South are more striking than arguably anywhere else in Europe. The South has always been kind of the odd man out due to the amalgamation of cultures and languages, plus the generally infertile landscape.