Rome's new mayor continues to make news:
Alemanno praised a district south of Rome, which Mussolini built as a symbol of fascism, calling it an example of "architecture that was part of the modernisation process and gave importance to Italy's cultural identity". The EUR district's monumental style, built for an international exhibition that was abandoned because of the war, was modelled on that of ancient Rome.
After living here for a few years you start to understand the Italians fascination with Mussolini - but it is a false hope, based on nostalgia and selective memories (the trains ran on time, the modernizing of the infrastructure, etc.). It is much like the American Right's fascination with the post WWII boom and the longing for the "good old days" of a dad that worked and a mom that stayed home and baked cookies. These are just cultural myths - and even if they were real for a moment in time, they were eventually unsustainable. Instead of looking to the past we all should be looking forward, but as always, it is easier to blame others and long for better things than to roll up your sleeves and actually do something. Shipping 20,000 Romanians out of Italy isn't really going to stop the problems in Rome.