Italy: Facts & Culture

What is Italy famous for?
Food and Recipes: When eating with guests, Italians do not usually hurry; a meal may last one to four hours. Compliments on the... More
Family: Strong, traditional ties bind the Italian family together. Family association is of great importance. A faster pace of life is... More
Fashion: Italy is a major center of the European fashion industry and Italians believe it is important to dress well at... More
Visiting: Italians enjoy visiting friends, family, and neighbors, especially on holidays and Sundays. Guests invited to dinner often take a bottle... More
Recreation: Italy is a nation of soccer enthusiasts. The game is called calcio in Italy. Sunday afternoon league games are televised... More
Cultural Attributes: Italians living in the warmer south enjoy a leisurely life and take their time to accomplish business. In contrast, those... More
Dating: Dating is much the same as in other Western countries and is done either in groups or as couples. Marriage... More
Diet: An Italian breakfast is very light, consisting of a cup of coffee, and a roll. Lunch, the main meal, is... More

Facts
What is the capital of Italy?   Capital Rome
Government Type Parliamentary republic   

Currency Euros (EUR)
Total Area 116,347 Square Miles
301,340 Square Kilometers
Location Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia
Language Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German-speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
GDP - real growth rate 0.8%
GDP - per capita (PPP) $35,800.00 (USD)


Demographics
What is the population of Italy?
Ethnic Groups Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)
Languages Italian is the official language. There are significant French and German-speaking minorities, and Slovene is spoken by some. Many Italians are bilingual.
Nationality Adjective Italian
Nationality Noun Italian(s)
Population 62,402,659
Population Growth Rate 0.34%
Population in Major Urban Areas ROME (capital) 3.298 million; Milan 2.909 million; Naples 2.373 million; Turin 1.613 million; Palermo 915,000; Bergamo 784,000
Predominant Language Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German-speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)
Urban Population 68.4%

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Macro Trends 2020-2030

We outline 12 macrotrends set to shape the 2020s. These represent major shifts in the demographic, environmental, economic, technological, political and cultural landscapes that can be foreseen with a relatively high degree of certainty, though their implications are often more uncertain or ambiguous. We then focus in on a subset of the macrotrends to explore this ambiguity and suggest how the global business community might seek to influence the way these trends play out in order to accelerate progress on Vision 2050. Crucially, too, all the macrotrends are interconnected: how they interact with one another is central to how the next decade will play out. We explore some of these interconnections briefly in the introduction to each landscape.

Macrotrends emerging over the next decade: 

DEMOGRAPHICS 

1. GENERATIONAL HANDOVER Political, economic, cultural & innovation power is shifting. 

2. POPULATION GROWTH IN ASIA & AFRICA Sustaining geopolitical shifts and straining scarce resources. ENVIRONMENT 

3. WORSENING CLIMATE IMPACTS More frequent and more severe weather becomes harder to ignore. 

4. LOCAL POLLUTION, DEGRADATION & SCARCITY CREATE IMPETUS FOR INNOVATION Loss, suffering, instability, displacement & innovation. 

ECONOMY 

5. SHORT-TERM CRISIS, LONG-TERM SLOWDOWN Under-investment, low productivity, weak demand and COVID-19. 

6. PEAK GLOBALIZATION & THE RISE OF ASIA Rival blocs form as economic and political power pivots. 

TECHNOLOGY 

7. AUTOMATION IMPACTS EVERY INDUSTRY & COUNTRY Automation changes lives, industries and economies. 

8. DATAFICATION, FOR BETTER & WORSE Smarter, more efficient, more surveilled – massive efficiency and productivity gains come at a price. 

POLITICS 

9. POLARIZATION & RADICALISM ON THE RISE High levels of dissatisfaction create appetite for radical alternatives 

10. GEOPOLITICAL INSTABILITY Weakened multilateralism and nations in decline – the incentives for stability slowly fade away. 

CULTURE 

11. POST-MATERIALISM: ATTITUDES AND LIFESTYLES DIVERGE Changing aspirations are helping on-demand service models to spread globally. 

12. CULTURE WARS ESCALATE Cultural clashes (youngold, rural-urban, rich-poor) contribute to polarization.

We propose 10 “wildcard” disruptions that could plausibly materialize during the 2020s, resulting in significant impact. Indeed some of them already have, with impacts still snowballing. However, the wildcards are not all negative – they simply have the potential to significant disrupt the landscape that business operates in. The macrotrends and disruptions are deliberately not presented as risks and opportunities. Every risk contains the seed of an opportunity within it – and every opportunity the seed of a new risk. What matters is how we respond to and influence the dynamics of the world around us.

Potential “wild card” Disruptions

1. FINANCIAL CRISIS How much will COVID19 cost, and how will we pay when the next crisis comes? 
2. GLOBAL PANDEMIC No country is fully prepared to handle a pandemic, and neither are any economies. 
3. MAJOR CONFLICT Cyber attacks, e.g. on critical infrastructure will touch all ordinary citizens in a conflict.
4. AN ECONOMIC “SINGULARITY” What happens when new jobs can’t be created where jobs have been destroyed?
5. POPULAR REVOLTS & REGIME CHANGE Inequality will continue to rise making more frequent and severe protest likely.
6. A CLIMATE “MINSKY MOMENT” Costs, disclosures, social pressures all reorient financial flows – but how fast?
7. ENERGY TRANSITION TIPPING POINT Market forces lead to fossil fuel demand peaking and the energy transition accelerates.
8. BIOTECH BOOM Disruption comes to food, health and materials as biotech’s potential emerges. 
9. GLOBAL GREEN (NEW) DEAL Citizens embrace the chance to improve jobs, communities and environments.
10. SOCIETAL “TECHLASH” Society sours on the costs of free tech, treasuries tire of lost taxes and competition.

TO READ MORE ABOUT THESE MEGATRENDS, CLICK HERE...

60% Versus 12%

 According to the most recent census data, the percentage of whites in the US population is 60% whereas the percentage of blacks in the US population is 12%...  In other words, there are FIVE times more whites in America than there are blacks.

What does that mean?

ONE out of every FIVE Americans are black...  and yet, minority group wants to control everything that is going on in this county from law enforcement to politics to Hollywood to Professional Athletics to Musicians and Artists to those CEO's who are managing our companies.

Blacks want to receive preferential treatment because they were brought to this country in 1619 against their will...  that is over 400 years ago...  and 157 years before we gained our independence from Great Britain; however, just because the whites gained their independence does not mean that the blacks actually gained their independence as well...  NO...  it took another 87 years for the blacks to actually receive their independence.

WHY...  did it take so long?

OUR FOUNDING FATHERS (All of them) WERE RACISTS...  there is no doubts about that fact...  now, here is the interesting question:

DID PRESIDENT LINCOLN FREE THE SLAVES TO INCREASE THE SIZE OF HIS ARMY AGAINST THE SOUTH OR DID HE FREE THE SLAVES BECAUSE HE WAS AGAINST SLAVERY?

Lincoln's wife owned slaves...

We, that is to say Americans, treated the Native Americans almost as bad as we treated the blacks...  and, to compensate them for our bad treatment, we allowed them to operate GAMBLING CASINOS on their territory only...  but, they get all the revenues.

That was really white of us to do that.

Interestingly, the US Constitution that governs our country was actually written for the WHITES not the BLACKS even though they were included by an amendment...  but, in the minds of most blacks that did not correct the injustice; however, what will correct the injustice will be that REALITY where ALL WHITENESS is removed from the way Americans live...   that is to say that the 60% should bend over backwards to pacify the 12% as a form of compensation.

What does that mean exactly?

That means BLACKS no longer want WHITES to be White...  because if WHITES continue to be White, then that is racism and racism negatively impacts 12% of all Americans.

It means that laws should be rewritten to favor blacks over whites in the courts of law.

It means that Blacks should get preferential treatment at college and university over the WHITES.

It means that Blacks should be hired before Whites are hired even if they are less qualified because it was the Whites that manipulated the system that forced them to be less qualified in the first place.

However, I don't think Blacks want to be first in line in the MILITARY since being first there might result in a loss of life...  but that is just a personal opinion and not based upon any solid evidence or facts.

I am also not sure how this relates to selling illegal drugs either because most of the dope dealers are black and most of the dope users are white...  and, I doubt very seriously if they really want to change places.

Because blacks were slaves they should be given every thing they want or they will revolt in the streets, burn, and loot to show their disappointment.  And...  since the law enforcement is systemically racist, then we should do away with the police force...  or at least have NO WHITE LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS so if blacks are killed by police, they will have been killed by black police.

IT IS TIME THAT WHITES LISTEN AND STOP BEING WHITE ONCE AND FOR ALL...  white should not even be a color or for that matter a word in the dictionary.

A WOKE Mentality

Woke  is a term that originated in the United States, referring to a perceived awareness of issues that concern social justice and racial justice. 

It derives from the African-American Vernacular English expression stay woke, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues.

First used in the 1940s, the term has resurfaced in recent years as a concept that symbolizes perceived awareness of social issues and movement. 

By the late 2010s, woke had been adopted as a more generic slang term associated with left-wing politics, progressive or socially liberal causes such as anti-racism, LGBT rights, feminism and environmentalism. 

It has also been the subject of memes, ironic usage and criticism for its methods and consequences.  

Its widespread use since 2014 is a result of the Black Lives Matter movement.  SOURCE:  Wikipedia

Here's the deal Jake from State Farm...

Americans who happen to the BLACK only represent 14% of the American population in 2021...  and WHITES represent about 60% of the American population in 2021...

What this means Jake from State Farm...

 is that there are 4 times as many whites as there are blacks...  and, those white are here to stay in America and they are not going to give up their positions and resources just because blacks perceive that they want or need more...

America has had BLACK PRESIDENT for 8 years and America currently has a BLACK FEMALE VICE PRESIDENT...

• There are more BLACKS in professional sports than whites
• There are more BLACKS in professional music than whites
• There are just as many BLACK actors/actresses as whites
• There are more BLACKS selling illegal drugs than whites
• There are more BLACKS in prison than whites

This is an example of your WOKE Grammatical Aspect of life in America...  If BLACKS want something they tend to get what they want...  but, neither whites nor blacks (outside of the wealthy) are given anything...