Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by easyThrowaway 42 days ago
One of my parents is from Ragusa and I've spent more than half of my life in Sicily. The answer can be summed up in "Culture, Corruption, Infrastructure, in this order".

I can see the last point improving over time. I give absolutely 0% chances to the first two points changing over time, bar some apocalypse-level destruction and rebuilding of society.
2 comments
dntrshnthngjxct 34 days ago
Up north the services are just better. I have also read about LEP (essential service levels), the ones down south are disastrous, especially in the worst backwaters. Culture is downstream from that. People down south are neurotic, bent on "survival" over building up, and as such their choices are less optimal. There is no need for apocalypse, because in some cases the South of Italy has already gone through it.
link
pseudohadamard 41 days ago
Friend of mine, from northern Italy (Piedmont), puts it down to "bloody meridionali", but it's possible he might be ever so slightly biased :-).
link
easyThrowaway 41 days ago
Calling someone a "bloody...ahem meridionali" sounds a lot like those guys who would address a black guy as an "annoying N...nuisance, I mean".

Tell him he can drop the politically correct facade and call us Terroni (or Terun, with an hard-R), no need to pretend otherwise.

link