[toyg]

Well, those "segments" include most of the (disgraceful) Italian élite, so uhm. Just watch a political debate: you'll never find one without the making-a-point "vertical-OK" or the please-dont-talk-idiocy "join-hands-in-prayer", be it from Northern or Southern politicians, journalists, pundits, scholars or whatnot.

TBH, one of the effects of living abroad for more than a decade has been, for me, the loss of that smug Northern superiority complex. With all due respect to Giorgio Gaber, any pretence of Northern non-Italian-ness died with the first Berlusconi government.