As I wake up to the following gloriously expansive view from my bedroom window with its clear blue Mediterranean sky and autumnally tinged forests it’s easy to momentarily forget that the world is living through some cataclysmic crises: climate change, species extinction, covid-19 for starters, and that so many countries, in addition, are having to face wars whether they be arms or trade ones.
As I write this large areas of our planet are being devastated by fires, by sea level rises, by military destruction and…by a new Kentish lorry park, digging into the idyllic landscape of the North Downs, in preparation for the impending brexit deadline of January first 2021. (To be suggestingly named, according to some wags, the ‘Nigel Farage Memorial Park’).
I just wonder how many New Year’s eve parties will be celebrated at the end of this year what with the strictures imposed by pandemic rules and the growing doubt among believers that what they voted for might have all been a con and that they were sold a pup.
I have sadly come to the view that there is a close relationship between those people who still deny climate change, those who are against any form of vaccination, those who affirm covid-19 is a hoax and those who believe that brexit is the best thing since sliced Hovis. Of course this is not to say that these belief systems completely tally one with the other but there is a far more intense overlap between them than between their opposites.
OK, we have earned the essential privilege, after centuries of feudal oppression and crass totalitarianism, of individual freedom as encapsulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have evolved considerably from being the huddled masses exemplified in the hierarchical ideology of so many societies – from the caste system in the Indian sub-continent to the class system still prevalent in the British Isles – towards the individualism which has arisen out of it.
However, if we all continued to behave in a highly individual manner as before – refusing to wear face masks in prescribed areas or failing to differentiate our household waste – then many of us will be in the same position as those inhabitants of German towns, just after World War 2 had ended, who were escorted into the remnants of concentration camps to witness their own country’s version of man’s inhumanity to man on a scale never before seen. I doubt there could have been any holocaust deniers left after these visits to their local extermination camp.
Yes, regretfully there’s also a connection, in my mind, between pandemic deniers and holocaust deniers. Perhaps visits to the local intensive care unit (where I was a denizen earlier this year) might be organized to dispel this belief if health restrictions did not permit it.
In Bagni Di Lucca I have come across people who blatantly remain mask-less in the middle of the Saturday morning market. They don’t even seem to carry one on their arms. I just wonder if they ever step into a store for their shopping; shop-keepers would never let them in for they too are subject to hefty fines for breaking anti-virus regulations. Other people have asked me ‘do you know anyone who has died of Covid-19?’ Sadly I do now and tell them so. They still appear to remain unconvinced, however.
The conspiracy theorists spread far and wide into that dark area of persons known as members of Q-anon who apparently are now considerably influencing the forthcoming US elections.
How does one relate to those who believe in these conspiracy theories? Bertrand Russell said that tolerance is necessary in any human relationship. All well and good but then are we to tolerate FGM, Suttee or legalised lethal injections? The other thing Russell said was ‘confirm the veracity of the facts’. That is clearly more difficult to handle and that’s where conspiracy ideology finds an easy way to worm itself into the collective subconsciousness.
Whatever happens in all this mess one thing is clear. Unless British residents in Bagni Di Lucca confirm their residence permission documents, obtain their Italian medical cards, exchange their UK drivers license for an Italian one and ensure their now European-citizenship-less passports are up to date they are going to find that discovering any brexitian benefits will be as difficult as locating the proverbial needle in a haystack. I just hope they will at least wear their ‘mascherine’ (as sanitary masks are called in Italy.)
Or you could sleep your way through all this…
I agree with every word Francis. One thing to say, that might take some british residents by surprise, is that once you are registered as resident in the anagrafe of your comune, there is no circumstance in which you don’t have to pay italian income tax on your worldwide earnings, regarless of how much time you spend in italy. The law it seems is being widely misinterpreted to read that if you spend less than half the year here you are not liable. It might be better for people who live between britain and italy to renounce their residence if they have it, and avail themselves of the right to stay here no more than 90 days in any 180 day period. As britain is not a schengen country they can happily return there in between visits. Or they could apply for an “elective residence” visa.
After brexit it is quite likely the tax authority will start looking at the anagrafe to find these brits with houses here who may have had residence for years, not realising they were supposed to be paying income tax here.
Under the double taxation agreement however, it may not be as bad as it sounds. Also, something I did not know before, is that a british state pension, as opposed to an occupational pension from a state related body, does not qualify from exemption from paying tax on it in italy.
Thankyou for your very perceptive comment Laura. Much appreciated!
An old boss once told me: “There’s not crazier in this universe than people.” And 2020 has been quite an illustration of that unfortunate irrationality. Mask compliance in New York here is high but there are no associated fines. There is certainly a culture here, still, that wears masks under their chin until instructed by a shopkeeper but it is <15% of people on the street. One would think that enormous death tolls and shutting down of one of the world's most productive and globally integrated cities were too big of a price to pay for not wearing a simple piece of medical cloth on one's face, but such is the irrationality of the current world. I'm sorry to hear you know of someone who was a victim of this pandemic.
Thanks for your comment.