chinese tourists firenze florence italy

8/14/2019 Chinese Tourists Firenze Florence Italy

1/10

Chinese on Tour,

Chinese inBondage &

a Memorandum for

Professor MiltonFriedman

Burning in the FieryFires

of an Eternal Hell

t was a muggy summer evening (3 August 2007) and I raced tothe bus stop in front of the Santa Maria Novella train station tocatch the 20:30 ATAF (Azienda Trasporti Area Fiorentina) public

transport to my home. Within two minutes, I could see the 2CALENZANO bus coming on to reach the ten or so of us waiting inthe heat. As the bus lurched to a stop, I was taken aback when II


2/10

saw it jampacked and further bedazed when I reckoned that theoccupants were all Chinese touriststhe first I had ever seen inItaly since coming here in 1983.

The Chinese stood out from the rest of the occupants. Firstly, they

were Chinese. They were not dressed as elegantly as were theItalian passengers. They were young adults, students. Theyconversed in Chinese. It was most unusual. I had met before many

Japanese tourists who had sojourned in hotels near my home, andthey had been extremely gracious to me for pointing out the rightbus stop for them to get off at their destinations. Japanese touristsare well-appreciated by Florentines because they shop in theelegant shops on Via Tornabuoni, and walking all about Firenze, onecan see Japanese shoppers publicizing world famous brand names

printed boldly on particularly beautifully designed shopping bags. Japanese are offered Tuscan smiles; no one in the bus beamedcordially at the happy-go-lucky Chinese students. In fact, someFlorentines were disgusted by their presence.

After a couple of minutes scrutinizing the group, I approached oneand asked, in English, where he had come from. He did notunderstand me, and was quite perplexed about why I hadquestioned him. I had with me one of my ads for English classes

and translation work that my friend Lin Lai Hua had translated forme into Chinese, and I gave it to the bewildered chap. Heimmediately broke into a smile and called to a young lady to cometo us so that she could interpret. He was anxious to know what Iwanted to find out.

The miss was in her early twenties and was extremely exuberantand happy to answer the questions I put to her about the troupe.She told me she had studied some months in the United States, andshe was particularly proud to tell me that her father was aneconomist and her mother a doctor. She emphasized, swelled withsatisfaction, that her physician mother was very much respectedand loved by her patients for the care she offered them. Her friendswere Chinese students from poles-apart parts of China. There wasa joie de vivre in her bearing which I construed as being bothcharming and innocent. She had nothing unspeakable to say aboutanything or anyone, and she was pollyannaish about her plans tocontinue studying languages so that she could work in the Chinesetourist industry. She loved to travel and meet people.

2


3/10

I tried to fix her in my mind along with those ideas I have gatheredfrom my copies ofChina Today(www.chinatoday.com.cn)which thestaff of the Chinese consulate in Firenze is pleased to give me whenI visit with them. China Today is a wonderful magazine filled withextraordinary pictures of China and stories and statistics which

reveal a great deal about the third largest country in the world, thenation with the most prodigious population, and where the most-spoken language has been mouthed now for millennia. In thispublication, which I suspect is the best of its type, the reader istaken on a truly interesting and revealing journey of discovery. Wesee China's Past and the importance it has played in thedevelopment of the people's republic. But more importantly, thereis a showcase of events and outcomes which clearly indicate thatChina has the desire to progress, modernize, care better for its

people, and, genuinely momentous, join in with the rest of humanityin trying to make this world a better place for all of us. Like somany public relations' efforts, China Today harps on what is somuch pleasant to say about China and winnows out most of theseedy elements which we have come to know about this enormousmass of humankind. Why should it? Why should it not?

With the emphasis on progress, individual development andharmony in human relations, which is indeed crucial to

understanding Chinese philosophy, I could see that both this young,high-spirited girl on the 2 Calenzano-bound bus, and my copies ofthe splendid China Today, offered me a particularly gratifyingimpression of China and its people. There is a verve imbued withinthe Chinese citizenry which is extraordinary. Their way of life is oneof the most formidable on the planet. The Chinese have survived, itseems, perpetually, and now they are so sure of themselves, theyfeel confident enough to display their manner of doing things for allof us, in all parts of the world. Cotton tee shirts are no longer goingto cost 1.00. The 2008 Olympics this year will be an economic andsocial watershed for this eastern Asia Goliath. It would be tragic forus to reject them and sad for them to spurn us. History has shownthat men and women are to be more remembered for their conflictsthan for their good will and community spirit. Who would know thisbetter than the Chinese? How long have they been on our planet?Why would they want to possess nuclear weapons? Or not?

ulling over this inspiring encounter for days after, I could nothelp thinking about the Chinese settlement that I have seenmaturate over the years in the city of Prato some five or six

kilometres from my home. I worked on a daily basis in Prato in theM3


4/10

mid-1980s, and I witnessed the arrival of the first Chineseaninfinitesimal social organization that would blossom and, in lessthan twenty years, subvert an 800-year-old textile industry, forhundreds of years ruled in feudalistic style, and plainly rescue Pratofrom its declining fortunes due in large part to its lack of

commercial know-how and a dwindling birth rate, one of the lowestin the world. Without the Chinese immigrants Prato would havesuccumbed to a financial disaster never known before in itscenturies-old history. The Chinese also permeated shoe and leathergoods industries not far from Prato and in other parts of Italy.Nonetheless, a price, which would make NeoTheoCons proud, hadto be paidboth by the Pratesi andthe Chinese.

For all the years that the Chinese have thrived in Prato, they have

done so as much as possible by themselves. They have had tocontend with an often brutal reception on the part of the Italiancommunity, and being victims frequently of racist confrontations,their self-imposed isolation is what would be expected. Sorry to say.Another obvious difficulty that complicates the state of affairs is thelanguage barrier. Italians do not speak Chinese; the Chinese do notspeak Italian. Chinese textile, shoe and leather goods employeescome largely from the Zhejiang Province not far from Shanghai, andthey speak a dialect not comprehended by many Chinese

themselves. They lived in squalor in China and few even ever wentto school. Without a doubt, the welcome I viewed and which wasafforded to these people from rural China was far from Christian.And as I write this article, there is a great ethnic wall whichseparates the Pratesi and Chinese and keeps them so at a distance,there is next to nil community spirit existent between the twoafterall these years.

The invasion of Chinese settlers has humiliated and instigated thePratesi to reflect upon the demographic disaster their country isexperiencing. Still, the Pratesi have done nothing to address thisstatistical tragedy and, rather, with their accumulated wealth, theyhave opted to live a nouveau riche lifestyle offering their children allthe electronic and fashion amenities available, but failing to tenderthem the values of study and labourqualities that form the basisof a prosperous and vibrant economic environment. There are noplans for Pratos future, and if there were, no one would beinterested in implementing them. And the Pratesi continue toblame the Chinese for changing a portion of their medieval city intoa Chinatown which the Pratesi, from time to time, pass through intheir BMWs and Mercedes-Benzs!

4


5/10

For their part, the Chinese have had to be clever and self-sacrificing. They are mind-boggling at being so. Obviously, not allChinese workers are living a lower-rung existence. Many of them,the people in charge, have also progressed to where they ownattractive apartments and expensive automobiles. But the

backbone of the Chinese success in Prato is the exploitation ofthose Chinese migrants who have left their homeland to come toItaly to earn more than the pittance they grossed in rural China.

This fact does not disturb neither the consciences of the people ofPrato nor those of the Chinese capitalists bent on grabbing stillanother chunk of the Tuscan textile, shoe and leather goodscommerce.

There are sweatshops dotted all over the outskirts of Prato, and

beyond, where poor Chinese people work slave hours. They liveand eat in the plants where they work, and on Sundays, their onlyfree day, they sit on their bunk beds playing cards, drinking beerand smoking cigarettes. Because many of them are illegal entrants,they will not risk visiting the centre of Prato. They are formidableworkers. Precise. Capable of working long hours. Quick learners.

They are doing the work that the children of the Pratesi did forcenturies, a drudgery that today these kidsif they existed even inany substantial numberno longer deem important to their

frivolous lifestyles. The textile baton in Prato is slowly being passedto the Chinese. Is the end of the race approaching?

Ninety percent of Italian businesses are family affairs. Whichmeans that a small enterprise is stacked with family members whowork out among themselves child care responsibilities, rushes tothe bank or post office, vacation days, visits to the doctor, and anyother necessity that is, from habit, accomplished during work hours.A company will be open about ten-twelve hours a day to fill in thegaps created by family tasks, and complaining family persons incommand return home stressed, depressed and pissed-off with theinefficiency of their ventures. When business is profitable, there aresighs of relief. When not, tranquillizer and antacid pills are reachedfor. These days, the pharmacies are swarming with nervousparvenus, their faces pale. Imagine your mother-in-law, brother,sister-in-law, grandchildren coming to visit you from school, yourwife, your cousinall dropping in to stopover with you while you areon the phone with a client in New York. A pause here, a breatherthere. You only wish they would all go away. But then, they wouldsay you are not simpaticoa sort of Kiss of Death! You reach foryour wallet to pay for a new sweater, a broken car window, a

5


6/10

parking fine, medicine for your mother, tickets to Sundays LaFiorentina football match against Juventus, your wifesmammogram, a video game for your favourite grandchildtheykeep darting at youeven in your sleep. With all this stress, you tryto trust that when the father of George Bush II, George Bush I, flew

in private jet from Milan to Lugano, Switzerland a few days after the9 September 2001 tragedy to patch up a bit the capitalistic system,he didnt get hold of your secret Swiss bank account number whichone day Italian internal revenue authorities (they are not simpatici)might bargain for to keep you out of jail and your weak-kneed Italyon its feet. With all your fifs (funny inside feelings) and acts ofsimpatia, you, Italian small businessman or woman,par excellence,are emotionalising yourself right out of business! You are in viadestinzione and so frail you are not even cognisant of the fact!

But Chinese businessmen and women in Prato, whose kids worktheir asses offandstudy, will remember small-time Italian factoryowners the most for their teaching skills. If you visit an Italian firmit is not that it is overcrowded with family every minute of the day.(Worse, it is the idea that your mother-in-law just might drop in thenext hour!) Clients, having first preference anyway, usually knowwhen to pass by: at lunchtime, after hours, never when school isout. Those damn little monsters! Interestingly enough, all visits by

clients and tertiary workers (once Italian but now Chinese) areaccepted at work tables in the factory and not in the administrativeoffices at the back of the factory or on the floor above it where asister (she handles the accounting) is also babysitting a three andfour-year-old who are screaming their lungs out. When the Chinesecame to Italy to work, they were given free lessons on how to makeelegant shoes, beautiful leather bags, exquisite jackets andwhatever watching employees go about their trades while theowner was busy on the phone or looking for a mop to give to hiswife so she could clean the bathroom floor. The Chinese studiedwell. They did not sit twiddling their thumbs in some waiting roomat the companys entrance. They memorized tools, learned byheart work techniques, put to memory production processesand,miraculously, in twenty years came to shine as workersexpertworkers. One day when I arrived at one manufacturers concern, hiswife was furious with the workmanship of a product of theirs whichhad been allotted, I thought, to Chinese artisans. I suggested thatshe should have patience with the Chinese because they werelearning. Time would be needed. This infuriated her the more:This work wasnt done by the Chinese! It was done by theItalians! She went on to explain to me that when a Chinese person

6


7/10

makes a mistake, he or she runs back to their workshop to adjustthe problem. An Italian would not even think of doing such a thing.If the order calls for 30 stitches, the Chinese will complymeticulously. The Italian will 28-29 it. She told me point blank:Here, we prefer to work with the Chinese!

But why? , naturally! Or at least, most importantly! Sure, theItalians get the well-done Chinese craftsmanship. However, theyobtain it at an outlay which is unbelievably subduedat least fornow! With these low to the ground fees, brand name companiesand cheats are lining up to do business with the Chinese. There arethree ways, that I know of, that these exquisitely-manufactured dirtcheap products are sold in the marketplace: the famous-namebrands sell a Chinese-made bag in their posh boutiques for $1,500;

an outlet sells the same bag for 300; and, a poor Senegalese manwill plod through sands along the beaches in Versilia selling thesame handbag for 50-100! And no one is the wiser!

Except the Chinese! (Professor Milton Friedmanand I know youare dead and burning in the Fiery Fires of an Eternal Hell for beingsuch an economic imbecile while you were on Earthwho is moreignorant than an Italian small businessperson? A Wall Street bankerin the shadows!) The most palpable conclusion that we may

deduce from this economic heartbreak is this: Why should theChinese (it is said there are about 15,000 in the Prato area, perhapsthe largest Chinese colony in Europe) remain in Italy and take allthis Italian crap any longer when they can bring all that they havelearnt back to China and craft their own articles? That would leavea large chunk of the Italian economy is disarray. Why should onebuy a GUCCI bag for $1,500 when a GUCCHANG bag, of the samequality, could cost $500? Elementary, my dear Watson,elementary!

But how have the Chinese not lucked out, you might ask? TheChinese have been put up against an incredibly stubborn resistanceto their presence in Prato and still more so in Rome. And, tocompensate, they have closed in upon themselves. They havebeen treated worse than the black men from Senegal. And, withtheir numbers, the Chinese have been forced to create a hugeemotional barricade to keep themselves away from the Italians.Many will argue that twenty years is a very short time for a peopleto incorporate themselves into an unfamiliar culture. This is true.But it is also accurate to say that twenty years was enough for theChinese to dominate that same society (Prato) and bring it to its

7


8/10

economic knees. There is no compassion coming from the Chinese.(There was never any empathy exuding from the Italians.) As aconsequence, the Chinese have lost out on a great opportunity tosort themselves out with, at least, the Italians. And I find this,personally, distressing and inopportune.

rofessor Milton Friedman, I wish to tell you now why you havebeen condemned to the Fiery Fires of an Eternal Hell. Yourstupidity on our Earth was such that there was not a

Chinamans chance for you to be admitted to Cloud Nine. You poorsoul! You were so lacking in intellectual acuity! When yourbrainstorm took off at the University of Chicago, you pursued a wayof influencing the whole world with your Kick Ass Economy andsorted out the most sordid collection of bagmen, Republicans,

dictators in Southamerica, murderers in Africa, and even socialistsin the ex-Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to bring to fruition yourheinous conniving. What a magnificent coming together ofpowerhouses and powerful ones. You mesmerized them with yourintelligence and wit, and you convinced all that being a hard-nosewas the only way to get underprivileged people off their butts andinto the honky-dory times of Kick Ass Economy. Dont give them afishing pole to catch fish with; make them make their own poles andwho cares what happens to them if they dont. Just as Ayn Rand

would recommend. And Alan Greenspan! And all the other Twenty-first Century Robber Barons in your entourage of nitwits. You andyour Chicago Boys pissed off hundreds of millions of peoplethroughout the world, and if you were alive today, you would not beable to visit any of the countries on this Earth where your daft KickAss Economy wrought havoc and ruined peoples lives withabandon. Even John Kenneth Galbraith was not as foolish as you!He quested after a softer touch. JKG (The responsibility of agovernment is to make sure that the underprivileged have enoughto eat and a job to perform so that they do not disturb the rich.Only a stupid conservative is really conservative; [my translationfrom the Italian]), unfortunately, was a sort of capo mafioso. Hewanted to take care of his turf in a generous manner, but he forgotthat half the world lives on two scanty dollars a day. JKG was bothnear-sighted and patrician. In a Southamerican dictatorship, hewould have been called benevolent! But unlike you, MF, JKG hadan uncanny insight into economics which, if you had listened tohim, might have enabled you to bargain for a place in a ForgivingPurgatory and not the Fiery Fires of an Eternal Hell where you are atthis moment burning in perpetuity! (Ha! Ha!! Ha!!!) JKG made theinteresting deduction that the success of Kick Ass Economy was its

P

8


9/10

failure. Let me explain. JKG, MF, believed that a successfulcapitalistic system needed a political arrangement ruled by a fewpeople, a hierarchy (I call it an olisocism) which would lead itspeople along with the hope that they would eventually come up tothe level of the more prominent and intelligent members of its

ruling class. Depending on the quality and preparation of thatupper crust, a nations achievements or its breakdowns would begraded. The Affluent Society, without a doubt, reflected theresponsibilities that the oligarchy retains towards its hoi polloi.

You, MF, thought otherwise. You did not want to hang aroundwaiting for the masses to get an MBA, so you took on an aggressiveappearance and put your Chicago Boys to work around the worldinculcating them with the values of the Kick Ass Economy which youthought, as any other messianic cult leader would, could tilt the

globe. Your farce went well for a long while until you met up withthe Chinese and the Russians. The Russians bit hook line and sinkerall the bull that that phoney Jeffrey Sachs dealt them, but they thenpulled up Kick Ass Economy stakes and went their merry way. TheChinese? No, they decided to go along with the doctrinaire Kick AssEconomy because they knew that they had the enormous chance,the people numbers, to kick Kick Ass Economy out of the capitalisticballpark for once and for all. MF, you goofball, you gave them theidea! If JKGs brain wave that the success of capitalism was its

failure could be totted up logically (Karl Marx: If you give themenough rope, they will hang themselves), then the only way ofpromulgating capitalisms vicious success (your notion), andsubsequently shove it down the throats of the Robber Barons andolisocists (really limp-wristed capitalists), was to embrace Kick AssEconomys best features. If you figure that 15,000 Chineseimmigrants sent to Prato, most of whom cannot even read and/orwrite, could destabilize an 800-year-old industry in twenty years,imagine what 1,000,000,000 Chinese Boys might do throughout theworld! (Western Europe is a demographers nightmare; and, the USCensus Bureau [2000] reports that the largest European ancestrieshave decreased in population, while African American, Hispanic, andAsian ancestries have increased. Clash of Civilizations? Withwhom? European Geriatrics Wards?) MF, who needs Weapons ofMass Destruction when we have Weapons ofMass Production! TheChinese agreed to play by your rules. Remember, MF, how theUnited States of America, The Grand Ship, broke through stormsand icy waters to open up the front for Canada, France, Germany,Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom all of whom basked in thewake that The Grand Ship spearheaded for them? The Grand Shipdid all the dirty work. Dirty? If you dont believe me, ask the

9


10/10

Africans, Asians, and Southamericans. Ask them what they think ofKick Ass Economy. Do you in all honesty accept as true the ideathat this Big 7 is loved and respected? And, so what if theChinese Boys take up on Kick Ass Economy? Who is going to pointthe finger at them? Mother Teresa? That half-wit Professor Peter

Navarro at the University of California? An old Chinese warrior oncesaid: Dont kill off your enemy with your own armsuse his.Once you, MF, were King of the Mountain. But no more. You simplyforgot one very important corollary which, as far as I know, had itsorigin on Madison Avenue: IT PAYS TO BE NICE! Milton, you werefar from being simpatico! And you are burning in the Fiery Fires ofan Eternal Hell for being so stupid! Do you think I will win the NobelPrize for Economics? You did!

ASJAnthony St. John Casella Postale 38 50041 Calenzano FI Italia 3356047381

5 January 2008

10

chinese tourists firenze florence italy

Documents