Let me put it this way, if Muscat and his mega-projects were in Italy, they would tear him to shreds.

To understand Italy one has to understand the morphology, its population distribution and very evident diverse people.

Cinquestelle refuse the centralised model redistributing wealth which in an industrial context based on SME’s invariably leads to government usurping the role of planner and innovator.

A political class which deems itself too big to fail and pervasive in every aspect saw to the rise of a movement of the young, hungry and foolish.

Innovation related to tech as in its application had been M5S’s objective.

Employing technology to resolve and reduce the need for politics. Thus additive manufacturing takes on new connotations, taken up a notch it implies the democratisation of production, shifting the mechanics of capitalism and social tension.

Vaffa days was eight years ago, time flies.

I have always wondered what 5Stelle actually is – or is not, for that matter.

It seems that it’s original motto “Vaffa…” epitomises all it stands for – and little else, either.

Wonder of wonder, however, whenever any fancy or colourful ideas crop up in Italian politics they are wholeheartedly taken up by a sizeable cross-section of voters. I don’t know whether that is just for the adventure of it – or simply for lack of realism.

In the present instance, I would rule out any use of ”manghanelli’ or ‘olio di ricino’ as methods of forceful persuasion, of course. And that is what amazes me at the ease with which some of its ideas have been gulped down so easily as if they were nectar and the only solution for Italy’s multitude of problems.

These are the powers that drew up borders in South-western Asia to suit their interests (the Sykes-Picot Agreement). This agreement is the root of many of the problems in the Middle East.

Long live the Union. And may May fix a deal that will look like a duck but act like a chicken.

Happy times ahead, folks. Just make sure you take your daily dose of your freely dispensed medicinal news.

Cinquestelle is not communist, most accurate description would be internet libertarian.

People move ahead by cooperating with others, and so do countries. It’s an established fact (through anthropological research over decades) that people in the Mediterranean region don’t understand cooperation and will not cooperate even for economic gain. They prefer to go it alone and not share.

You see exactly the same kind of thinking in England: rule, or go it alone. No cooperation. Europe is what it is today – a fantastic place to be – because of cooperation between states in the European Union.

I grew up in a divided Europe – half of it behind the Iron Curtain, Spain under Franco’s fascist boot, and Greece under the Junta – and that’s probably why my thinking on the subject is more evolved than yours is, who are clearly lucky enough not to have shared that experience.