314. Italy: Republic Day in Mourning
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| There are Parades and Parades... |
Republic Day in Italy is like July 4th in the U.S.A. but without
the fireworks.
Not only are there no fireworks but in tune with the tragedy of the earthquake disaster in Northern Italy,
the note is sobriety. So there will not
be the mounted horses, the cannon tanks, or the airplanes that leave a trail of
smoke of the Italian flag- red, white and green: and the numbers marching in
the parade will be halved.
Times are changing... from those of
the 2oth century military “splendour”, it seems. Yet images from Hitler’s military grandeur are still relived alongside those of Stalin’s, Khrushchev and Mao
Tse-tung.
But 20th Century parades were not only for the benefit of
strengthening national morale and pride but for the purpose of intimidating
other nations. Fortunately there is no
corresponding show of might and power that represents the Atomic bomb, those who have it just keep it
quiet under their bonnet.
I think nowadays, if we are going to have a parade to strengthen national
morale and unity, it would be best to think of other ways of manifesting
it. Our societies are, “hopefully” not
preparing for war, and congenial as such parades are, is it not really time to
replace them with something more appropriate to today’s mission of the military
which is basically in peace-keeping endeavours
throughout the world?
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| Another kind of Parade |
Parades, a gathering together of people to impress in themselves national
unity, a sense of belonging and a display of the best of national
characteristics, should not be made just through its military strength. I’m not sure what can replace such parades. Certainly China looked far more fabulous as a nation during the Olympic
parades than the military ones. But would
armies of the best cooks, the best hairdressers, plumbers, teachers, miners, train drivers, nuns,
nurses, priests, judges, fashion models and the best of firms... all dutifully clad in their appropriate gowns or
overalls not make-up a splendid scene? You
could bring along the animals too: dogs, cats, canaries and wouldn’t India do
wonderfully well with their elephants, monkeys and camels?
I think it’s worth
thinking about, after all, the invention of the Carnival wasn’t in the least a bad idea, was it?
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