La Dolce Vita

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2006/07/07/ftdolce07.xml

All right, I am convinced. I want to be Italian. Whether true or not, the lifestyle depicted in this article reveals the worst of American and apparently British life. We over-eat, eating lousy food, alone in front of the television or computer screen. We over-work, looking at sleep with suspicion. We are like children trying to stay up later and later thinking we may miss something important. We sit more than we move probably because we are so tired. We live in isolation, sharing a house but rarely a home. I’m ready to pack my bags.

Americans are obsessive with "the pursuit of happiness." Most Americans, however, haven't spent much time concerned with the meaning of happiness. That doesn't mean that Italians have. Instead, they have received a tradition and a culture which just may be more conducive to life in community. Indeed, there are Italians which long to be American or British. They see American life as better than "la vita italiana." The grass is always greener.

Nonetheless, facing the faults of the American life, we can choose something better. I think the Church should speak to these issues. Perhaps, we can offer an alternative to the fast-paced, lonely, excessive American life. We can be something truly counter-cultural.

Do they need missionaries in Italy?