Milan Expo demonstrations

A friend of mine in Milan said there were riot police outside La Scala when she left after attending the opera, but she didn't give me any further details. I will post later if/when I get more details.

Protesters don't take issue against anything in particular. They are just young idiots who have been spoiled by their Italian parents and who try to defeat their boredom by destroying everything for no logical reason. It's just their way to pass time and find a reason for their miserable existence. One only has to listen to this idiot trying to justify his actions. In spite of being a 21 year old University student he can't even utter a coherent sentence.
http://www.ilgiornale.it/video/cronache/giusto-spaccare-tutto-1123044.html

The same type of morons were evident in Seattle during May Day demonstrations there, which resulted in injuries to several police officers.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/02/us/seattle-police-injured/

There were some demonstrations in Vancouver and Montreal, but these were largely peaceful with a few minor exceptions.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1975635/3-arrested-in-vancouver-may-day-protests/

I'm glad you guys are getting this off your chests. I'm just wondering how much the hubbub is affecting one's ability to navigate the city safely, not to demonize the protesters.

Roberto, why do you assume all protesters are Italians? It looks like several of the nasty ones are come from all over Europe and are doing an international protesting tour. For example, police wanted to deport several French anarchists but they could not as the French consulate did not cooperate.

We were in Milan and near the demonstrations. We did not have any problems getting around as we just avoided the specific areas targeted. Evident by the flags and our police presence. Left NY in time to catch this event. Most of the locals are not excited about the Expo, similar to the World Cup in Brazil.

Do you feel the Expo has a major effect on crowds at all? Does the city seem different (if you've been there before)?
I was unhappy to see the Duomo plaza all scaffolded up for an Andrea Boccelli concert in one photo. (Yuck!)

asps2 yes you are right. Many come from all over the EU. But I've seen a lot of footage of these demonstrations and many were speaking Italian and writing graffiti in Italian like "Brucia Milano, Brucia!" (Burn Milan, burn). So many were Italian from all over Italy. I bet few were Milanese.
The conclusion doesn't change. These are 'professional protesters', who, in the name of anti-capitalism, anti-globalization, or anarchy try to give meaning to their miserable insignificant lives by engaging in incivil disobedience and hooliganism. Most of them are not working class people, but rather radical anarchists enrolled at universities all over Europe and supported by their not so "proletarian" daddies, exactly like the idiot featured in the interview linked above, who turned out to be a non working student fully financially supported by his parents. I think Europeans also needs parents like that mother in Baltimore who slapped her son during the demonstrations there.

I couldn't agree more Roberto.

Roberto,

I also most definitely agree with your comments! It was encouraging to see that mother in Baltimore giving her son a few good cuffs up side the head and getting him out of the demonstration. He had apparently been throwing bricks at police, and in later interviews was quite repentant, and agreed that he shouldn't have been out there with a mask over his face taking part in the violence.

For those that missed that story.....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b15occVMawc

Unfortunately, history seems lost on those who would engage in violent, destructive protests and demonstrations. But let's not throw out the baby with the bath water, since protest, in its best form of non-violence, is part of what moves the world along. There's always bad apples, and with the current incarnation of well organized, social-media connected trouble makers it becomes harder to remember that at the core of their actions there is often at least a seed of what they perceive as injustice, whether or not they come from well to do families, and as young naive people they are not so good at expressing it productively. I do not say this to excuse any of their actions, but merely to say, what is that seed?

Tomorrow is May 4, the 45th anniversary of the killing of four University of Ohio students at Kent, Ohio. It begs for us to try to understand-what's bothering young people of today, be they violent or non-violent?

Please don't hijack the thread to discuss your views of the youth of today or protesters in general. I happen to disagree with all of you, but if I respond to any of you, I'll likely be accused by the RickSteves censors of engaging in opinion-based political arguments, and I'm sure they'll use their typical scorched earth approach.