Ideas - NO TAV and the NIMBY syndrome

In these very hours, in Italy it is taking place a harsh confrontation between protesters against a new fast train infrastructure and inhabitants of Val di Susa - a small valley in the Piedmont's alps in the north western part of italy.

For once, my stance is with the hated Northern League (for those who do not know is a right winged populist party who professes idiocies like separating italy in two north-south or moving ministries from rome to Milan, with a strong connection to the territory and a quite racist ideology). I consider them all a bunch of nasty dangerous fanatic idiots, but one of them said

"La Tav è un'opera assolutamente necessaria per il Piemonte e per l'intero sistema Paese. (Roberto Cota)

TAV (high speed train) is absolutely necessary for Piedmont and the entire country productive system.

Also, this project (high speed corridor Turin-Lyon) has been inserted by EU in their development plan for EU infrastructure and thus assigned hundreds of millions of euros to of EU funds to be realised. Money that would be retreated should the works do not start before the 30 of june of 2011.

That would have been another demonstration of our incapacity of governing and serious hit to our battered economy - it has been estimated it's something worth 2% of Piedmont GDP, that is a big contributor to the country's GDP. It will also create employment, and make transport of all italian goods and people to france way cheaper.

Therefore I want to say that any means - even the use of police force like it has happened (and let me stress the numbers: 25 policemen injured against 4 protesters, so who is using force on who????) used by the state to foster this crucial project are admissable.

I want also to say that it is ridiculous that a country of 60 million people, of which the vast majority would somehow benefit from the realization of such a big infrastructure project can be stuck by 300 protesters. This type of Not In My BackYard approach cannot be tolerated, if we want to live to gether as a state. The interest of the state, and of the EU community in this case should definitely overweight the interest of 4-5 villages and 300 people.

In the end these mountain people are probably the same who, when going to Milan or rome or somewhere else would definitely say "oh you see, here infrastructure is so poor...trains are slow..this is such a bad service"...but then, when we, for once, try to do a new, modern infrastructure, that touches their territory, they start crying and complaining.

And to prevent easy criticism...I would bbe the first to celebrate should they build a highway that connects Siena. The first to celebrate should they modernize our train station. The first to celebrate were they to open an airport or an energy plant 10 KM from my house.

Therefore...I really believe that this NIMBY syndrome is a bad bad habit of citizens of modern states...we are too fast too complain about sliggishness and then we raise barricades when they do something on our turf. BEING CITIZENS OF A STATE MEANS HAVING OBLIGATIONS ON TOP OF RIGHTS, SO SCREW THIS ATTITUDE.

Really looking forward for any comment on the topic - after all I am taking a radical right winged position for once, I might as well see what you think :)