Can We Save Venice Before It’s Too Late?

NY Times ^ | August 29, 2016 | Salvatore Settis

[C19fan]

A deadly plague haunts Venice, and it’s not the cholera to which Thomas Mann’s character Gustav von Aschenbach succumbed in the Nobel laureate’s 1912 novella “Death in Venice.” A rapacious tourist monoculture threatens Venice’s existence, decimating the historic city and turning the Queen of the Adriatic into a Disneyfied shopping mall.

Millions of tourists pour into Venice’s streets and canals each year, profoundly altering the population and the economy, as many native citizens are banished from the island city and those who remain have no choice but to serve in hotels, restaurants and shops selling glass souvenirs and carnival masks.

[C19fan]

If not for tourism there is no reason for Venice to exist. Its wealth was based on being the premier entrepot for goods from the Silk Road/Levant. Once that trade dried up as a result of the Portugese going around Africa, Venice basically froze in place. The place survived as a tourist attraction for Europe's elite until cheap travel and rising incomes opened it up to the masses. If no tourism there is no Venice.

[A message]

Well c19fan not like reality matters at the New York Times.

[MUDDOG]

Only thing wrong with Disneyland is the crowds.

[MeganC]

“If no tourism there is no Venice.”

Perhaps that’s the goal. I often hear of how the ‘delicate ecosystem of the Venice lagoon’ is at threat from human activity so perhaps fencing off Venice and letting it die is some angle the eco-nuts are playing.

[Steely Tom]

Can We Save Venice Before It’s Too Late?

Who's "we" ?

[BenLurkin]

Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.

[avenir]

I’ve never been there. Is it idyllic or dirty?

[Crucial]

I thought it was going to say Venice was sinking rapidly.

But who knew the natives are forced to work in souvenir shops. How truly Orwellian. /s

[Scythian_Reborn]

Who's "we" ?

Good point, lol, they asked for their problems

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We'll always have Las Vegas!

[Yo-Yo]

Thanks, Yogi.

[Steely Tom]

I can't believe the entire NYT article contains zero mentions of either "global warming" or "sea level rise."

The only "rise" they mention is the "rise in the number of visitors to the city.

This omission says a lot about those two favorite talking points of the anti-human Left.

[cdcdawg]

The NYT worried about the culture and population of Venice? That’s pretty rich. I thought open borders and multiculturalism were just grand.

[EQAndyBuzz]

“We’ll always have Las Vegas!”

Amen to that.

[WENDLE]

“we”??? I can’t care.

[cloudmountain]

Venice already has a ton of pilings to "help" the old palaces stay afloat.

Also the Italians, once the greatest bridge builders, CAN get engineers from every corner of the world to help solve that problem.

As for money, they can get the EEU to bankroll the deal.

[JimRed]

Why?

[blueunicorn6]

Here’s the story from The New York Times.....

“Damnit! Why are these riff raff here ruining my view?”

[blackdog]

Nobody ever wanted to visit Orlando, FL either. I mean why? It's a water logged swamp in the middle of a mosquito infested hell of vermin, insects, rodents, and reptiles.

Oh that's right..........An attraction. It's hard to come to terms with who your master is.

[MUDDOG]

I recently heard on the radio an original Mouseketeers say, one of the perks was to get to go on the rides in the morning before the park would open.