Italy does not suck at all at the startup game.
You English-only speaking people simply don't often hear about us because we speak Italian on Italian Startup Scene (http://www.facebook.com/groups/italianstartups/) so our plans to conquer the world with our startups remain hidden to you. ;)
Antonio, come to our (why not yours yet?) group and see what 3248 Italian startuppers are currently doing to improve the situation of Italy.
And after Berlusconi's exit from politics, Italy will be a better place for everyone.
I am allergic to generalizations, so I felt a bit sick when I read that "the real limit is the mentality that MOST young Italians have: risk aversion, fear of failure, sense of self-entitlement, fatalism, cynicism and envy". I'm not a hater here, I hate haters :P Just trying to show the other side of the coin. Moreover in the post you (implicitly) focus on tech/web startups. What about traditional startups in Italy? Btw thank you for your response.
Antonio, come to our (why not yours yet?) group and see what 3248 Italian startuppers are currently doing to improve the situation of Italy.
And after Berlusconi's exit from politics, Italy will be a better place for everyone.