- (may 2008)
The fascists to the rescue.
Right-wing parties have swept elections all over Western Europe, with the exception of Spain. Merkel won in Germany, Sarkozy in France, Berlusconi in Italy.
It is only in Italy though that the conservatives won because of a dramatic
increase of votes for the far right. The two members of Berlusconi's coalition
that greatly increased their votes are the xenophobic Lega Del Nord (that used
to advocate the expulsion of all immigrants and the independence of the northern
regions) and the former fascist party (that has changed name countless times
but is still led by the same people, pupils of Almirante who was a pupil of Mussolini).
Italians are not fascist at all. In fact, Italy has no imperial ambitions
at all. Italians are more likely to dissolve the Italian republic than of
invading another country. Italians justify their vote by saying that they are
fed up with corrupt and/or incompetent politicians. They have tried the
least corrupt but also least competent (the Left) and now, out of desperation,
they want to try again the more corrupt but also more competent Berlusconi
alliance, and the votes to the Lega and to the Fascists are votes to the
most competent and least corrupt of Berlusconi's allies.
In other words, the lesser evil.
What most Italians neglect is that Italian politicians have to rule over
the Italian people. This is not an easy task. Giovanni Giolitti famously commented
that governing the Italians is not impossible, it is just pointless. One wonders
if he was an optimist because governing the Italians may have become impossible
too. Italians don't seem to realize that their politicians have to deal with
one of the least cohesive and most "decadent" societies in the world. Regardless
of whether one approves of modern Italian customs, it is certainly a new kind
of society, that few politicians in the world would know how to deal with.
The president of the USA has to deal with a nation that is largely made of
married couples with two or three children. The leaders of China and India
have to deal with nations that are rapidly changing, but still have strong
moral values that have been tested over the centuries.
Italians have created a society that is rapidly becoming the leader in terms
of free sex and drugs. Italy, that lags behind in just about every economic,
industrial, scientific, educational statistics
(no Italian university makes the list of best universities in the world),
has staged impressive
"progress" in terms of teenage pregnancies, divorces, unmarried couples,
out-of-wedlock children, AIDS, drug consumption, drug addicts.
At the same time Italians read fewer books and newspapers than any other
major nation (they do have the largest-circulation sport newspaper in the
world though).
The decline in creativity and competitivity has been paralleled by a
boom in hedonistic customs that has no equal around the world.
Depending on your beliefs, Italians may live a great life or a terrible life,
but it is a fact that Italian politicians have to deal with a society that
is rapidly turning into a non-society (check out your dictionary's definition
of "society") that looks more like a non-stop orgy.
Italians who are not particularly attracted by the orgy are leaving the country
by the thousands. Many buy a house somewhere else (Croatia, Spain, even Morocco)
and retire. Others emigrate to the traditional destinations of Italian
emigrants (USA, Britain, Germany), except that these days Italians also boast
one of the worst educational systems in the world, which makes them less
likely to find a decent job abroad than immigrants from many developing
countries (count how many Italians can speak English, to start with the simple
one).
At the end of the day, foreigners who are shocked by the continuous re-elections
of a convicted crook like Berlusconi and by the increased support for fascists
and xenophobes completely miss the point. This is a nation that does not believe
in anything anymore. When you don't believe in anything, it is not clear what
your politicians should give you.
Governing such a nation may not be impossible yet, but it has become a lottery.
TM, ®, Copyright © 2007 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved.
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