- og det er så sannelig ikke bare i Italia. USA følger i samme leia, med
Bush IIs tvilsomme "valgseir" som det karakteristiske startskuddet og
med bemerkelsesverdig god timing hjulpet videre av begivenheter som
angivelig kun skal skyldes Bin Laden. Særlig Kina, Pakistan, Tyrkia,
Iran og en lang rekke andre er åpenlyse fascistoide samfunn av den
mindre raffinerte sorten. Russland m.fl. er på god vei og i hele den
vestlige verden befinner demokratiet seg i et rivende forfall som først
og fremst henger sammen med et sammenbrudd i samfunnsmoralen og kulturen
- et sammenbrudd som følger som en ren automatikk i den kapitalistiske
"utviklingen"s fotspor slik Marx påviste i mange av sine tidligste
analyser. Parneviksaken, ENRON, dopingskandalene, drittsekk-TV,
journalismen er altsammen sider av den samme grunnleggende tendensen som
henger sammen med det sammenbrudd i fundamentale menneskelige normer som
den galopperende økonomistiske rasjonaliseringen og "effektiviseringen"
av alt fremkaller. Survival of the fittest med alle midler -
sosialdarwinismen - er tidens løsen som skaper "tingenes skjulte
overtalelse" (Bourdieu, se under). En overtalelse til barbari og
fascisme.
Karsten Johansen
Fra Le Mode Diplomatiques engelske nettutgave
Old Italy, new facism
by IGNACIO RAMONET
Of all the forms of hidden persuasion,
the most implacable is that imposed
by the way things are
- Pierre Bourdieu
In Italy "the way things are" has persuaded a majority of voters,
successfully and inconspicuously, that the days of the traditional
political parties are gone. This has its roots in a simple fact: since
the 1980s the political system has degenerated at an alarming rate. Some
speak of gangrene and rot. The scale of and extent of corruption
astounds. The system of backhanders has cost the country more than 75bn
euros. The clandestine bankrolling of parties has created fabulously
rich politicians, particularly socialists and Christian democrats. The
independent editor, Indro Montanelli, points out that "anyone who had
eyes could see that the lifestyles of certain party officials bore no
relation to their declared incomes" (1).
Already in 1992 the mani pulite (clean hands) campaign and Judge Antonio
di Pietro were uncovering a huge network of corruption among businessmen
and politicians. The former prime minister and Socialist party leader,
Bettino Craxi, was accused of having amassed a fortune illegally and
resigned amid scenes of chaos, with a crowd abusing him, almost trying
to lynch him. Next came Giulio Andreotti, the leader of the Christian
Democrats, also a former prime minister. He was charged and publicly
vilified, accused of collusion with the mafia and complicity in murder.
The toppling of these two giants sent shockwaves through the political
system. In the space of a few months hundreds of deputies, senators and
ex-ministers were pursued by scandals, investigated by judges and
lampooned by the media. The cumulative effect of these accusations of
financial misconduct was that the political class was effectively
rejected by the public and discredited. As Eric Joszef describes it,
"There is such a vacuum and such a strong sense of panic that some
people fear a coup d'état" (2).
But instead of a coup, the population was collectively hypnotised by
television. Silvio Berlusconi, already allied to the post-fascists of
the National Alliance and the xenophobes of the Northern League, emerged
to win his first elections, becoming prime minister from May to December
1994. His first premiership came to an abrupt end, but that did not
discourage him. Although he too was accused of financial irregularities,
dubious dealings and graft, factors combined to enable his comeback in
May 2001.
What were these factors? First, his immense wealth. He is the 14th
richest man in the world, and the wealthiest in Italy (3) - a fortune
built from nothing, thanks to initial protection from his Socialist
friend, Bettino Craxi. Through a series of intrigues he achieved success
in property; then in supermarkets and distribution; then in insurance
and advertising; and finally in cinema and TV. Together with the
Bertelsmann group, Rupert Murdoch, Leo Kirsch and Jean-Marie Messier, he
has become one of Europe's media moguls.
Berlusconi, with the wealth and the power that his TV channels confer in
terms of symbolic violence (4), proves one of the truths of
globalisation: when you have economic and media power, you acquire
political power almost automatically (5). And triumphantly too, given
that his party, Forza Italia, won about 30% of the vote in the May 2001
elections, making it Italy's main political party.
As a populist and demagogue, Silvio Berlusconi does not let scruples
stand in his way. In choosing his political partners he had no
hesitation in doing deals with the ex-fascist Gianfranco Fini and the
racist Umberto Bossi. These three men are Europe's most grotesque and
nauseating triumvirate. Before the May elections The Economist,
commenting on the charges brought against Berlusconi, suggested that he
was not fit to govern Italy and was a danger to democracy and a threat
to the rule of law (6).
This gloomy prognostication has proved correct. After the pitiful
debacle of the traditional parties Italian society - once a byword for
sophistication - has watched supinely (only the film world has shown
real resistance) as the political system founders and becomes further
confused, outrageous, ridiculous and dangerous. With the air of a
fairground huckster, and thanks to his TV monopoly, Berlusconi is
setting up what Dario Fo describes as a "new fascism" (7). The question
is to what extent this worrying Italian model is likely to spread to the
rest of Europe.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------
(1) Quoted by Eric Joszef, Main basse sur l'Italie. La résistible
ascension de Silvio Berlusconi, Grasset, Paris 2001, p 37.
(2) Ibid, p 41.
(3) America's Forbes magazine estimates Berlusconi's fortune at 14.5bn
euros.
(4) "Symbolic violence is that form of violence which is exercised on a
social agent with his complicity." Pierre Bourdieu (with Loïc Wacquant),
in Réponses, Seuil, Paris, 1992.
(5) A proof also offered by Michael Bloomberg, the American millionaire
owner of the Bloomberg TV round-the-clock financial news channel, who
spent more than 77.5m euros on his electoral campaign to become mayor of
New York on 1 December 2001.
(6) The Economist, London, 28 April 2001.
(7) Dario Fo, "Le nouveau fascisme est arrive", Le Monde, 11 January
2002.
Translated by Ed Emery
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