No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

Italy Faces the Same Threats to Democracy as the US

The Guardian provides an interesting view on the Berlusconi flap from this week. Berlusconi is the richest man in Italy and the owner of the TV media there. He also dominates corporate Italy. He used these advantages to be elected Prime Minister of Italy. Since the Presidency of the European Union rotates among the nations automatically, the turn of Italy came up.

Apparently Berlusconi has been accused of bribery, and that would have caused problems taking the EU Presidency, so he used his power to get a law passed giving him immunity from those charges while he is President of the EU. Keep in mind that Berlusconi himself is the wealthiest man in Italy, controls the TV in Italy, and controls the Italian government. This is all of the elements of power wielded by a single man.

The following is quoted from the Guardian article:

There are three senses in which democracy, as we have come to know it, is under pressure. First, traditional politics and its institutions are losing ground to the culture of a rampant, market-driven, consumer society. Second, the rise of an enormously powerful media has transformed the balance of power between the media and politics. And finally, the triumph of market values across society, the erosion of alternative logics and the weakening of the unions has bestowed on those with money - be they corporations, celebrities or the super-rich - a quite new influence over the political process. These trends can be seen throughout the west, Britain included, but they can be found in their most advanced and malignant form in Italy.

The Berlusconi regime represents a degenerate form of democracy: a halfway state between democracy and a new form of totalitarianism that we have not witnessed before. The latter cannot be described as fascism even though the two share certain characteristics, and even though the Berlusconi phenomenon can be understood only in the context of a country that was fascist and still bears in its polity and mindset some of the traits of that period. But just as fascism was a completely novel form of politics when it first appeared, so the Berlusconi phenomenon must also be seen as new and distinct.

Berlusconi is by far and away the most powerful media owner in Italy as well as the country's richest man. He has ruthlessly deployed his three TV channels and his newspapers as propaganda vehicles for his political objectives, and refused to divest himself of them in the face of a blatant conflict of interest. He has used his vast fortune to establish and fund his private political fiefdom, Forza Italia, whose culture and style reflects the values of the corporate, televisual and sporting worlds that Berlusconi inhabits and which have come increasingly to besiege the values of the more traditional political world

I have been questioning the lack of effort the media puts into providing true analysis, especially the TV. Then, as Bush has been demonstrating, money is much more important in our political process today than ideas or people, and the corporations here are buying our government for their own benefit. The recent decision by the FCC to allow much greater concentration in the media is a clear and present danger to our nation.

Then there is the arrogance of the Bush administration. They make their decisions in complete secrecy in a small inner circle of decision makers. They then tell the people and the Congress whatever they think will convince them to go along with what they have previously secretly decided. The difference between the US and Italy is that these sources of power simply haven't yet come together to be controlled by a single small clique - but the headlong rush to get there is obvious.

Among other things, Berlusconi shows the "advantages" of bringing business methods to the management of government. Politics in a democracy takes special training, while business tends generally to be based on a command authority that, in government, would be called a tyranny. Some people can make the switch. Some can't. It appears taht Berlusconi can't.
posted by Richard at 5:28 AM