Fall of the Great One
One by one, Silvio Berlusconi has lived through all those seven lives any street cat in Rome is granted by the laws of urban legend. Until eventually, shortly before his 77th birthday he was convicted by the final court on charges of financial fraud. Which is a miracle in itself, provided that he has been under scrutiny by the judicial system more than once ever since the 90s, and every time he somehow managed to writhe his way out of trouble. But now the prosecution figured it was time to lead the trial to its very end. The supreme court of Italy sentenced Berlusconi to 4 years in jail and stripped him of his right to occupy positions of state authority for 5 years.
And many are of course hasting to declare the end of Berlusconi as a politician, if not as a businessman. Ten years ago, or why not three years ago the news would've caused a tsunami of jubilant exclamations across Europe. But today it's mostly taken with a huge amount of indifference, particularly outside Italy. Europe seems to be utterly fed up with Berlusconi, and he has stopped playing a significant role now, at least from a first sight. It's evident that he has passed the zenith of his political career a long time ago, and though his party has brought its heroic dedication to keeping his career alive to comic extremes, the times of Berlusconi the big political factor are all but gone.
The Italian government where Berlusconi is of course still a participant, should take that fact into consideration: after all, there's an official court decision against him, prohibiting him from occupying state positions. Although the Italian law (adopted not so long ago) doesn't actually allow imprisoning citizens who've passed the 70 year mark for "minor" crimes, the whole thing does provide Berlusconi the opportunity to step down from the political scene with something like dignity. If he has preserved at least some traces of decency, perhaps this is his last chance to not go down in history as a complete and utter asshole.
Moreover, the Italians are feeling the consequences of his worst legacy on their backs day in and day out: they're victims of a ruined economy, and captives inside the crumbling building that is the Italian political system. The nine years of Berlusconi rule were only seemingly years of prosperity. In fact, at the end of his reign the social and legal environment and the economy of the country had started looking like one of Cavalera's TV studios: nice-looking settings, but nothing of essence on the inside.
Sure, Berlusconi was the master of ruling with fanfare and pomposity. He had a real talent for reigning over this farcical republic of his, and creating the impression that everything was shiny and cool. No surprise that many are saying he had created a republic of his own, which he had populated with his cronies who were operating by rules crafted by him and designed to serve him and his private interests, camouflaging them as if they were state interests. He replaced the mainstream parties: first he promoted his personal gang Forza Italia, then he pushed forward the People of Freedom. But the people still remained un-free. In their scramble for money, power and territory, the old oligarchic and mafia circles were strictly abiding by the rules of the system created by their godfather Berlusconi, and good business they did - his authoritarian organization was designed solely for personal enrichment, and ultimately, accumulating even more power.
For the record, one of the most typical characteristics of a fascist system is the merging of government power with corporate interest. The conclusions I'm leaving to the readers.
It's just incredible how Berlusconi was able to merge his media empire with state power, and turning the media into his most reliable weapon throughout all his career. As if that was something completely natural in a presumably democratic society. It's incredible how he was always able to put his business interests above the public interests, how he was forging laws and changing the rules, just to cover his own traces about all the blatant violations of law he was constantly committing with impunity.
For nearly 20 years Berlusconi was a dominant figure in Italian, and subsequently, European politics. But now, after the verdict, Italy will have to find a way to send him away and down into oblivion, never to see his smug mug popping up on the political scene ever again.
Ps. And now there's been a push for his pardon. Wonders never cease, do they?
And many are of course hasting to declare the end of Berlusconi as a politician, if not as a businessman. Ten years ago, or why not three years ago the news would've caused a tsunami of jubilant exclamations across Europe. But today it's mostly taken with a huge amount of indifference, particularly outside Italy. Europe seems to be utterly fed up with Berlusconi, and he has stopped playing a significant role now, at least from a first sight. It's evident that he has passed the zenith of his political career a long time ago, and though his party has brought its heroic dedication to keeping his career alive to comic extremes, the times of Berlusconi the big political factor are all but gone.
The Italian government where Berlusconi is of course still a participant, should take that fact into consideration: after all, there's an official court decision against him, prohibiting him from occupying state positions. Although the Italian law (adopted not so long ago) doesn't actually allow imprisoning citizens who've passed the 70 year mark for "minor" crimes, the whole thing does provide Berlusconi the opportunity to step down from the political scene with something like dignity. If he has preserved at least some traces of decency, perhaps this is his last chance to not go down in history as a complete and utter asshole.
Moreover, the Italians are feeling the consequences of his worst legacy on their backs day in and day out: they're victims of a ruined economy, and captives inside the crumbling building that is the Italian political system. The nine years of Berlusconi rule were only seemingly years of prosperity. In fact, at the end of his reign the social and legal environment and the economy of the country had started looking like one of Cavalera's TV studios: nice-looking settings, but nothing of essence on the inside.
Sure, Berlusconi was the master of ruling with fanfare and pomposity. He had a real talent for reigning over this farcical republic of his, and creating the impression that everything was shiny and cool. No surprise that many are saying he had created a republic of his own, which he had populated with his cronies who were operating by rules crafted by him and designed to serve him and his private interests, camouflaging them as if they were state interests. He replaced the mainstream parties: first he promoted his personal gang Forza Italia, then he pushed forward the People of Freedom. But the people still remained un-free. In their scramble for money, power and territory, the old oligarchic and mafia circles were strictly abiding by the rules of the system created by their godfather Berlusconi, and good business they did - his authoritarian organization was designed solely for personal enrichment, and ultimately, accumulating even more power.
For the record, one of the most typical characteristics of a fascist system is the merging of government power with corporate interest. The conclusions I'm leaving to the readers.
It's just incredible how Berlusconi was able to merge his media empire with state power, and turning the media into his most reliable weapon throughout all his career. As if that was something completely natural in a presumably democratic society. It's incredible how he was always able to put his business interests above the public interests, how he was forging laws and changing the rules, just to cover his own traces about all the blatant violations of law he was constantly committing with impunity.
For nearly 20 years Berlusconi was a dominant figure in Italian, and subsequently, European politics. But now, after the verdict, Italy will have to find a way to send him away and down into oblivion, never to see his smug mug popping up on the political scene ever again.
Ps. And now there's been a push for his pardon. Wonders never cease, do they?