Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aren't politicians with ties to the mafia quite common in Italy?
Aren't politicians with ties to the mafia quite common?
no they are not, unless by mafia you are generalizing the term "organized chrime"
Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
81–90 of 109 posts
Re: Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
You forgot buying judges and (financial) police officers
How can you ever trust judicial system when even the top people got their position from the rotten people... Why would any of them bite the hand that got them their position and possibly in future a higher position. Everyone is corrupted and rotten.
I think it's more subtle than that: there's an already highly inefficient system in place and then delaying or swaying procedures becomes easier and less traceable. This is where cronyism flourishes; but it's far from a hierarchical direct favour relationship and more akin to a network or web.
Re: Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
#83It's a terrible thing to say this of a man, or someone who has died, but thank God. I mean, it might well by the end he was been pretty aged in his mind and was being used or fooled or had lost the plot : his comments about Ukraine were staggering, appalling aberrations you never want to hear from someone with considerable public stature in any country.
It's a horrible thought, but one that I share. Italy is in a better place to have such a destructive and negative influence removed.
He revealed the flaw of the democratic process in that it relies on people who are inherently honest and not there merely to further their goals of power and influence.
A negative force with significant power and influence can effectively become untouchable by law, since they can corrupt the processes which are used to control such behaviour, and use their media influence to whitewash their image.
We saw time and time again a familiar pattern: Berlusconi convicted of a serious crime, only to be acquitted on appeal, then years-later further charges of witness tampering being brought raising questions of a corrupted appeals process.
Re: Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
#84Re: Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
#85Good riddance. Why do the worst of them always live the longest?
Re: Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
#86It's a terrible thing to say this of a man, or someone who has died, but thank God. I mean, it might well by the end he was been pretty aged in his mind and was being used or fooled or had lost the plot : his comments about Ukraine were staggering, appalling aberrations you never want to hear from someone with considerable public stature in any country.
It's a horrible thought, but one that I share. Italy is in a better place to have such a destructive and negative influence removed. He revealed the flaw of the democratic process in that it relies on people who are inherently honest and not there merely to further their goals of power and influence. A negative force with significant power and influence can effectively become untouchable by law, since they can corrup…
But this is not the democratic process!
"choosing" among candidates(as infrequently as every four years) that have already been prescreened by the elites is not democracy.
It's an absurd system, I reject it.
Re: Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
#87Re: Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
In history classes in the US, Mussolini is often cast as a minor sidekick of Hitler, but Hitler was following in Mussolini's footsteps but had much greater military capabilities. If history is an indicator then it is hard to exaggerate how bad a new populist strategy originating from Italy may end up being once it infects other nations.
I'm still surprised that the Comedian-bootstrapped Internet-driven populist party idea hasn't taken a foothold in other countries.
Jimmy Dore grinning
Re: Silvio Berlusconi, a Showman Who Upended Italian Politics and Culture Dies at 86
#89Trump before Trump - Silivio Berlusconi was maybe the first of the modern populists - a political outsider who used celebrity status and media influence to enter the halls of power, and then proceeded to denigrate the establishment at every opportunity. It's a serious matter that this type of personality finds political favour amongst the people, and that our current systems of governance allow for unserious characte…
In history classes in the US, Mussolini is often cast as a minor sidekick of Hitler, but Hitler was following in Mussolini's footsteps but had much greater military capabilities. If history is an indicator then it is hard to exaggerate how bad a new populist strategy originating from Italy may end up being once it infects other nations.
Well, the Italians invented Rome, after all.