Silvio Berlusconi: Down and Out

On the 27th of November 2013 at 17:43 Silvio Berlusconi was expelled from the Senate of the Italian Republic; he no longer represents anyone but himself. He cannot abuse his parliamentary seat anymore to avoid his legal troubles. He cannot run for office and may even be tried for his various crimes.

In a way, if you’ll forgive me a cliché, it’s the end of an era. Berlusconi has warped and corrupted Italian politics by neglecting the country to solve his personal issues. He has created a barbarous culture of illegality. The right has become a joke (divided between xenophobes and his spineless serfs). The left has either been entrenched in its own pseudo-intellectualism or too complacent to fight him properly. Furthermore, another party has risen as the direct expression of Berlusconi’s message of base populism, appeal to the masses and divinely inspired self-righteousness.

With his political demise, however, we can, perhaps, hope to move on. Maybe we’ll get a political party worthy of definition instead of the bands of conniving speculators that mostly sit in parliament. Maybe we can start discussing the economy, investment in education and research and the role of Europe without having to hold long discussions regarding Berlusconi’s trials. Maybe we can extirpate the mentality of illegality that he has protected and fostered. I, for one, am not going to hold my breath.

I’ve been awaiting this moment for many years, and I don’t mean my adult life. As a child I remember being lectured on how Berlusconi was a crook and a cheater. Luckily, at that time, his crimes ‘merely’ consisted of tax evasion, fraud, Mafia deals and conspiracy against the state, so I was spared from having to learn about prostitution rings. Despite this, Berlusconi has always been the central player of Italian politics as long as I’ve been able to rudimentarily understand it (if anyone can claim to). You might infer that the end of his reign should be a significant event.

Despite the momentousness of what has happened I cannot cheer. Berlusconi has made the country poorer, both in wealth and spirit. The effects of these twenty years will long outlast him. Apart from running the economy into the ground and making many useless or deleterious reforms, he has made my country the subject of jokes and ridicule. He has forced me, along with thousands of my compatriots, to leave Italy, in order to find proper studying opportunities (let alone work). He has prolonged the culture of chauvinism, homophobia and intolerance that other, better nations have already begun to cast off. Only Mussolini has done a worse job at running Italy and he had to ally with the Nazis to accomplish that.

This is not something that can be solved overnight. People vote for him in droves because he has an iron grip on the minds of many. He has inculcated a mentality of nepotism and corruption in Italy that has taken root to unprecedented levels. There have been corrupt people in Italy before (including corrupt people in charge) but none of them have been so successful at it. None have been so unrepentant, so blatant, in their disregard for the common good. There are millions who believe his falsehoods and it will take nothing short of an entire generational change to finally rid us of his shameful legacy.

If this comes across as bitter and hopeless it’s because I am, profoundly so. The mere fact that we have to celebrate when a senator is expelled from Parliament on fraud charges testifies to how anomalous the Italian situation has become. I will keep on following the political scene and voting. I will do all else that I can do from here. Perhaps I’ll return one day, better equipped to help than I am now. Italy will otherwise remain a disappointment for me, a country of great culture, of immense value and potential, a nation that could and should help Europe and the world. Alas, it is shackled by ineffective and corrupt leaders. When I see the latest news on the weather, wreaking havoc thanks to corrupt administrators, mothers forcing their underage daughters into prostitution or the widespread and barbarous exhibitions of racist mentality or a magnate that lies his way to freedom (and dupes millions while those who should fight him are too spineless, litigious or outright accomplices to do so). I am reminded of my favourite definition of Italy; a heaven inhabited by demons.