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How to live in Italy and not to stumble upon Berlusconi?
What follows has no precise author (some attribute it to Stephano Benni) and has been circulating through the Internet with minimal variations. Now I translate it from a Spanish-language version found at Rebelión.
Hello. My name is A., I live at Milano 2, a building made by the Prime Minister.
I work at Milan, at a company whose main stockholder is the Prime Minister.
My car, that I use to go to work, is insured at a company also owned by the Prime Minister.
In the evening, I leave my workplace and go shopping to a supermarket of the Prime Minister, where I buy products manufactured in companies of the Prime Minister.
At night, I almost always watch the TV channels of the Prime Minister, where films (often produced by the Prime Minister) are interrupted with advertisements made by the publicity agency of the Prime Minister.
Then, I get bored and go to navigate a while through the Internet, using the server of the Prime Minister.
Particularly I watch the football results because I am a follower of the team of the Prime Minister.
Once a week or so I go to a cinema that belongs to a chain of the Prime Minister, where I watch a movie produced by the Prime Minister as well as the initial commercials made by the agency of the Prime Minister.
On Sundays I stay at home reading a book that is printed by a company of the Prime Minister.
Naturally, like in all democratic countries, also in Italy it is the Prime Minister who makes the laws, then sanctioned by a Parliament whose majority is in the hands of the Prime Minister.
Who, obviously, governs in MY best interest.
Update (Feb 11): another article now at Rebelión, reviews how Berlusconi rose to power with the full support of the Mafia and the old-school Christian-Democracy, itself closely knit to the Mafia since the time of the US occupation at the end of WWII. Matter that has been confirmed by several repented witnesses.
5 comments:
In the UK there was - and still is - a law to prevent anyone owning a newspaper and a television station. But Murdoch was so powerful that he was allowed to do just that, the explaination was that the law didn't apply to satilite TV. Truth is the incoming party worry they can not get elected unless they allow him to continue break the spirit - and arguably letter - of the law.
Once some owns a certain amount of the media he gets too big for governments to control and they have to make deals with him for his support.
Someone said that all mainstream journalists who don't work for Murdoch know that one day they might be looking for a job in one of his businesses; they're carefull about writing anything critical of him.
That's why Berlusconi survives scandals that would bring down anyone else.
I agree with everything; that Berlusconi guy is pathetic. Now, I wish the lefties would one day have the cojones to denounce 'lefty' regimes. It seems to me those on the right are now more critical of their own (like vis-a-vis Russia)
Well, Kepler, I'm critical of Russia, which IMO is a Fascist regime of the Berlusconi type, same with former Milosevic regime in Serbia (another Berlusconi copycat).
I just happen to live in NATOland. We voted against it but... this is a democracy, so they got us in against the will of the people, like in all democracies...
Berlusconi has "invented" a new extremely dangerous form of techno-bananism and tolerating him is like living with a deadly cancer. The trend he designed, based on the strict control of the media (in the name of freedom of speech), has in the last decades splashed the rest of Europe: first, Milosevic, then Putin, then Aznar...
And it's not getting any better. Luckily I'm 41 and I have absolutely nothing to lose. But I pity those who have hopes.
You are 41? You are kidding me? I have never met somebody so old.
Just kidding. You have in front of you some 4 decades on average.
I don't know, I don't watch much Spanish TV because it sucks, but sometimes I read El País and although you find it horrible, I see there criticisms left and right. When I watch news I tend to watch German ZDF. They have an interesting system where all parties play a role in setting up the controlling organism for state TV and radio.
You often see journalists interviewing without any mercy all politicians.
I do not understand your problem with the Basque-related news. It seems as if even chavistas have more opportunity to express their mind in Spain than your group. Why? Is it because possible associations with a terrorist organization as ETA?
Because let me tell you: as long as a group of people support an organization that is killing people in Spain, they won't be getting any sympathy from most people.
But this is OT, I know. I think we can agree that Berlusconi sucks
and the Italian media as well.
Yes, you are totally off-topic. If you want to comment on Basque issues there are a lot of articles in Leherensuge to do it, thanks. :(
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