The Internazionale Festival this past weekend here in Italy was primarily a gathering of journalists and writers talking about Very Important Issues in front of people – and thus it is not surprising that the subject of Silvio Berlusconi surfaced on more than one occasion. Silvio Berlusconi is to Italy what Davíd Oddsson is to Iceland – hated by some, adored by some, but unquestionably one of the most bizarre and powerful figures in each society.
Today, my last day in Italy, an Italian high court is deliberating whether Berlusconi’s legal immunity should be lifted – immunity bound by legislation that he himself was instrumental in passing. I’m sure many of the people I met this weekend are anxiously waiting for that ruling.
The people I talked to had very strong views on Berlusconi, and it gave me the impression that the Italians are just as passionate about uprooting corruption in their society as most of us Icelanders are in ours. However it was not just the Berlusconi stance that gave me that impression – much more it was the reception given to Roberto Saviano when he came to do his talk.
It was quite an incredible thing to witness. Saviano wrote a book about one of Italy’s most powerful organized crime families – the Comorra – and ever since there has been a price on his head. He is Italy’s Salman Rushdie. He cannot go anywhere without an armed police escort.
His talk was in the beautiful Municipal Theatre here in Ferrara [think a smaller version of La Scala in Milan] and hours before, people started lining up outside. By the time the lecture was to start, the line stretched halfway around the block and it was mostly made up of young people who had literally camped out – who were sitting on the ground, waiting to be admitted to the talk. As I was a guest at the Internazionale Festival I was lucky enough to be admitted through a side door, and got in before they started letting the crowds in.
The talk was moderated by the editor-in-chief of Internazionale magazine – and there were two other guests as well – both experts on organized crime. Saviano came out last – and the crowd just went wild. I thought the applause would never stop. I got it then: the man is a national hero, for daring to speak the truth. See here.
But obviously it comes at a price for Saviano, who is only 30 years old. I’ve never been at a lecture before where there are four bodyguards standing on the sides of the stage, two on each side. And they were alert, too – the one directly in my line of vision talked into his walkie-talkie at regular intervals. And apparently photographers and reporters needed special permission to go to the front of the auditorium. And if you look at the programme, the event is listed at 4.30 pm on Sunday, but Saviano’s name is notably absent.
So again – all this gave me the impression that there is a large share of the population here that wants to fight corruption – which is why I was surprised to hear from someone I mentioned this to [an Italian] that this isn’t the case – that most people do not want to take a stand, for fear of bringing dishonour to their country.
In any case, it’s been fascinating to get even just a small glimpse into the political and social situation in Italy over the last few days – very early tomorrow morning I’m flying back home to my beloved Iceland, where today marks one year from the economic collapse, and where I’m told it’s snowing.
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You could see it!
http://forums.icelandweatherreport.com/viewtopic.php?p=968#p968
There’s no way “the most bizarre and powerful figures in each society” can be kept down. Gambling may be illegal in Iceland, but the odds must be shortening on Oddsson returning to government within a couple of years. The UN should classify Oddsson, Berlusconi and Blair as Politicians of Mass Destruction and dismantle them under international supervision as part of an international politician reduction treaty.
Alda, we saw you in the conference about Iceland, it was so interesting!
(…. then we also saw you biking in the town center the morning after). Congratulations for your blog, i will follow it.
Fabrizio
Saviano is the author of Gomorra, arguably the book that better than anything else describes what today mafia really is. It demystifies the common (and wrong) idea of mafia that people got form hollywood’s movies like Godfather and so and shows the true colors of a reality that’s much more deep and complex than most of the people dare to think. An absolute must read because it really gives an insight on how criminal organizations work today not only here in Italy but all around the world.
Minor remark: Saviano wrote a book called Gomorra, which is about the camorra. The camorra is one of the three main crime syndicates in Italy, originating from around Naples. The other two are the cosa nostra (Sicily) and the ‘ndrangheta (Calabria). Although family ties are really important in the Italian mafia, they are crime syndicates and not crime families.
If the fate of other men who exposed the mafia is anything to go by, Saviano took a big risk by turning up in person.
Fully agree.
The only problem – UN is the biggest forum of Politicians of mass Destruction by itself.
So we need something different to get reduction working
Glad you enjoyed yourself in Italy.:) We all know that Italy is a very corrupt place, but I would never have thought that Iceland was!
Who is Sigrun Davidsdottir? An interesting article by her.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/6270160/One-year-on-questions-about-Icelands-banking-collapse-still-remain.html
Thanks for the comments, everyone!
fabrizio – hi and thank you! I’m glad you found our talk interesting … and I love the bike culture in Ferrara!
Marc – “syndicates” is the word I was missing. Thanks!
Andrew – Sigrún Davíðsdóttir is RÚV’s (state broadcaster) correspondent in the UK – and she’s very good.
I wonder if we can organize a global revolt against these politicians and bankers who are stealing our wealth and causing harm to ordinary citizens around the world.
Interesting views.
there are more of us than “them”(politicians,bankers, mafia bosses, etc.) so why do we let them get away with so much?
Is it fear? If so, let’s put it(fear) on a diet and see what happens….
Eh, Alda, I came to this post by chance. Sadly, as a guy who came in Iceland from Italy, I must say that I agree with the Italian who told you that a lot of people in Italy are not interested at all in uprooting corruption. It would be long and very difficult to explain this to foreigners (especially because a lot of people see Italy as a fantastic place for their holidays or for retiring) but in Italy corruption is really at all levels of society, and it is forcing a lot of young – and not so young – people to flee the country. In schools and hospitals, in churches or at the police station, when working in a public office or when running your own shop, corruption is seen by many as the only acceptable and “smart” way of living in Italy. This way of thinking, unfortunately, is more and more common also among young generations. By living in Italy, you soon have to conform to this way of thinking, or clash with it. If you decide to clash with it, you are given very little possibilities of living a decent life, let alone follow your vocation(s).
Berlusconi is loved by the majority of Italians; a fast read through his biography on Wikipedia would be enough to make everybody understand that it would be difficult for a person like him to be the prime minister in any other democratic country in the world. But every nation has the government it deserves, and Berlusconi is just the top of the iceberg. Ignorance, racism, sexism, crime against the weak, a new form of fascism, and fear are destroying the country from the inside.
Saviano recently said that elections, in Italy, should be held under the supervision of ONU observers. I find it difficult not to agree with him. And I think that other countries, especially in EU, are seriously underestimating the signals and dangers coming from Italy. As it happened many times in the past.