As you are no doubt aware, Fratelli d’Italia, the far-right party headed by Georgia Meloni has won a plurality of the seats in Italy’s parliament and the “center-right” list it is part of is headed for government with Meloni as prime minister. Often I am forced to make arguments by analogy or morphology, demonstrating how political movements have features that I believe resemble fascism, but in the case of Meloni and Fratelli d’Italia the relationship to fascism is genetic—sometimes literally so: Mussolini’s descendants run for office on its ticket—this is party formed by neo-fascists and Meloni herself was a youth member of the
Sep 27, 2022·edited Sep 27, 2022Liked by John Ganz
The center left coalition seems to have done as well as in the previous election, with most of Meloni’s gains coming from other parties of the right (similar to what we saw in the French primaries). Color me skeptical that she is able to deliver, but if I’m wrong of course the consequences could be very consequential. As an aside, have you ever considered a get together or book group for NYC? Regards.
Well said! Many times since the emergence of Berlusconi in the late 90s-00s (I grew up in Italy in the 70s and 80s) I have heard friends make comments similar to your Tuscan acquaintance: the whole country grew more morally and intellectually corrupt, and worse in all the ways that you could predict it might if some invisible cultural guardrails were removed. Trump's influence has not been too dissimilar here. My own parents were congenital anti-fascists, the generation born during the 'Ventennio' that would not have accepted or tolerated, afterward, any complicity with the ideological heirs. To see the MSI logo flying on banners is more than just depressing. But in truth, Meloni -- or perhaps the version of her that got across the line -- is not the most racist (Salvini claims that honor), nor the most radically corrupt (Berlusconi is still there), nor apparently the most pro Putin (Berlusconi again) nor the most idiotically nihilist: the 'Movimento 5 Stelle', which is kind of Kyrsten Sinema's mass party if you can conceive of it, has Meloni beaten by a long mile.
What are your thoughts on recent gains by fascists in Sweden? It seems more actively hostile towards the left and more intentionally scorched-earth than the kind of apathy you describe here.
The center left coalition seems to have done as well as in the previous election, with most of Meloni’s gains coming from other parties of the right (similar to what we saw in the French primaries). Color me skeptical that she is able to deliver, but if I’m wrong of course the consequences could be very consequential. As an aside, have you ever considered a get together or book group for NYC? Regards.
Well said! Many times since the emergence of Berlusconi in the late 90s-00s (I grew up in Italy in the 70s and 80s) I have heard friends make comments similar to your Tuscan acquaintance: the whole country grew more morally and intellectually corrupt, and worse in all the ways that you could predict it might if some invisible cultural guardrails were removed. Trump's influence has not been too dissimilar here. My own parents were congenital anti-fascists, the generation born during the 'Ventennio' that would not have accepted or tolerated, afterward, any complicity with the ideological heirs. To see the MSI logo flying on banners is more than just depressing. But in truth, Meloni -- or perhaps the version of her that got across the line -- is not the most racist (Salvini claims that honor), nor the most radically corrupt (Berlusconi is still there), nor apparently the most pro Putin (Berlusconi again) nor the most idiotically nihilist: the 'Movimento 5 Stelle', which is kind of Kyrsten Sinema's mass party if you can conceive of it, has Meloni beaten by a long mile.
What are your thoughts on recent gains by fascists in Sweden? It seems more actively hostile towards the left and more intentionally scorched-earth than the kind of apathy you describe here.