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What’s Happening in Italy Is Scary, and It’s Spreading

What a difference a few months can make.

Ahead of Italy’s election last fall, Giorgia Meloni was widely depicted as a menace. By this summer, everything — her youthful admiration for Benito Mussolini, her party’s links to neofascists, her often extreme rhetoric — had been forgiven. Praised for her practicality and support for Ukraine, Ms. Meloni has established herself as a reliable Western partner, central to Group of 7 meetings and NATO summits alike. A visit to Washington, which takes place on Thursday, seals her status as a valued member of the international community.

But the comforting tale of a populist firebrand turned pragmatist overlooks something important: what’s been happening in Italy. Ms. Meloni’s administration has spent its first months accusing minorities of undermining the triad of God, nation and family, with dire practical consequences for migrants, nongovernmental organizations and same-sex parents. Efforts to weaken anti-torture legislation, stack the public broadcaster with loyalists and rewrite Italy’s postwar constitution to increase executive power are similarly troubling. Ms. Meloni’s government isn’t just nativist but has a harsh authoritarian streak, too.

For Italy, this is bad enough. But much of its significance lies beyond its borders, showing how the far right can break down historic barriers with the center right. Allies of Ms. Meloni are already in power in Poland, also newly legitimized by their support for Ukraine. In Sweden, a center-right coalition relies on the nativist Sweden Democrats’ support to govern. In Finland, the anti-immigrant Finns Party went one better and joined the government. Though these parties, like many of their European counterparts, once rejected membership in NATO and the European Union, today they seek a place in the main Euro-Atlantic institutions, transforming them from within. In this project, Ms. Meloni is leading the way.

Since becoming prime minister, Ms. Meloni has certainly moderated her language. In official settings, she’s at pains to appear considered and cautious — an act aided by her preference for televised addresses rather than questioning by journalists. Yet she can also rely on colleagues in her Brothers of Italy party to be less restrained. Taking aim at one of the government’s main targets, L.G.B.T.Q. parents, party leaders have called surrogate parenting a “crime worse than pedophilia,” claiming that gay people are “passing off” foreign kids as their own. Ms. Meloni can appear aloof from such rhetoric, even suggesting unhappiness with its extremism. But her decisions in office reflect zealotry, not caution. The government extended a ban on surrogacy to criminalize adoptions in other countries and ordered municipalities to stop registering same-sex parents, leaving children in legal limbo.

[...]

Journalists, too, are under pressure. Sitting ministers have threatened — and in some cases pursued — a raft of libel suits against the Italian press in an apparent bid to intimidate critics. The public broadcaster RAI is also under threat, and not just because its mission for the next five years includes “promoting birthrates.” After its chief executive and leading presenters resigned, citing political pressure from the new government, it now resembles tele-Meloni, with rampant handpicking of personnel. The new director general, Giampaolo Rossi, is a pro-Meloni hard-liner who previously distinguished himself as an organizer of an annual Brothers of Italy festival. In the aftermath of his appointment, news outlets published scores of his anti-immigration social media posts and an interview with a neofascist journal in which he condemned the antifascist “caricature” hanging over public life

This is not his concern alone. Burying the antifascist legacy of the wartime Resistance matters deeply to the Brothers of Italy, a party rooted in its fascist forefathers’ great defeat in 1945. As prime minister, Ms. Meloni has referred to Italy’s postwar antifascist culture as a repressive ideology, responsible even for the murder of right-wing militants in the political violence of the 1970s. It’s not just history to be rewritten. The postwar Constitution, drawn up by the Resistance-era parties, is also ripe for revision: The Brothers of Italy aims to create a directly elected head of government and a strong executive freer of constraint. No matter its novelty, Ms. Meloni’s administration has every chance of imposing enduring changes in the political order.

[...]

Success is hardly inevitable. Ahead of last week’s election in Spain, Ms. Meloni addressed her nationalist ally Vox, declaring that the “patriots’ time has come”; in fact, its vote share fell and right-wing parties failed to secure a majority. Even so, Vox has become an enduring part of the electoral arena and a regular ally for conservatives. Despite their growing success, such forces have for years been painted as insurgent outsiders representing long-ignored voters. The more disturbing truth is that they are no longer parties of protest, but increasingly welcome in the mainstream. For proof, just look to Washington on Thursday.

152 comments

  • Thank you for your write up. It's becoming harder and harder to stay up to date on all the new wannabe fascists in Europe.

    I'll drop in with my thoughts on it in Germany. In Germany, the far right party is at 20% in recent opinion polls. Scary. But 60% of the potential right voters say they just vote them out of protest. It wouldn't be that hard for the other parties to turn that ship around, but I don't see anything happening. The big parties are following their utterly liberal ultra capitalist line, which of course makes people poorer, which generates a lot of displeasure in these uncertain times. People are looking for simple answers. And while "smash capitalism" would be the simple correct answer for 98% of people, sadly there is no party that propagates that. So "it's because of the immigrants, it's because of the dictators in the EU" from the right that gets fed to the people as a simple answer, and they get the vote.

    But IMO, this protest vote only goes to the right because of a lack of alternatives. The problem is our left party is too busy with wokeness topics (which are important, sure, but they still just don't resonate in most people) and in fighting among themselves. So nobody votes for them as a protest as they absolutely lack any substance right now. And our left still has a "Russia problem" as they mostly emerged from the letters of eastern Germany. This is course doesn't help. So people vote for the right.

    I still hope a new left party would emerge, but as long as there isn't, and as long as the big center-"left" party doesn't change course, I see the rights just getting stronger. Especially since the center rights adopt talking points from the far right, as they see it gets them votes.

    Another interesting (and scary) fact is, that the several right parties in Europe formerly were totally against Europe. They still are, just not openly anymore. Now they learned that in order to destroy the EU, it's easier to get voted into it, closing ranks with all the other nationalists, and starting to dismantle it from within.

    I'll just repeat what @superkret@lemmy.world said, build networks, maybe we gonna need them soon!

    • But 60% of the potential right voters say they just vote them out of protest.

      voting for nazis "out of protest" is just a thin veiled excuse for voting nazis

    • It wouldn’t be that hard for the other parties to turn that ship around, but I don’t see anything happening.

      Yes it would be, because what the Naziparty offers is simple solutions and scapegoats to complex problems. That is also why the conservative party CDU is happily joining in on it. Both parties represent neoliberal business practices, the AfD even more so, while blaming the fallout on minorities. The people that vote for them are brainwashed to think that anything not capitalist is pure evil. The AfD went on a "it feels like in east Germany" platform with great success in the eastern parts of Germany, despite most of their elites never actually having lived in East-Germany.

      In the same wake the Left party is not too busy with wokeness. They represent these topics while primarily representing economic alternatives to the right. But the Right wing media propaganda as well as the "anti communist" propaganda from our state media is focusing on the "woke issues" to undermine the economic platform of the left.

      Note that the issues aren't just in the political space. It is a concerted effort by capitalist elites to shift the responsibility and blame away from them and onto immigrants, LGBT people, people protesting for measures against climate change etc.

      It is the same as in Italy and the other countries. Fascist playbook 101 where the Naziparty is pretending to care about social issues, while assuring the economic elites, that they wont touch them and instead blame the worsening situation on scapegoats. The former conservatives are now turning proto-fascists happily radicalising among the Nazis to help them into power to secure the power of their members and benefactors.

      You can have the best policies and focus on these topics, but with a mediascape dominated by right wing propaganda and a false "red scare"-responsibility feeling in public broadcasting, where the left is still met with the same false stereotypes like in the 1970s there is only so much they can do.

    • I think a big issue is that very few people are interested in actively participating in politics/democracy. Membership in political parties is decreasing and it becomes more and more difficult to fill seats in local government. What we are left with are a set of politicians in it to line their pockets, or crazy zealots. If you want to change join the party that most closely aligns with your preferences, and make sure your friends do too.

    • This comment and the fact that it's also massively upvoted perfectly demonstrates the problem. Not an analysis of the problem or an solution, but THE problem: You are brain-washed by propaganda and living in some opposite-world were right is left and left is right.

      So let's start at the top:

      "But 60% of the potential right voters say they just vote them out of protest."

      Nope, that's bullshit. That's an excuse. And that quota will decrease with "voting fascist" becoming socially accepted behavior.

      (Also, just like the last time the fascists will not get more votes until they come to power. They will be elevated to power by other parties, the ones pretending to refuse any cooperation today. That's another 70-80% -those proclaiming to never form a government with the AfD- that is completely imaginary and just cheap talk. For some parties this might be actually true. For a lot of people it isn't. And the weakest link right now is the political failures for decades now leading the biggest/conservative party with his own brand of right-wing populism.)

      "It wouldn’t be that hard for the other parties to turn that ship around, but I don’t see anything happening."

      Because that's also bullshit. There is no simple real life solution to imaginary problems and invented scape goats. Only if you believe the AfD's propaganda already you believe in non-existing fantasy measures that the governing parties simply refuse to take.

      "The big parties are following their utterly liberal ultra capitalist line"

      And now you totally lost it. Yes, there is a party with an ultra capitalist line aiming for no social secuitry net, no taxes for the rich. It's called the AfD. It's in their program even, as they don't need to lie when most people are too lazy to actually start reading it over the propaganda fed to you in easier form.

      Not surprisingly, the people wanting this know. Or who do you think is financing the AfD? Billionaires, old remains of aristocracy, multi-billion "familiy business" pretending to be middle-class, rich land owners. Those are the AfD clients. You are just a tool.

      "The problem is our left party is too busy with wokeness topics"

      And the next right-wing narrative. "Woke" is a right-wing invention. There are also no "woke topics" heavily pushed by left parties. It's the right that is doing all the talking. They again invented some imaginary issue -in this case things like "gender inclusive language pushed by the left"- to fight against. The problem as usual: The issue doesn't exist. They fight against an imaginary forced use of certain language, while nobody is forcing anyone. They are also the only ones actually regulating how we are allowed to speak (AfD and CDU locally banned use of gender inclusive language in parliaments already).

      The Afd (and to a lower degree the conservatives) are the ones pushing the issue to have something to rally their voters against. Here's who is actually talking about Gender all day:

      "And our left still has a “Russia problem” [...] So people vote for the right."

      No, the Left is very fragmented and diverse, so they have probably still a few people individually more attached to Russia than the West. The actual Party with a "Russia problem" is the AfD again. They got partly financed by Russia, they parrot Kremlin taking points. But -as seen- you already live in a propaganda-induced alternative reality. So why should one more delusion matter, right?

      "I still hope a new left party would emerge"

      Let me guess? Some new left party, like that clown-show Wagenknecht is celebrating... parroting far-right talking points and Russian propaganda while pretending to be left? A.k.a. the living embodiment of the horseshoe or "far-right for pussies afraid to openly stand for their far-right bullshit"?

      Congratulations. You are spreading AfD bullshit while either pretending or being so confused by propaganda to actually believing to fight against the far-right.

      Sorry, to say that. But if you are an average example of the voters (and the fact that this piece of written diarrhea is heavily upvoted supports my fears here...) then we are truly and utterly lost and the fascists will win.

      • You sure write a lot for saying so little. I suggest to step out of your bubble for once and actually talk to people. Why do you think so many people upvoted? Because everybody is brainwashed except you? Oh lord.

        Also, I know who the AfD is, but thanks for the lecture. I know about their ties to Russia, their capitalist views, and that Weidl is married to a Sri Lankan woman and yet yells "Festung Europa" and hates on gays. But all these facts don't matter. People don't vote AfD for their program, they vote them for their talking points, and because of the political climate, that they party create themselves. The other parties need to adress the points that AfD uses and dismantle them. There are ways how you can critically discuss immigration, climate change politics, and economic imbalance without a right wing perpective. That's basically all I wanted to say. You misinterpreted way more in my answer then there actually was.

        That graph with the gender mentions actually is really nice. But still, this doesn't matter. What matters is what the public sees and hears about them. Sure, in part it's the (social)media that fires against the left for i.e. the gender discussion, but the bigger part is that the left is totally aimless, leaderless and profileless, lost on it's track.

        Sadly, the tone in your reply is really hateful and annoys me to hell, otherwise I would really like to dicuss with you.

        Also, just to have it said, I fucking hate Wagenknecht.

        Good riddance!

  • The left has its responsibility in this. People are struggling with the bills at the end of the month. The left speaks of minorities and has a similar neoliberal economic view. The politics on minorities are important and the left have to keep them in their program/agenda. Adopt a real left economic view.

    But, people don't care about you if you're talking about it in the news and debates. The left has to center their campaign around the daily struggles to speak to the people with the people language.

    The greens parties have a similar issue. People know them for ecology and ? People don't know the other parts of the program of the greens parties. They have to stop speaking about ecology and begin with the other topics so people knows how they can help them with the end of the month.

    These all need to connect with people again with the people language.

    • That's a typical fascist strategy, blaming other parties.

      • They do this shit in the UK, too - Conservatives have been in power for like 80% of the past 150 years, and the last time Labour were in power was nearly 20 years ago, and even then, they were run by neoliberals with no intentions to challenge the establishment even slightly, so nowhere near being actually left at all, yet somehow Labour and "the left" still get the blame for all of the wrongs in the country.

        The fact that Blair back then, and Starmer now are clearly puppets working for the same master as the conservatives (capitalism and the status quo), rather than being an actual opposition, or looking out for the best interests of the people even a little, escapes them, just like the fact that when a socialist did run for PM, and was wildly popular, the establishment's media went on an absolute rampage to discredit him and make him "unelectable" because he posed a real and actual threat to them.

        Anyone who looks at the state of politics (always, though it's especially obvious in recent years) and thinks genuine opposition could ever get in power, or that we could ever vote the existing power structure out, is being either wilfully ignorant, or has fallen for the propaganda hook line and sinker, and really shouldn't talk on the matter, because they're just making it worse by literally serving the interests of those they claim to oppose (by always shifting attention and blame somewhere else). (E: never mind the well established strategy of the right co-opting leftist ideas they never intend to follow, just to get the votes, while pointing to those who would actually follow those ideals and calling them "idealists" or just socialists as if those are negatives. and it works!)

        And all of this is by design of course, the illusion of choice, the bread and circuses, all designed to make us feel like we have a say, without ever actually giving us one.

      • I'm not blaming the parties, neither the ideas. I'm evaluating the strategies of the parties, two radical, different things. The strategies are bad and inaccurate.

        A party need to adapt the communication to the audience and the target groups. Some do it with populism, what isn't right. Populism is never the answer. The communication of the left need to level up so people and voter are convinced. If the parties don't have a majority, the parties didn't convince the voter. When I speak to random people, they clearly speak about two topics. The first is how to pay the bills and the second is politics are disconnected. At the end, they don't elect anyone. What should we on the left do?

        Sure, we need to do some marketing and communication. But, I don't think it's a good strategy. We need to speak to the people, listen to them to target their needs. The ideas and the programs are the same. What changes is the strategy. It's to weight the topics to match the needs of the population. After that, you can build others ideas on top of that. Saying “capitalism bad” and explaining it during an hour doesn't work. Listening to the people, acknowledging and validating the needs, giving a short explanation, then people begin to think capitalism is bad even if the issue is neoliberalism. You adapt it to the audience.

        Last week, during an anarchist meeting, we spoke about why capitalism is bad. Yesterday, at another meeting, we spoke about why we struggle with two words about capitalism. The audience was different, but the topic was the same. I sadly don't see a lot of that.

    • The centre-left parties in Italy have been pushing for a minimum wage law since the early spring, when the biggest party (PD) finished its congress and a new direction was elected. The right wing majority has now voted to delay any kind of discussion on the law proposal for two months, and the right wing minister for external affairs has gone on record saying things like "minimum wage is a Soviet measure" and "we need a rich wage, not minimum wage".

    • The greens parties have a similar issue. People know them for ecology and ? People don’t know the other parts of the program of the greens parties. They have to stop speaking about ecology and begin with the other topics

      And right here you are falling for propaganda without even realizing it. It's not the green parties failing to talk about other issues. It's other (usually right wing - as basically all greens are also socially left) parties drowning this out, because they know they can divide people by pushing their noses into the ecological problems (and the economic hardships naturally linked to trying to reverse centuries of exploitation).

      (Btw... Just like it's also never actually the left parties talking all day about "woke" topics. That's also the right-wing parties creating an imaginary discussion because it's divisive.)

    • I would differentiate a little more:

      At least in Germany, there are three "left" parties that are also reflected by European equivalents. The more traditional left, the social democrats and the green. The green are indeed what you are describing with neoliberals focused on disadvantaged minorities. For the social democrats, on the other hand, the problem is, that they still think of wealth as a question of salary, while it's more a question of if you get a salary or gain your income from capital. In their eyes, somebody with a master degree is a wealthy person, which might have been true in the 70s but it doesn't reflect the widening of the gap between high-paying jobs and wealth for people with large accumulations of capital. Nowadays, most of the economy's productivity goes into the pockets of those high-wealth individuals and families. For the more traditional left there is the problem that they also try too hard to go woke, instead of focusing on the needs of people and they miss a lot of potential by adressing the lower classes and frustrated. So, my suggestion to those 3 types were:

      • Social democrats, you have to refocus on the injustice between work and capital and recalibrate your definition of wealth
      • Lefts, you have to learn more about the economy, leave the wokeness topics to others and adress the lower classes in a more populistic way
      • Greens, you have to face the reality that a race where the fastest wins and takes all, will not become more just, by adjusting the start positions, especially when the real killings are made by big betters that don't even participate in the race

      At least part of the Lefts seem to reorganise as a central figure of the party is said to may start her own party that does exactly as what I and you propose for it. However, this was looming for a long time and I think she will chicken out.

      • Wagenknecht will not lead to a strong left in Germany. The people that voted left before voted left because Gysi and the reasonable opinions he portrayed. Wagenknecht is only a magnet for extremists, that would vote far right (AfD) if it wasn't for the blatant racism/antisemitism/etc.

        If anything the the leftist party will gain more mainstream approval, when Wagenknecht forks off her own party (except for east Germany).

    • I fully agree. 60% of AfD voters say they are voting out of protest. It's a time of massive voter transition, and the left is just busy with minority politics, instead of giving these protest voters a new home. It's fucking annoying.

      You can make politics for minorities once you are (strongly) in the Parliament, but you can't win an election based on these topics.

152 comments