A Quantum Diaries Survivor

As the italian electoral campaign reaches its zenith, tempers rise in electoral debates and speeches. Silvio Berlusconi, current italian premier and head of the center-right coalition, insulted yesterday voters who will not give him their support.

Berlusconi later lamented that he was misquoted, that he was joking, etcetera. But the video speaks differently: he was very serious, and the words that came out of his mouth were the following: 

"Ho troppa stima dell'intelligenza degli italiani per pensare che ci siano in giro così tanti coglioni che possano votare contro i propri interessi". 

Free translation: "I value too much the intelligence of italians to believe there are so many idiots around that may vote against their own interests".

The word used, "coglioni", is a rather offensive one - much stronger and insulting than "idiot".  "Coglione" is a slang word for "testicle", and a coglione is a person of scarce intelligence.

By saying that those who will cast their vote against their own interest are coglioni, Berlusconi was actually trying to express a very simple concept. He is, and has always been since his descent in the political arena, the image of the very concept of defending one's own interests in all possible ways.

By creating a new party, winning elections, and replacing command positions with his yes-men, he showed the world how far one can go to defend one's own interests. He saved his companies and his fortune from a difficult moment, secured free concession to his three national networks, and declared an institutional war to the judges that were investigating his alleged misdemeanors, frauds, and corruption. 

I must say I also think, like Berlusconi, that many italian voters are coglioni. But I do not assign them to a specific political party or to a specific action (like voting against their own interest). I think many italians are simply not willing to make an attempt at understanding, at thinking with their own mind, at educating themselves. They will vote without understanding what are the long term consequences of their cross on a symbol rather than another, or worse, they will abstain from voting.

But in Italy there are many people who understand - and I believe they are the majority - what a first class liar Berlusconi is. And a sizable fraction of people also understand that their own interest is not just a function of how much money they will have to pay in taxes next year. Taxes are a very civil way of redistributing wealth and providing services that we cannot do without. 

Despite the high skill with which Berlusconi conducted this electoral campaign, despite the huge moneys spent and the battage of his media, I think Berlusconi will lose. And I really hope he retires in one of his five villas in Sardinia.