Episode 112: Mysteries of the Italian Left

Previously in Europe

• Episode: Episode 112: Mysteries of the Italian Left
• Website: Previously in Europe
• Feed URL: http://simplecast.com/podcasts/2120/rss
• Duration: 00:50:45
• Published: 2019-01-07 00:41

Previously in Europe military micro influencers. This week we check in on Italy's government again but via a discussion of the Italian left in the form of the PD and their weird origins.

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And When did Panic! At the Disco become audibly indistinguishable from Maroon 5?!

Show Notes:

Nonsense Section

Join the Army or Police Fellow Kids

Yhe Berlin police have a Vlog to encourage female recruits, it's hip https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-police-youtube-blog-targets-young-female-recruits/a-46965619

The UK army is down with the kids https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jan/06/forget-these-modish-posters-army-recruitment-targets-the-vulnerable

Hungary Slave Law

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/thousands-rally-hungary-slave-law-pm-orban-190105172837081.html

Thousands of Hungarians have rallied in capital Budapest demanding the abolition of the so-called "slave-law" that allows employers to demand that staff work up to 400 hours of overtime a year and even delay payments for up to three years.

Hungary's government, controlled by the right-wing Fidesz party, claims the law is meant to ease a labour shortage in the country, where the official unemployment rate stands at 3.7 percent.

President Janos Ader signed the reform into law just before Christmas, despite more than 10 days of sometimes violent clashes between demonstrators and police in the capital and other cities.

The Italian """Left"""

Origin Story

The Italian Democratic Party (PD) comes from the Italian Communist Party (PCI) which split into several left parties in 1991 which then eventually merged with each other as well as some ChristDem parties and LibDem parties (dramatic music intensifies) who'd worked together in the Interim (Called the Olive Tree)

PCI Leader Palmiro Togliatti famously described his party’s combination of Bolshevik tradition and Italian patriotism as like the body of a giraffe: oddly shaped yet functional to a certain purpose.

Because of this left tradition Lega politicians, like Salvini can claim that the left have been in charge of Italy for 20 years when they aren't really left and have had to make many deals with the right throughout the years.

As an example Renzi come from the ChristDem tradition so realistically we should've seen this coming.

##The Modern PD is like one of those fucked up giraffes that's been extinct since the end of the ice age when the Soviet Union fell

They regular host gatherings that are named for a communist magazine founded by Gramsci (Festo De L'Unita)

At the events they host South American former Marxist guerillas and anti-Nazi punk bands, but at the same time also host talks from IMF budget regulators.

The Future of the PD

There's this lad right? Called Nicola Zingaretti who's claim to fame is being the only Mayor of Lazio who was reelected. He's being presented as a Corbynite figure. He's not, but he's the left-wing of the party which is upsetting.

• He's no policy or plan to steal votes from the M5S or Lega
• Considers working with the left-wing of M5S
• Talks about increasing online presence 🎉

Italy’s Government Wants To Change How Medicine Works

Giulia Grillo, the 5* health minister, decided initially that you didn't really need to prove your children had their vaccines to go to school and then changed her mind (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/04/politically-motivated-italys-m5s-sacks-peak-board-of-health-experts).

She's also fired most or all of the panel of health experts that are supposed to advise her on the science - https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/3k95bk/italy-anti-vaxx-grillo-higher-health-council

Walter Ricciardi, the president of the National Health Institute, has resigned over unscientific government positions (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/03/italian-health-chief-resigns-over-anti-scientific-policies)