Milan’s New Fashion
It’s retro this year and very radical-chic in full-time corrupt business tycoon and part-time sexual deviant Silvio Berlusconi’s Italy. Italy is going ahead with legislation to allow a civilian paramilitary group to wear fascist-era uniforms featuring the imperial eagle and an armband with a pictures of the Sonnenrad, or black-rayed sun, an image found in a castle famously used by the Nazi SS. The new militia grouping will help beef up security and crack down on illegal immigration in Italian cities and towns.
Also last night, clad in their new fascist-brown motifed uniforms, the Italian soccer team beat a shorthanded U.S. squad 3-1. This is why, despite whatever some members of the DailyKos crowd say, it was a misnomer to label Dubya a “fascist.” When real fascism hits you, it hits you like a ton of bricks. Last time the far right had a resurgence in Italy in the 1960s and 70s, the left was a powerful force able to beat it back (at least in social and cultural spheres). That era did however feature a spate of terrorism (most blamed inexplicably on Antonio Negri) and an increase in racially motivated attacks, reason enough for any center-left social democrat to mourn the woes of today’s anti-fascist radical left.
On the other hand the cute flopping that the Italian soccer team is known the world over for and their constant whining to officials will probably give neo-fascism a terrible name.
It’s hard to be an Azzurri supporter when you know that somehow Berlusconi will probably benefit politically from whatever success they attain on the pitch. I still can’t help it though. Look at my last name.
When I was in Italy I actually had a few drinks with a group of football fans after a game. I had heard that the football scene in Italy was pretty hardcore hooligany and racist, but they were Livorno fans and I learned that Livorno fans were notorious for their left-wing symphathies. I spent half the night learning about how Lazio players and fans were basically all crypto-fascists. The contrast meant that despite the fact that both are far from premier Seria A teams matches between Lazio and Livorno were some of the most intense of the year.
Talk about an ugly fusion of politics and sports.
I’m a fan of the Yankees, a team that’s in a lot of ways symbolic of everything that I find repulsive about society, but I made my choice when I was around five years ago and I’m sticking to it.
What is it about the yankees that represents what you dislike in society?
Most people would probably say that they feel too corporate, but my point of revulsion is that the Yankees feel too heavy for me…
“Heavy” is a weird word to use here, but I mean I feel weighed down by their constant hearkening back to bygone teams, their old traditions, their strict dress codes, their overblown 7th inning presentation… the Red Sox are one of the more prestigious franchises in baseball and have a rich history, but I just don’t get this feeling with them. They also seem a hell of a lot less corporate and hyper-professional. (And they actually have a functioning farm system, what a revelation!)