Invia i Pagliacci! Ci Devono Essere Pagliacci! [extended play]
By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
[Patient readers, I had an early morning Internet meltdown, followed by an RL meltdown, and so was not able to complete this lengthy piece in time (and in fact, because both Interent and phone were down — infrastructure devolution — wasn’t able to communicate with Yves. Apologies! Since there are comments on the “single,” I won’t take it down. This, however, is the LP! –lambert]
Even though, as the headline shows, I have little Italian, and less Italian politics, I’m so chuffed that Beppe Grillo did well in yesterday’s Italian elections — even though he was neither a wizened, permanently tanned, and shamelessly unrehabilitated whoremonger nor a Goldman Sachs alumnus (sorry for the redundancy) — that I thought I’d do a wrap-up before conventional wisdom completely congeals. Alert readers will, of course, correct and amplify this post in comments!
First, I’ll briefly summarize the state of play following the election. Then, I’ll look at The Five Star Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle, M5S), the organization that Beppe Grillo heads: the semiotics of the M5S logo, and M5S organization and tactics, and where M5S fits on the political spectrum. I’ll conclude by pointing to a meme to watch, used to describe the Italian political system (and oddly, or not, not “ours”). In Appendices, I’ll give a brief timeline of Mr. Market’s reactions to the election, some funny quotes from Grillo, and a note on comedians.
1. State of play in italian election
Italy’s parliamentary elections were marked by a sharp fall in turnout (possibly due to bad weather), inaccurate polling before the race (possibly due to youthful cell use), and inaccurate exit polling. In policy terms, Italian voters rejected austerity:
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