Lessons of the Italian election
(based on the evident fact that Berlosconi will control the Senate and is still alive politically, which he clearly should not have been given everything that led up to this election)
1)Center-left and left parties will almost always underperform electorally when they run as defenders of an austerity program;
2)Center-left and left parties will almost always do badly when they take positions that allow right-wing demagogues to appear to be to their "left" on economic and social issues-as the center-left and left did through their defense of austerity, allowing Berlosconi to run as a pretend opponent of austerity;
3)Center-left and left parties will do badly when they focus on looking "safe" "respectable" and "responsible", instead of making themselves the voice of the justified rage of the workers and the poor(the choice that allowed the bizarre "protest party" of Beppe Grillo to win 25% of the popular vote even though that party has no clear program to deal with austerity;
4)Protest parties such as Beppe Grillo's "Five Star Alliance" have an obligation, when they make the kind of showing they made in this election, to go beyond mere shouts of anger to PRESENTING real alternatives to the status quo they are denouncing.
Because it's unlikely that anyone in Italian politics(or politics anywhere else in Europe, the UK or North America) is likely to learn any of the above lessons, things are likely to get far worse in most "democratic" countries before any improvement occurs...if any improvement ever does occur.
Add any lessons you've taken from the Italian election below. I'm sure we've all observed various things from this.
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