Regimes always end eventually, too.
The real downside to that Ghandi quote is that you can also say the same for every good-intentioned, beneficent and otherwise beloved leader. That they also suffer the same fate.
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colourful personal life.
I can only assume it’s one of those colour combinations that leave most people with nausea and an headache.
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Rome survived for nearly 450 years after Caligula, and 300 years after Commodus. No one thought about reforming the Roman Republic even after them, they just found a supposedly better Emperor. Once you have a dictatorship then it may as well be there to stay.
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Yeah, but there’s plenty of time to fit in folks like yertle, murdoch, maybe a koch, then here’s some real long shots like gates, mush, theil and ellison which are nice to think about, but definitely, kissinger needs to get up close and personal with thanatos.
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In this specific case there are two causes. One is that the guy was sitting on was of cash, so was easy to make sucessful campaigns, and also owning newspapers and TV stations helped. Helped also that newspapers that were against him got caught sometimes to write blatant lies on other news.
The other thing id the archetipe of the businessman from Milan. The owner and CEO of Esselunga Supermarket chain Bernardo Caprotti, worked until a year or so before diying, because he become ill. Ther company survived. On the other hand Carlo Vichi Founder and CEO of MIVAR remained stubbornly at the head of the company until the bankrupcy, bankrupcy caused mainly because he stubbornly refused a joint venture with Samsung, that was at the time making IC and CRT for him, to start building LCD TVs. So Samsung decided simply to enter directly in the Italian market.
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Fixed.
this
Well-spotted.
One set of case studies is “the problem dies when the oppressor dies” and another is when “the oppressor dies but the problem is perpetuated by __________” (the remaining members of the dynasty; the military/dictatorship; the dominant oligarchical or kleptocratic power structure; the corporation–and in the States, corporations are granted rights officially as “people” yet un-jail-able [physically] and never subject to physical death).
Caligula and Commodus didn’t have nuclear codes, bio-weapons (ish), and other weapons for killing masses people at our modern scale. They did have the Roman army (the Legion, the Praetorian Guard, et al.) which certainly and uh prodigiously… murdered at scale… in antiquity.
Caveat emptor.
Soldiers want pay.
I was tracking that issue as well during the most recent debt crises here.
Berlusconi’s gift to 
was abundant continued leveraging of scandal to cover his crimes. Proof positive (in case any more was needed) that diversion works; it helps enormously if you either are a media tycoon ala Rupert Murdoch or have abettors in media as does; and that most people who have foregone critical thinking skills become hopelessly addicted to spectacle.
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I copypaste here below an open letter from the dean of the “University for Foreigners” UNISTRA in Siena (apologies for the Google translation, a bit short on time):
I am writing to the whole community to take responsibility for a choice, evidently against the tide, on the occasion of the death of Silvio Berlusconi.
Naturally, one cannot feel any joy in the face of this news, rather the sadness one feels in the face of every death. But judgment, yes, is necessary: because it is true that Berlusconi has marked history, but he did so, leaving the world and Italy much worse than he had found them. From P2 to relations with the mafia via Dell’Utri, from contempt for justice to the commodification of everything (starting from the women’s body, on its TVs), from the proud customs clearance of the fascists to the government to lying as a systematic method, from personal interest as the only yardstick, to real estate speculation as destruction of nature. In this, and in so much more, Berlusconi was the exact opposite of a statesman, indeed the grotesque reversal of the Constitution’s project. No hate, but no self-righteous sanctification. Remembering who he was is today a civil duty.
For these reasons, despite the fact that the Prime Minister has ordered (https://www.governo.it/it/articolo/bandiere-mezzasta-sugli-edifici-pubblici-e-lutto-nazionale-la-scomparsa-del-presidente ) flags at half-mast on all public buildings from today to Wednesday (day of state funerals and national mourning), I personally take responsibility for ensuring that the flags of Unistrasi do not come down.
Everyone ultimately obeys their conscience, and a university that bows to a story like that is not a university.
With kindest regards,
the DeanTomaso Montanari
Full Professor of History of Modern Art
EtA: some corrections to the most blatant goofs of GT.
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Good riddance.
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The original Horndog finally checks out, Andy, Alice and Anuvab note his incredible life. Also, slightly younger imitations Boris Johnson and Donald Trump are up to no good. What a tribute.
Has some archival audio of Johnny Hollywood.
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Kudos for the Bugle post. I saw Alice’s live show last year - she’s awesome.
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Kissinger’s phylactory is, surely, extremely well secured.
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