My friend Tai posted a video to my
facebook page and asked, “For my friends around the world, please
support our fight for a better Brazil!” This was just a few days
ago when there was no US news coverage of the protests going on in
Brazil. I was surprised to see all that was going on and the number
of people taking it to the streets.
Tonight the network coverage began as
the world became aware of a very serious citizenry fighting back
against a corrupt government filled with greedy politicians. What
started as a lament against a proposed bus fare hike turned into a
revolution as people took up the call and focused on serious issues
in their country.
The people of Brazil say they pay high
taxes and see nothing in return. Their schools are inadequate, health
care is abysmal and yet the government will spend billions (I think
they are called real) hosting the World Cup and the Olympics.
Many Brazilians believe this money
would be better spent improving schools, revamping hospitals and
helping their people climb out of poverty.
My friend tells me that in her smaller
city about 20,000 people started making their way to the local
stadium but were met by police firing off tear gas and rubber
bullets. But the government of Brazil is fighting a losing battle at
trying to keep the protests quelled. Over 1 million people are
expected to take to the streets of Rio de Janeiro this evening and it
does not seem that the people of Brazil intend to give up their fight
any time soon.
Of course, nothing is ever a simple
matter, nor are all people in a country of one mind as we can attest
to. Another Brazilian friend, Rafa, joined the conversation and his
take is that while he supports many of the changes, he thinks the
whole movement has gotten out of control and he is in favor a more
peaceful, gradual change. He thinks there are those who are simply
drawn to the chaos and anarchy. Which I think is probably true.
Another Brazilian friend, May is part
of a student union – some of you will remember those from the 60s!
She is also part of the protests and even though she voted for the
current president, she says she should be able to demand the
politicians serve the people and not themselves. Sound familiar?
I hope they can bring about the change
they desire and that their lives will be better for it. I hope we
Americans will be able to take a page or two out of their playbook
and affect some change of our own. Brazil’s problems sound
amazingly like our problems and goodness knows we could use to shake
things up here.
Of course, when
thinking of what is happening in Brazil one can't help but think
about all the other protests and civil unrest taking place around the
globe. Is this a symptom of the global economic depression and the
systematic greed and corruption of our governments? Has the world
reached the breaking point? And what does this mean for not only our
future but the future of our world?
Points to ponder...
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteI can no longer recall the names of the researchers who conducted this animal behavior experiment, but the gist is this:
A breeding pair of mice was placed in a cubic meter cage and given an unlimited supply of food. Over time, as generations of mice filled the cubic meter, the social order of the mouse community turned violent and ugly – ostensibly due to overcrowding but not necessarily due to starvation.
Perhaps a nation state is analogous to a cubic meter of space, and it is not population growth from within that causes social unrest, but the effects of globalization from outside its borders. Suddenly, people are exposed to economic and social competition on a global scale when a nation state is no longer a nation state.
The wealthiest segment of the population can adjust to globalization by taking advantage of its benefits, i.e. they shelter their wealth in global tax havens while the less enabled (middle class) are forced to shoulder the full financial burdens of nationhood.
Brazil, the so-called Arab Spring, Turkey, EU countries facing austerity cuts, even the current legislative impasse in Congress … all, I believe, are explainable as resentments to the stress of globalization.
Did anyone need to do that study? Humans are not ants and while we are social animals we are not set up to live in overcrowded hives or warrens. those who feel a need for independence and self reliance suffer as our country urbanizes and individuals must surrender their autonomy and become dependent on and responsible to others for all things save their assigned function within the hive. I think that crowding people together so much that every sneeze gets an angry response -- so much that choices seem absent and escape impossible explains most of the unbehagen -- the unease and discomfort we feel in our ever more airless society.
ReplyDeletethe proliferation of TV shows about surviving in the wild, living off the grid shows, I think, the growing frustration with the commercialization of everything -- every part of life. Everything is a product to be purchased and we're made helpless and dependent.
Yes, there are great benefits to civilization but it can be stifling, if not dangerous and there's always the call of the wild.
Rocky,
ReplyDeleteBrazil has such a history of crooked government which never has done a damned thing about the massive and dangerous slums, rampant crime and lack of opportunity that it's hardly surprising that things take on a radical tinge.
It's an old, old story. Many years ago, when I was studying Portuguese I learned a protest song Onde está o dinheiro? Where is the money? I'll bet they're still singing it.
Unfortunately radicals usually make it worse, but isn't it interesting what the News grinders choose to entertain us with and what they choose to ignore?
I love you guys! You are both so knowledgeable and astute. At the heart of all these protests is stress from the global economic meltdown coupled with the long history of corrupt politicians running their countries into the ground. If I were given to superstition, I would point out that astrologically, these events were predicted, sort of, as being the turbulent and violent times of the beginning of the Age of Aquarius which is to be followed by a period of peace and enlightenment. Nice fairy tale - if it happens I would think of it more as the human race evolving rather than a machination of the stars. But it does seem that more and more people want better conditions and space to breathe and they aren't going to take it anymore. I think the Occupy movement was a harbinger of things to come. I will be watching global events closely and will look to Zoners for their valuable input as the world turns... :)
ReplyDeleteAstute? I'm more often d4escribed as an ass toot, but thanks. I'm not an optimist though and I think most revolutions fail, bloody or bloodless and maybe in proportion to how bad things are.
ReplyDelete