Although it's a joke, I'm not laughing at all. I actually think I should bust in tears. That's all because of the local elections, here in Brazil. We went yesterday to vote for our mayor and local members, and I did it for the first time ever, as I was away for ages. Man, I found it hard to pick my candidates. Brazilians are very hopeful, we always believe we are improving, things are changing, that people from the opposition can make a difference.
Maybe, because I was overseas, I opened my mind a bit more, and I lost this Brazilian spirit that "oh, we're getting better!", to replace it for something realistic. What we have here in Brazil isn't politics. It's an organised (or maybe disorganised) festival for a small and selected (by the people) group of high class thieves that are more worried about enjoying life with public money rather than improving health, education, security, employment rates etc.
Some people actually say the country is in a better condition, that poor people aren't that poor anymore, and uneducated people are getting education, and bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. Let me paint you a picture; firstly, the president came up with this plan called something like 'family package'. It's some "almost nothing" amount of money to make the poor people shut up and think he's helping. With education, they build heaps and heaps of beautiful buildings they call schools, but they forget to hire and pay teachers to teach. So, how can the kids learn something? The drug industry here in Brazil is run by the people in the 'favelas' in partnership with the police and the politicians. High profile judges order high class sons of a bitch to be released from jail because... oh, just because. Politicians here, to steal public money, come up with the weirdest road works, and get overcharged by the construction companies, to get half of the profit.
Politicians here are bribed, corrupted, blackmailed, it's shit! To pick my candidates, I couldn't even say "oh, this one is honest" because there isn't such a thing. It's actually accepted that they steal public money, because it's common. People here say "oh, such and such steal but at least he as a good administrator", or they say "I'm gonna vote in such and such because she is easy to bribe", or, even worse, I friend of mine, who is also a journo, said he was gonna vote for someone who was TOTALLY corrupted because this candidate was a good source for his articles. I'm like "what the fuck?!??!?!?". Do you believe a drag queen with NO, ZERO, political plan made the cut because people here think elections is a joke?
I'm not sure if I'm being radical or maybe blind, and Brazil is, in fact, going in the right direction. I hope so. I hope all the Brazilians are totally right to be positive about our country and I'm the only dumb thing surviving. I'm hoping that I'm wrong about having no hope.
4 comments:
you've made some very interesting points, paulinha. a certain amount of corruption exists everywhere, but whjen it is accepted a as a way of doing business, that's bad. stealing is not an efficient use of money. it is inherently unfair. hopefully, if things are indeed getting better, one day the government will begin to hold the cheats accountable. with an honest government, life can be a LOT better for everyone, rich and poor.
It is strange to notice, that the warmer the climate, the more people depend on bribes and corruption. This is not only so in the Americas, but in Europe as well.
Maybe there are good and also less helpful things about the rays of the sun...
Hey Zee,
that's an interesting point. But I wonder if it works really like that. Australia, for example, is a great and warm country, but not corrupted at all. I guess corruption has a lot to do with the way people are educated, about the country's history and culture. Here in Brazil, we always had this culture of misleading people to get advantage over things, since our colony times. I guess that's what makes our politics such a shitty and untrustworthy business.
Xuxu,
Apesar de não concordar com a maioria dos seus pontos, não posso deixar de lembrar-lhe em quem vc votou!!!hehehehe
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