Brazil is not a country where people protest. It is not a country of revolutionaries.
As Mauricio Savarese explains in this clear and didactive blog, Brazilians abhor violence and they avoid it all costs. If your cause embraces violence then you’ve lost. The only way to win in Brazil – and that means by getting the larger public behind you – is through peaceful protest and negotiation.
That’s one of the reasons the reaction to last Thursday’s protest and police violence in Sao Paulo are so interesting.
Lots of people are asking whether this wave of protests can really be over a 20 centavo rise in bus fares. (20 centavos is about 10 cents or 7 pence.)
Phillip Vianna in this CNN blog says “it is the uprising of the most intellectualized portion of society.” Marcelo Rubens Paiva in today’s Estado de Sao Paulo says the protests are “a collective revolt against the state that treats individuals as a nuisance, the enemy.” And the RioReal blog suggests that “the twenty centavos could represent a tipping point in Rio’s general panorama, as citizens wake up to authoritarian government and a longtime lack of dialogue.”
I’d love them to be right. Rubens Paiva’s definition of how the state treats its citizens is certainly spot on.
Brazilians pay first world taxes and get third world services in return. Their politicians represent big interests and treat voters with little more than contempt. Corruption is ingrained, a part of the country’s culture and fabric.
No one protests. No one gets angry. Anti-corruption demonstrations rarely unite more than a few thousand people. (Clicking a button on facebook doesn’t count as anger, or protest.)
Brazilians can’t be bothered taking to the streets because they know that unless the protests gain nationwide scope they will be ignored. And they know that won’t happen because most people don’t see the point. It’s a vicious circle. “Why bother demanding change; nothing changes so why bother.”
But there’s an awful lot of wishful thinking going on in some of the analysis. It is way too early to say last week’s protests mark a turning point. They could very easily peter out. If there is more violence then support will erode and the protesters will be marginalised.
Is this the start of something? Are Brazilians waking up? Have they finally decided enough is enough?
I certainly hope so and I do think it is inevitable, sooner or later. As incomes grow, people will start demanding better treatment.
When enough Brazilians can make the trip to Miami and see they can buy a white tshirt in GAP for $8 dollars, rather than pay $30 for the same inferior quality garment in Sao Paulo and Rio they might be shaken into action. Last week’s protests might be the first sign of that.
But I am not convinced that moment has arrived.
A lot will depend on the character of the next week’s protests. If they are hijacked by the same extremists, who often glob onto anything anti- then they will fail. The middle class will take fright and abandon them. And without middle class lending their voice en masse they are doomed.
If they can get lots of people out on the streets, from all sectors of society, and if they can demonstrate peacefully, even in the face of police provocation, then they might be on to something and the optimistic predictions of a paradigm shift might be realised.
Next week is going to be very interesting.
10 comments
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June 16, 2013 at 6:19 pm
Louise Ubags
I like this observation. Thank you. Very welcome for me as I’m going to live in Rio from beginning of July onwards.
June 16, 2013 at 8:12 pm
Ana
“not a country of revolutionaries”- this is SO not true. Brazil is a country that has been dormant in fear since the 1960s with the dictatorship of gringo-friendly military, but look at its history before that, particularly the South, and you will see. I hope this is the start of an awakening.
June 17, 2013 at 3:26 pm
Gisele
A gringolândia, como sempre, não sabe nada de Brasil!
Não queremos suas camisetas de Miami, aliás, tudo que o USA nos deram já foi suficiente (uma ditadura sangrenta).
O Brasil é um país que não gosta de violencia mesmo, não gosta de invadir países, não gosta de roubar petróleo, e não gosta de estuprar mulheres árabes. Não faz campo de concentração para asiáticos, nem manda bombas para matar crianças no Japão.
Somos um país pacífico…
June 17, 2013 at 3:28 pm
Gisele
We do not want their shirts Miami, incidentally, all the USA gave us was enough (bloody dictatorship).
Brazil is a country that does not like violence even, not like invading countries, does not like to steal oil, not like raping Arab women. We dont make concentration camp for Asians or send bombs to kill children in Japan
We are a peaceful country … and fuck yourself
June 17, 2013 at 3:31 pm
andrewdownie
Gisele,
Se vc le minha materia de novo vai ver que nunca falei que voces querem camisetas de Miami.
Mas agradeco seu comentario e sua atencao…
Abs, Andrew
June 17, 2013 at 5:20 pm
Gisele
Ok, serei mais clara. Apenas uma lista de algumas revoltas populares no Brasil.
– Guerrilha do Araguaia
– Revolta da Vacina
– Cabanagem
– Canudos
– Revolta dos Quebra- Quilos
– Protesto dos Cara-Pintadas
– Várias revoltas separatistas em todos os estados
– Além disso toda a luta armada contra a ditaduta.
– Marcha dos 100 mil em 2000-2001
Achei o seu texto deslocado pro que é a cultura pacifista do povo brasileiro. É uma cultura pacifista do bem, não é uma cultura pacifista alienada e subserviente.
June 17, 2013 at 11:28 pm
Slav
Pretty well written post, Andrew. It is fascinating to read some of the more sordid replies of your ”followers”. I suspect their somewhat negative reaction pleases you immensely 🙂 If you were ”full of it”, as some suggest in their comments, people would hardly read you at all, as nobody wants to listen to another fool. But when words strike a raw nerve, one knows he is on the right track .
But seriously – why do some people have this overwhelming need to compare the incomparable ? And why is it always the USA ? Makes me laugh at times. And that comment, ”we are a peaceful country … fuck yourself” is absolutely brilliant. Good work, man !
June 18, 2013 at 7:40 am
Mari
A garota fala q somos um povo pacífico e na sequência lista uma série de revoltas populares ts ts ts …rs
Nós pagamos pacificamente um dos maiores impostos do mundo sem recebermos nosso dinheiro de volta em forma de escolas boas, estradas decentes (e além de pagarmos impostos, ainda pagamos pedágios de valores absurdos!!!) sem falarmos no sistema de saúde precário que temos.
Aceitamos pacificamente a corrupcao generalizada em todos os setores da sociedade.
Aceitamos pacificamente um sistema de Direito arcaico e defasado em várias área.
Aceitamos pagar um absurdo por um sistema de transporte lixo
Etc etc etc…
Sim, definitivamente NAO temos uma cultura de pacifista e subserviente rs.
E sim, a garota tem razao: no final, a gente se fode (we fuck ourselves) por aceitarmos tudo isso pacificamente rs…
June 19, 2013 at 5:34 pm
Alison McGowan
I agree with a lot of your analysis Andrew and indeed with Mari’s comments. It’s too early to tell what all this will result in but I really hope the fanatical and violent few get drowned out by the pacific majority and that this will stimulate some kind of action to improve healthcare, education transport and everything else. I wish I were more optimistic. Regrettably whilst corruption remains endemic there is a very long way to go.
June 19, 2013 at 5:39 pm
andrewdownie
Couldn’t agree more, Alison. The main thing is that Brazilians have woken up. I hope they remain engaged and active and that this isn’t a blip…..