Looking Forward

A Long March to Change

 

The demands of the June protestors in Brazil are based in faith in a symbiotic relationship between citizens and their government. “Brazil has woken up” was among the most common messages appearing on protesters’ placards, an indication that Brazilians have abandoned the “political lethargy” that characterized the decades since the overthrow of military rule. The grievances of many millions of Brazilians cannot go unanswered, as President Dilma Rousseff recognized in the nationally syndicated address delivered in the wake of the protests. That demands largely centered on deficiencies of the current social welfare apparatus and not on calls for a new political system suggests that Brazilians do not believe that the PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores) government is beyond reform. President Rousseff’s center-left government has been proactive in meeting the specific demands of protesters. In particular, the Brazilian congress approved a reallocation measure first broached by President Rousseff in her address, allowing for one-hundred percent of the future royalties accumulated from the export of petroleum to allocated to funds for the improvement of education (75%) and health care (25%). In the wake of the protests, the cities of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo reduced public transportation fares from R$2.90 to R$2.75 and R$3.20 to R$3.00, respectively (in addition, these fees are exempt from government taxes). The government has also released various national pacts relating to the issues of Transportation, Education, and Fiscal Responsibility.

However, these measures seem largely insufficient at combatting the systemic and long-term economic difficulties that continue to plague the “peripheral capitalist” economies of Brazil in particular, and Latin America in general. Although recently implemented government transfer programs have initiated a redistribution of wealth, pulling many rural Brazilians out of poverty-- allowing untold millions the opportunity to purchase small automobiles, visit shopping centers, and contribute to consumer spending--these efforts have largely benefited “large capital.” The sustainability of an emerging middle class has been questioned by economists and Brazilians alike, who have noticed the insufficiency of existing infrastructure and the failure of social development programs to accommodate a burgeoning middle class. To stem the tide of discontent, the government must fundamentally alter its neoliberal economic policies, supporting the development of small, sustainable businesses and an emerging consumer economy rather than the natural resource conglomerates (and other “large capital” businesses) that have most benefited from lax government regulation. In broad terms, this means a shift from a predominantly macro economic policy to one more decidedly micro. In the eyes of Brazilians, the hundreds of billions of reais needlessly invested in the FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympics constituted a payoff to these very same, hated “large capitalists.” Brazil is crying out for a less harsh fiscal policy, in which economic opportunities at the local level can flourish and communities can recover from the policies that have pursued the export-driven, high-growth BRIC policy at the expense of real investment in the welfare, health, and education of the Brazilian people. It is through investments in its people that Brazil will transcend the longtime peripheralism and economic isolation of Latin America, entering the ranks of the highly developed economies of Europe and North America.

As the Brazilian economy is largely state-directed, a shift in the country’s economic policy must be embraced by all branches of the government--in particular, the politically fragmented and right-leaning National Congress. The election of a PT majority to Congress would go far in consolidating (both ideologically and practically) the political left, allowing the legislative and executive branches to pursue a common policy.

Faith in the government has been pushed to the brink with an unimaginable degree of political corruption that goes all the way to the top. In 2007, Jose Dirceu, Chief of Staff to the President at the time, was convicted for bribing allies for congressional support. Forbes Magazine estimated that in 2013, the cost of corruption could be up to $53 billion. With a growing distrust in the government and a cry for transparency that has only been responded to superficially, the general population feels isolated from and resentful of those lucky few at the top of a society where the wealth gap is incredibly wide. Incidents like this one where an entire community (albeit located in an illegal slum) was displaced in order to make room for the events of the FIFA World Cup without being given sufficient monetary compensation to find an alternative living space further ostracize a majority of the population and incite an anger that can only be expressed in collective acts of dissent.

The people of Brazil have spoken, spoken loudly, and will continue to speak until there is “radical change,” in the words of youth Juliano Menegat. Institutionalized corruption and neglect of a discontent population necessitates a revolution to encourage governmental structures and practices that support rather than exploit their impassioned citizens. The violence of the riots thus far has been a desperate and therefore extreme cry for help; the necessary changes will happen without violence if the government responds to the demands of the people in a way that not only appeases but addresses the issues at their origins.