Does Brazil have a solution? Just a reason to believe it isn’t.
Does Brazil have a solution? This is a totally personal question.
There is no socio-economic analysis here, but a vision of a Brazilian who lived here for the last 59 years, completed in May 2020.
I am an ordinary, hardworking Brazilian who struggles to survive and improve his life, his family and his country.
A Brazilian who had many opportunities to leave the country, as many friends did, but stayed for the love of his country.
I have the spirit of the Brazilian people, never to give up, but with each step I saw my hope being uprooted and massacred by the events.
And every now and then he sees his hopes reborn, only to have them plucked out again soon after.
This is my current moment.
I had, once again, the hope that Brazil would improve and once again it is being uprooted and not because of COVID 19 (it will pass soon), but for something more rooted in the life of the Brazilian.
The only reason to believe that Brazil is hopeless is the lack of hope.
Here I have no intention of saying that it is right or wrong, it is simply the naked expression of a personal feeling.
In order to understand why I believe that Brazil has no way, it is necessary to know the history lived by the majority of the Brazilian people, which is confused with my own.
Where does it all start?
The beginning of my story.
I come from a very humble family from the central region of the country.
My father came from the fields and had only 30 days of studies in his life, my mother studied until the 4th grade of elementary school with a teacher on the farm, nothing formal.
My story begins in 1961 in the city of Santa Helena de Goías.
The first of 5 children of the couple Irani and sr Jose.
After wandering around the region and with 3 children, my father decided to try life in the big city by coming to São Paulo, where two more children were born.
We went to live on the outskirts of Guaianases (far east) in a 2-room house (for 5 people) in 1963.
The beginning of Brazilian history for me.
I have no memory of that time, but Brazil was experiencing the Militar coup of 64.
For my family it was a very difficult time, everything was missing.
What I remember very well was the biting cold of the drizzle land, which was even more accentuated by the lack of adequate conditions.
Everything was difficult, we had the minimum to survive.
The first hope.
My first memory of that feeling was in the 1970s soccer cup.
Having won it seemed that everything would improve, that we were invincible, the best in the world.
That was the view of a 9-year-old child and, in my memory, it really looked like it had improved: we had more food and life seemed easier.
It was the time of the “Brazilian miracle” between 68 and 73.
The destruction of hope.
The Brazilian miracle did not last long and we soon discovered the government’s frauds, the oil shock etc.
Of course, at that time I did not have a vision of all this.
And everything I hoped to achieve has not come true.
The second hope.
In Brazil.
The 70’s and 80’s scenario was terrible.
Brazil has gone through a dictatorship, several economic shocks, inflation, international problems, the lost decade.
We had a price freeze, serious problems in the supply of food and products in general.
Currency change, moratorium on foreign debt, etc.
In the family.
Although with many difficulties, the family was prospering, but at the end of the period the economic / financial situation worsened a lot.
My father said (like everyone else) that we should study that this was the only way for people like us who didn’t have opportunities.
He said that we should have a “profession”.
We were lucky to be living in front of the school group (at the time there was no high school).
It was a public school, but with quality education.
The Eliza Raquel Macedo de Souza school, which, despite not having the good level of education at the time, still exists today.
I had a quality school base, which helped me throughout my life.
I knew that if I really wanted to improve my life, I should leave that environment.
When it was time for school I had to look for one for free since we had no money to pay, and I found the Liceu de Artes e Ofício in São Paulo, for which I took the entrance exam.
I passed without taking a course, only with study and teaching support given by the public school.
The difficult phase of the hight school.
High school has been 4 years of many sacrifices and hardships.
Although the school was free, there were other expenses: I needed to help the family, study and also the distance from the school, which was in the center of the city.
I had to get up at 5:00 am, take a train to get to work in the city center at 8:00 am, leave work at 6:00 pm, go to school on the corner street, leave there at 11pm : 00 hours and take last train at midnight to get home at 1:30 am to leave at 5:00 hours again.
And all of this without the proper food, it was a long day of watching hungry classes.
I saw my father lose what little he had and go back to work as a janitor (not that he is unworthy), but it was a big blow for the family.
Exactly the same situation that many small traders are experiencing today for different reasons.
The destruction of hope.
Even with so many problems, hope rose in 1983/84 with the “DIRETAS Já”.
The people took to the streets asking for changes and with confidence that we could improve our situation, but it was not possible.
At the electoral college Tancredo Neves wins and soon after that hope dies with him.
The third hope.
My first vote for president was in 1989, after almost 30 years without direct elections.
Now go. Everything will be fine. We had a new constitution
I voted for Color against Lula’s radicalism.
Hope plucked.
It didn’t take long (March 16, 1990) and the money was confiscated.
The cases of corruption (PC Farias), hyperinflation, fraudulent loans that culminated in the impeachment of Color started.
The fourth hope.
For me it started with the real plan, soon after the election of Fernando Henrique came.
I voted for him in both terms.
These 8 years, although difficult, were, in my opinion, of prosperity and “tranquility” despite all the international, economic and political difficulties.
In 2003, I voted for Lulinha peace and love that filled the Brazilian people with hope.
A person “outside” the political history of Brazil. A “people” person, a worker.
Many people could eat, in the middle class we could go to the United States to shop, go for a walk and we were well received.
Of course, I am not alienated and observed the problems, but nothing could prepare us for what was to come.
The fourth destruction of hope.
In the second term of Lula, more disappointments, we discovered that the PT, which said that it would end the old policy, really showed its face and led the country to regress everything that has advanced and a little more.
Government equipment, corruption, institutionalization of fraud, etc., making everything that I said would end worse.
A small light at the end of the tunnel with the Lava-Jato, politicians and businessmen arrested, including Lula himself.
But during this time we saw everyone who had been arrested get out of jail and continue to act in politics, in state-owned companies, with the same division between friends and relatives of the convicted politicians.
After the trauma we went through with Dilma, there is an election that could improve everything.
We managed to take out the PT and what was left of us ……… .. Bolsonaro.
We got out of the boiling cauldron and fell into hell.
This time there was not even time for us to start a wave of hope, it was already beaten right off the bat.
The current situation.
Life in family.
I cannot simply ignore that in these 59 years, even with enormous difficulties, life has improved a lot.
From the beginning in a two-room house for 5 people, arriving in São Paulo with just suitcases and lots of hope.
For today to be a person who knows much of the world (more than 50 countries) and has a stable middle class situation.
However, when comparing with friends who left Brazil and the quality of life of the general population in other countries, it is clear how far behind we are.
Life in Brazil.
Everything in Brazil is much more difficult than anywhere else in the world.
Tax, education, security, violence, inequality, violence against women, children, diversity, etc.
I don’t want to be showing numbers, it’s just those who want to see and compare. This information is available to anyone who wants to see it.
In everything that is good, Brazil is at the end of the line and everything that is bad we are among the first.
Life in the world.
All countries in the world are going through situations never experienced.
The economy and health are being destroyed and it will take a lot of effort to recover.
In Brazil, in addition to everything that other countries are going through, we have politics and the destruction of institutions.
If currencies are devaluing, the real is the most devalued.
We are already the second country with the most infections, the fifth / fourth in deaths and following firmly for the leadership.
Most countries have plans to get out of the crisis and we are still fighting whether or not to use chloroquine.
All economies will fall and ours will fall even more than the others.
Everyone will have enormous difficulties to recover and we will have even greater ones.
To know this, it is not necessary to make a futuristic forecast, just look back and see what has happened in all situations, in the last 59 years.
Brazil always leaves with more difficulty than most.
Conclusion:
To be very simplistic, for a people to prosper, health, education, security and investment in the future are necessary.
Each one has a vision, but if we leave aside the passions or idealisms we can verify that:
Health:
We have one of the most praised health programs in the world (SUS), but
we know how many people are unattended, dying in hospital lines.
And this pandemic clearly exposed this precariousness and inequality.
A close relative took the covid and spent 14 days in the ICU, with all the resources at his disposal and is well and recovered.
And every day we see dozens of people in corridors and dying without having a bed or any chance of being served.
Education:
Our education is extremely flawed.
Our children and teenagers leave without knowing how to read and write.
Parents, if they want better educated children, have to commit a lot to the family budget, but only a small portion of the population can do this.
Safety:
Brazil has the highest rates of violence, in all parameters that we can think of. Our young people die in droves and the expectations are the worst.
Investment in the future:
Here is the worst for me because our people, in addition to not being prepared to face the current situation, do not have the ability to see what is coming.
It is not prepared to learn the new skills and we are moving towards increasing the queue of the unemployed and needy.
Revolution 4.0 will bring Brazilians even more to their knees.
The vast majority of countries are preparing and we are here to discuss whether we will have a dictator or fake news disguised as “freedom of expression”.
In the past 59 years, we have always moved forward in one period and moved back double or triple in the following period.
For those who want, just look at which countries 59 years ago were behind us and see where they are today.
Just to name a few. Taiwan, Singapore, Chile, Peru, Korea, Eastern European countries etc.
Seeing the world up close, changes your view.
I was fortunate to realize my dream of taking a trip around the world in 2017 and getting to know many places, cultures and comparing with Brazil up close.
From that moment on, I changed my idea of Brazil and started to encourage my family and friends to leave the country, especially those who have children to raise.
One of my daughters is already in Italy, while in Brazil and even with a Unicamp degree in chemical engineering, I couldn’t get a good job.
He was working outside his area.
Today she, along with her husband, has a job and only has great expectations even with many offers in other countries in Europe.
It has a spectacular quality of life with everything you need from the good and the best.
Another son with plans for Canada or Portugal
I wanted to stay and spend my retirement here, but I don’t know if I can take any more disappointments.
I have other friends with plans for Europe like Italy, France, Germany and others for Australia, New Zealand and even China.
All of these plans are on hold due to COVID 19.
What can be done for Brazil to work?
Although it may seem bleak, I still believe in Brazil.
I know that in one way or another the Brazilian people will improve and be able to overcome everything that is out there.
These destroyers of hope will pass and the Brazilian people will prevail.
But for that, the people have to maintain hope and work so that our problems are solved.
I no longer hope to see this during my lifetime.
Of course miracles happen, but I prefer to live a better reality than to wait for the next destruction of my hope.
Is that you? What do you think of the future of Brazil? There is a way?
leave your comments.
