There's Brasilia, and then there's Brazil. Brasilia is one of the most corrupt cities in the world. The capital of Brazil is a city of crystal palaces in the middle of nowhere. Certainly for most politicians who live there Brazilian people is not real. But you don't have to go far to see Brazil. In the vicinity of Brasilia, you can see the so-called satellite cities. What are they? They are cities that have grown from the homes of the migrant workers who built the city in the early 1960s. Yes, you get right - the government plan of the capital put the workers outside the city. There was no place for poor people there.
Brazil is not a liberal democracy. We can categorize Brazilian parties into two or three families, which describe most parties.
The so-called democrats (DEM) is a right-wing party, but its sphere of action is not limited to the political right. Note that the political right should oppose socialism and social democracy, which is not the case here. In Brazil, the political right works almost always together with the social democrats (PSDB). On the other hand, the left-wing is represented by Workers' Party (PT) and its allies, the socialists and communists. The latter use Orwell's Newspeak in their anti-democratic maneuvers. Last but not least, on the "centre" there are two funny parties - the members of PMDB - I don't know how to define them on the political spectrum - and the social democrats.
The Workers' Party and the social democrats have controlled presidential elections for the last twenty years. PT and PMDB have formed a coalition to stay in power for the last fourteen years. Both parties and its minor allies put the country in the worst economic and social crisis of its history. The Operation Car Wash being carried out by Federal Police of Brazil is showing that Workers' Party promoted the largest deviation of public resources of human history (billions in bribes). In those years, PMDB followed PT like a trained puppy. In the middle of the worst crisis the country has ever lived, with misery smashing the face of the real workers, it's very sad to see that the bullshit is still flowing out of Brasilia.
Let's see two examples. The Workers' Party created the worst unemployment crisis in the history of the country. They also decreased the unemployment insurance installments. So what is the new government (Newspeak, okay?) doing right now for helping the unfortunate citizens? Nothing. Things will improve in ten years from now... Now the other violence. The number of murders continues to increase each year. And drug lords expand their dominance in Brazilian cities. What about the government? Basically, they don't care.
Today the political parties of Brazil are almost identical. It is in fact easy to recognize this when they embark on power. There is no significant disagreement between them. In other words, it doesn't matter the political party - the policy will be exactly the same. The notion that changing the president and getting rid of Workers' Party influence will fix the country is naive. The hydra-head of corruption is a hideous monster. You should remember that when Hercules lopped off one of the hydra's heads, two new one's grew in its place. So he couldn't do the second labor by himself.
Brazilian crisis is systemic. We need a new kind of politics. A vote every four years is not enough. The system is corrupted and most of the judges kneel down to the "owners of power". Civil society needs to protest and mobilize (peacefully). Corrupts love the silence of the streets.
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