In a globalized
world such as ours, there is a tendency for important, localized events to
become global every once in a while. This seems to be the case in the current
situation in Brazil .
Most people around the world seem to be taking the protester’s side in this
case. Personally, I think this is a mistake, and I would like to explain why I
think that way.
One of my big issues with the
protesters is that they seem to be uncertain about what they are actually protesting
against. In reality, this whole affair originated as a specific protest against
the rise of public transportation fares. So far so good. After all, the people
had the right to protest against the rise of prices in an area that is of vital
importance to them. Regardless of being right or wrong, at the very least they
had a specific complaint in mind. It was a request that could be easily
understood: lower the price of bus
tickets to their former rates!
The
problem however, is that this reasonable, easily understandable request, became
something much more generic and, consequentially, more confusing and less
clear. This is true to the extent that most people observing these events from
all four corners of the world can’t even figure out what exactly the protests
in Brazil
are about. If not, read the article below and note how in the comments section
people can’t even agree on what the object of
the protest is:
I
believe this is a huge problem since when a protest loses its focus it also
tends to lose its legitimacy. After all, what are the protests in Brazil really
about? At first, people were protesting against the raise in
public-transportation fares. Clear enough. As a result, previous prices were
reinstated as The Guardian reports.
So, one would think that the protests would cease because the initial request
of the people was fulfilled. Yet this is obviously not the case here.
In
fact, it seems that the protests become bigger and meaner every day that
passes. Logically, one can only conclude that this is because the original
protest has mutated into a different, more complex creature. And this is when
things get messy. At this moment the protests in Brazil are not about bus fares any
more. They are about the Confederations Cup, the World Cup and the 2016 summer
Olympics. Not only that, they’re about the corruption in Brazilian politics,
the rise of inflation in Brazil, the lack of security and any other things that
are wrong in the country.
As
a result of the diversification of the motives of the revolt, what we have now
is an all-encompassing massive popular protest. This is what the Brazilian
government has to deal with at this point.
Let
us now consider the criticisms against the three big sporting competitions: the
2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 summer
Olympics.
The
most common form of criticism against these competitions is directed towards
the Brazilian government for having allowed these competitions to take place in
Brazil .
The protesters argue that the money devoted to the organizing of these
competitions would have been better spent in areas like education and
healthcare.
This
is a quite objective and reasonable claim. I would even go further and say that
this is a claim that I could embrace myself. I think however that some further
considerations should also be taken into account.
First,
it should be noted that undertaking these efforts will give prestige and
visibility to the country. Investing money on healthcare and education is
crucial, but this doesn’t mean that culture should be altogether discarded. In
fact, I would argue that a truly prosperous and successful country in not
simply a country that can feed and educate its citizens. It should do more than
that. It should go beyond. It should make its residents proud to live within
its borders. This is something that food and shelter alone cannot guarantee but
that culture and sports are adept at achieving in conjunction with the
former.
Secondly,
it is nothing short of wishful thinking to assume that the problems regarding
education and healthcare in Brazil are directly related to the Confederations
Cup/World Cup and Olympics, and that they would be solved if these competitions
didn’t occur in Brazil in this period. The truth is that even if these
competitions weren’t held in Brazil
public education and healthcare would still be just as bad. These are deep
structural problems and need long-term solutions in order to be solved. The
lack of capacity of the Brazilian people to think long-term is more harmful to
the country than one hundred FIFA world cups.
Finally,
it is important to consider that, in any case, these demonstrations came too
late. Had they occurred earlier, at the time when Brazil was still applying to host
these competitions, I would have welcomed them and praised them. The Brazilian
people would have demonstrated seriousness and democratic spirit by actively
trying to shift the country’s decision making. But these demonstrations are
happening now, precisely when the confederations cup is taking place! The
protesters cannot possibly achieve anything good at this point. In reality,
what the Brazilian people is effectively doing is telling the world that they
are not able to uphold their commitments, which is essentially what organizing
a first-tier international event amounts to. They are telling the world, in the
way of convoluted and at times even violent protests that Brazil is a
third world country incapable of exercising the sort of leadership in the world
stage that one would expect from a country with its size, population and
resources.
Sources:
-The Guardian
-MARCA
