Brazil, a hopeful future

Not a lot of people thought twenty years ago that Brazil would be an emerging giant in the world. It had held its first free presidential elections since the right-wing military dictatorship supported by the U.S. took control in 1964. It's first try was a failure, however. Electing the charismatic, young and good-looking Fernando Collor turned out to be a disappointment for democracy as his huge corruption scheme unravelled and he resigned in order to not be impeached. The 1990s were not kind with rinflation rampant and the wide gulf between rich and poor only widening and interest rates that are the highest in the world (and continues to be).

However, in 2003 a different kind of president was elected (finally). Having run since 1989, Luis Inacio "lula" da Silva finally was elected in the second round of a competitive election. He is truly a man of the people. Born in the poor northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco to a large and humble family, he knows exactly the plight of the people. He moved to the industrial São Paulo at 7 and quit school before finishing high school in order to work and support his family. He led the steel workers union in Sao Paulo in a time where unions were oppressed, ending up imprisoned by the dictatorship. He was one of the founding fathers of PT , the Worker's Party in Brazil. Upon the loosening of restrictions in the mid-80s Lula was at the forefront of Brazilian liberalism and the fight for justice. However, the elitist/ "intellectual" Fernando Henrique Cardoso still won the presidency in 1994 and 1998, the only good thing he did was introduce the Real, but even then with mistakes.

Lula is amazing for other quirky reasons too. What other president do you know is missing a pinky from working at the steel plant? He also has a lisp, which is pretty funny but cool that he doesn't give a damn. And most of all he doesn't talk down to the people, unlike most Brazilian politicians. Instead he talks to the people, in ways everyone can understand. His way with words and his vivid metaphors are as entertaining as they are true.


But back to Brazilian progress, all that history lesson and biography was to say that Brazil is emerging as one of the largest and most responsible economies out there. Lula always refused to be a lackey of the U.S. interests and publicly criticized Bush several times. He was a defender of the emerging and poor nations, defending them when members of the EU and the U.S. accused Brazil and other nations of being the causes of the food crisis in 2007. He came out very ironically saying that if there was a food crisis, it was because people in India, China, Brazil and emerging countries are eating better, not because Brazil is producing ethanol, which was one of the accusations.

Under Lula, millions of Brazilians have come out of poverty to middle-class standing. He introduced several social welfare programs that have created jobs for those once without hope. I'm not illusioned though, Brazil still has one of the most horrible slums in the world in Rio and São Paulo and the northeast is still a completely different country compared to the richer south. But what I see is progress and hope that in the future things are going to be better because they have already progressed a long way.

As for the International Recession, Lula has been hitting HARD on the so-called "industrialized, first world" countries. And he is right in doing so. Today he said, while having Prime Minister Gordon Brown by his side, that this recession is caused by people with blonde hair and blue eyes. And he's right, this wasn't caused by African nations, or Latin America or Asia, this was caused mostly by white people in Europe and America. And Lula isn't racist, he's just stating a fact that while white people in America and Europe cause the problems, poor nations who depend on credit for life suffer the most. That's why he has called out jointly with Prime Minister Brown for a $100 Billion fund to help credit flow amongst nations.

Lula, though angered that a lot of what he was able to build on in the last five years may be tainted by this crisis, is not despairing. Brazil is suffering much less than most countries. No mass job cuts as of yet, no massive bank failures. What is affecting Brazil is international trade, which is a big deal. Still, the government projects that Brazil will still grow this year, initially put at 4%, now analyst say it could be much less but still growth or 0.

So I look forward, hopeful for my parent's country, for a people I've lived with and know of their joy, beauty and generosity. I'm an American, and I love this country, but in no way am I ashamed of my Brazilian roots. The Brazilian future is bright, if only they do not fall in previous traps.

Reflections on an idiotic democracy

Rousseau said that that democracy ran on the principle of virtue. The virtue of its citizens is what makes a democracy great or small. And nothing could be more true. Honesty, intelligence, courage and all the other virtues are really important in a system that is free and truly democratic.

Aristotle said that to study politics one needs experience in life. Politics is not something you just do , it's not something you aim for. Politics should be a calling, a love for the people and to represent them. No one should go to school thinking ' i want to be a senator when i grow up' . No, you don't. You wouldn't do shit being a senator, no matter what you learned at your Ivy League school or Uchicago. You must be a leader first in order to lead. And you can only do that by being a servant. A servant of the people. My biggest passion is justice and for a while now I've had this calling to one day hopefully fight for immigrant rights as a lawyer or in some non-profit. That's my goal. Do I love politics? Yeah, but I can only lead if I have lead and served humbly.

So many of the people in Washington are so grossly incompetent. They are people who are just rich, influential, but not servants. They are idiots, ignorant and greedy. And above all they are representatives of a failed system that for a long time now has failed to have its main ingredient : VIRTUE.

So I ask: Why isn't Ralph Nader president?

Because people don't care. People in this country do not know their own good! I mean, it's ridiculous, but the truth nonetheless. Sure, I was never much of a Nader fan, always a socialist resigned to supporting Democrats, but the truth is I was wrong. The democrats TODAY, with Obama or without are the same as the republicans. Sure, they bicker over little issues that in truth don't matter at all while both take money from the big corporations. Who stops cheap drugs from coming in through Canada? The big pharmaceutical lobbies in congress. Who helps put loopholes and deregulation in the bailout? The Wall Street lobbyists. And every day we learn that both parties are recipients, equaly guilty in this dirty, dirty game of money. I've always said our electoral system is a fraud.

I recently watched a documentary called "the Unreasonable Man" about Ralph Nader's life and I have to say it changed by perspective of politicians. This guy is as close to perfect as it gets. I'm talking about his service to the American people. He's no crazy communist, he's a fighter for you, the consumer. Ironically, he has never even held a public office and yet he gets credit for a HUGE list of laws that has made America safer, cleaner and better for each individual.

One guy in the documentary said it right, if the clean air, food boxes, airbags, seatbelts all said "ralph nader" on them maybe people would give him the respect he deserves. Not to mention the numerous foundations he started for the fight against injustice. I mean, the list is so huge of his accomplishments I'd be undermining them if I tried to list them because each one is so important.

But supporting Ralph in the elections was crazy right? You KNEW he was going to lose. Why? Because of people like us, people who lack the insight to know what's our own good. People who do not really believe in democracy, who are resigned to this ugly two-party system. I ask, what the FUCK did George Bush enact/fight for before becoming president? What did Gore do? NOTHING, NOTHING, NOTHING. They were not a TENTH of the public servant Ralph Nader was, is and continues to be.

So after watching that documentary I just feel depressed. Depressed that perhaps our country is too stupid and will never truly change. Obama has proven he's not that much change from his predecessor. He's erred on Israel, he's erred on the bailout, he's erred on his appointees, especially Tim Geithner and he will continue to go wrong as long as outside forces control our democracy.

So please, America, learn to put democracy first. Learn to foster the virtue that it needs and throw away the mask. And honor your American heroes, Ralph Nader being one of the greatest among them.