The Bolsonaro equation
"Voters aged 34 and under represent 37% of the electorate. Almost 40% of voters only know what it's like to be governed by the left. Lula and Dilma are the 'floor.' Young people are looking for the ceiling, which is sold to them every day by the mainstream media as a fascinating oasis. They seek the future, not the past. It's no surprise that Bolsonaro performs best among young people," says columnist Ricardo Cappelli; "We are experiencing a brutal crisis of representation. Desperation clogs our ears."
In the supposed failure of the state, arming everyone might seem like a "good" solution to the violence. In the face of disorder, a strong hand with easy (and misguided) solutions seems ideal.
Democracy, or the fear of arbitrariness, is a distant and relative value. If I only know the left, perhaps "different" is better.
Analyzing some data from the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) gives us some clues about what is happening in Brazil.
Let's take a 16-year-old as a benchmark. At that age in 1974, it was already possible to minimally understand the social and political consequences of the dictatorship.
In 2018, this teenager from the 70s is 60 years old. The Diretas Já campaign was in 1983/84. Someone who was 16 then is now in their fifties.
According to the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), 42% of the electorate is over 45 years old (it would be more accurate if we only had data from voters over 50). This is the segment that experienced the dictatorship and/or the campaign for direct elections.
At least 60% of the electorate has no emotional connection to the democratic struggle. Arbitrariness is a very distant ghost.
Lula came to power in 2003. Those who were 16 years old when Luiz Inácio ascended the ramp are now 31 years old.
Voters aged 34 and under represent 37% of the electorate. Almost 40% of voters only know what it's like to be governed by the left. Lula and Dilma are the "floor".
Young people are hiding behind the roof that the mainstream media sells to them every day as a fascinating oasis. They are looking for the future, not the past.
It's no surprise that Bolsonaro performs best among young people. According to the latest Datafolha poll, 23% of voters aged 16 to 24 choose the Captain.
The internet and social media have ushered in a new temporality. The clock is no longer the same. We live in a liquid society of constant stimuli driven towards the next second. Anxiety is the main scourge of the 21st century. Looking back is "forbidden."
Successive stimuli overwhelm our capacity for reflection.
Rats adopt patterns based on electric shocks. The impeachment and Lava Jato investigations inaugurated a process of successive shocks. We have a frightened society, with unemployment and violence knocking at the door.
We are living through a brutal crisis of representation. Despair is deafening.
If the collective fails, less government, less taxes, and every man for himself. The market will "equalize opportunities and guarantee a place in the sun" for those who are honest and hardworking.
If the left has been the recent norm, then the challenge, the "rebel," is to be on the right. If all politicians are corrupt, how about a strong "non-politician" to solve the problem?
What if the chosen one is something new, that challenges Globo and rejects the "marketing standard," a kind of anti-establishment stance?
The center-right remains without a candidate. As the winds blow and the trucks push, the possibility of the far right galvanizing the market and polarizing segments of the center increases.
The Brazilian left should reflect and unite while there is still time. A civilizational disaster may be on the way.
* This is an opinion article, the responsibility of the author, and does not reflect the opinion of Brasil 247.