Gladiators and June festivals

Last week, the country learned that the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, the most moderate of the Pentecostal churches, launched its army, the Gladiators of the Altar. From North to South, uniformed young people, coordinated by a pastor/bishop, are reportedly willing to "give up their lives so that other people can be helped," organizing themselves into weekly meetings.

The sowing of the evangelical expansion occurred during the FHC years, a period of social depression, reaching the poorest and most vulnerable, and when these people experienced social mobility during the Lula and Dilma governments, they brought those worldviews with them. This is what makes Brazil express the contrast between social progress and a conservative consciousness. The evangelical expansion, coupled with an anti-national and anti-popular media oligopoly, "organizes" the people, while the pole that promoted such social changes, based on popular dissatisfaction with living conditions 12 years ago, does not.

What's even more serious is that with jobs, salaries, and education, young people from these social strata become decisive influences in the communities they live in and in their homes. So, if the debate was already at stake, from an ideological and cultural point of view, over whether Brazil, if it completed its saga, would be a democratic, pluralistic, diverse, and developed nation or a developed but conservative one, now things have gotten serious. For some time now, there has been talk that the "new social base" of the political project spearheaded by the PT, a result of growth with inclusion and various social programs, was "loose." When young people from these strata are put "on the march" to the other side, the situation becomes much more serious. And this only happened when the economy reduced its "footprint."

The Gladiators close the other end of "June". Much can be said and analyzed about those protests; however, research conducted by Ibope (http://www.zedirceu.com.br/o-perfil-dos-manifestantes-de-junho/) in the heat of the events revealed an undeniable fact: they were predominantly young people, with high income and education levels. The profile of the anti-PT youth, forged by the media's "one-note samba" about politics and politicians, corruption, political patronage, etc. And, of course, part of the group with high education, that is, with complete or incomplete higher education, coming from the places opened for blacks and graduates of public schools, made possible by quotas, ProUni, ReUni, expansion of campuses and everything else.

The potential portrait of today is a youth that, at its most popular base, will be captured by the Gladiators, ensuring more homophobia, machismo, support for Maximum Criminal Law, pregnant with the narrative of "prosperity theology" (growth supported by God and personal effort); and, at its most elitist base, radical anti-PT sentiment.

Parliamentarians and intellectuals have attempted to sketch out the so-called Gladiators, but the analyses have been limited to parallels with Nazism or to shaking the straw man that they are "militias" of evangelical churches. In truth, these "gladiators" are a fantastic idea of ​​conservatism. They will attract millions of young people from classes C, D, and E, and Brazil will lose the battle of generational transition if there is no reaction now. The Gladiators are not paramilitaries; they are mass catechization, going after the "faithful" and doing "charitable" community work. 

Former President Lula, in a recent statement, confessed to being concerned about the 2018 elections in the following aspect: the last presidential elections were decided by just over 3 million votes. In 2018, this same number will only be that of young people aged 18. If those who will have the optional right to vote are added, the total will reach more than 9 million. Where will these young people be positioned on the political and ideological spectrum? Judging by the current situation, depending on social class, they will be in the struggles of "gladiators" or "junino" (referring to the festivities).

A little earlier, former President Lula also mentioned young people when questioning generational quotas in the PT's leadership, identifying a bureaucratic profile among these young men and women and urging the PT to leave their offices and go to the streets.

Well, these quotas, three years ago, were considered one of the great successes of the PT's statutory reform. If they are there in a bureaucratic way, they reflect the party of today, the same one that reflects on offices versus the streets, without going into the field to organize and discuss with that "new social base" described in the paragraphs above. The two issues, therefore, are one and the same. Thousands of young workers, with profiles from these C, D, and even E socioeconomic strata, are affiliated with the party, but excluded from a self-absorbed party youth wing, from the seminar that plans seminar, from the fundamental dispute that becomes the patrimony of a few. If the strategy is democratic, being in the offices is fundamental, and "going to the streets" must be preceded by the question of what to do in the streets.

Simply putting political reform or media democratization on the agenda is no guarantee of victory or of drawing crowds. In fact, without due care, it can exacerbate polarizations that are more in the interest of the right wing and the Embassy than the government's project. Someone once said that the devil is in the details. It is necessary to explain to the people (and the youth of the people) the government's measures, the country's situation, and the values ​​offered by the government's project. It is necessary to act to improve life in the territories and communities, not only through large governmental public initiatives, but with simple and smaller actions that generate the authority to call upon young people, on this common ground, to discuss the country's development and build true and collective narratives about why life has changed, how it can change further, and who opposes it, and through what means, to prevent it from continuing to happen.

Similarly, it is of little use for the PT and its youth wing to discuss these major agendas without discussing how to actually make them viable. Even broadening the debate to other left-wing movements and parties may only create a more robust, albeit besieged, fortress. This is a discussion for this network of the new (in the good sense) PT bureaucracy, these generational quota holders at the municipal, state, and national levels, preferably in step with the thousands of young members who, from time to time, with greater or lesser political clarity, take up the "full capacity" of the PEDs (Party Elections). 

Social and partisan youth groups on the left trying to coordinate is a good starting point, but it needs to generate something much bigger, bolder, and more effective than "days of struggle." This advice also applies to parties other than the PT (Workers' Party). Traditional student agendas or radicalized left-wing groups in universities will have little chance of making a difference from now on. Let's remember that the Central do Brasil rally ended in defeat against the March for the Family.

However, the "June festival" aspect of the issue cannot be overlooked. A left-wing party needs the support of the middle classes. To achieve this, it needs a platform and a clear message for young people and society, developed by the young people themselves. What are the ideas and proposals for 21st-century governance? What structural reforms does the country need, and how can they be approved? This is a sector of society that likes to discuss politics at a high level, and the more the agenda revolves around "PT supporters vs. right-wingers," the greater the chances of the former being defeated. 

The future of Brazil is not necessarily the maintenance of the current governing project or a coup; it could be much better or much worse than that. Undoubtedly, the key to the situation lies with the youth, and since we are talking, so to speak, about the "Harry Potter generation," the "key" will be the ability to build an "army" of Aurors to illuminate the horizons of gladiators ready to liven up "June festivals."