Ideology, I want one to live by.

It has become fashionable, for some time now, to say that Brazil's problems stem from the "ideologization" promoted by PT (Workers' Party) governments. The most recent blatant example came from the mouth of Onix Lorenzoni, a regular recipient of slush funds, a mediocre parliamentarian who assumed the position of Chief of Staff. "We are going to de-PT-ize the administration," he shouted when announcing the mass dismissal of appointed officials. He didn't even realize how ridiculous he was, since the PT has been ousted from power since the 2016 coup.

Lorenzoni reached the highest, and also most grotesque, point of the blather that the right and far-right have been spreading over the years. Economists in the pay of vulture consulting firms hammer away day after day that the accounts don't balance, that without the so-called fiscal adjustment the country will go to the precipice, that pension reform (or the end of retirement, let's be honest) is the elixir capable of curing all ills. They accuse the opposition of ignoring numbers to defend populist ideas.

Wait a minute. What are these "experts" getting in return for closing ranks to support the aggressive cuts in social benefits, the dismantling of labor rights, and the de facto elimination of decent pensions? For an ideology, you see. In these people's minds, what's right is that wealth is concentrated based on "meritocracy," that the market controlled by a handful of speculators dictates the fate of the economy, and that surnames, skin color, and theological obscurantism take precedence over social interests.

Numbers, however cold they may seem, can be used to suit one's own taste. Ideologically. Suppose there's a hole in the government's accounts. How to solve it? The ideologues of the far-right, currently in power, believe the solution is to cut the rights of the majority of the working people. Not only that: it's about auctioning off national assets at bargain-basement prices to balance the books. As a bonus, the buyer gets a crucifix.

On the other hand, the proposals are different. Why not tax the billionaires who live off the sweat of the people, enrich themselves through speculation, and fatten their bank accounts without ever having produced a single screw? Why not collect from the large debtors in the countryside and the city who, instead of paying their debts, are rewarded with successive debt relief programs and amnesties while an ordinary worker lives tormented by the fear of being added to the credit blacklist?

The difference is ideological, that's for sure. The size of the pie is the same. The question is how to divide it. The Bolsonaro "family" government came to the stage to defend an ideology that privileges the rich through inheritance, opportunism, or surname, and intends to impose as absolute truth values ​​that predate the French Revolution. No equality, liberty, or fraternity. And a lot of tradition, family, and property. This is the struggle that is underway. Cazuza was right.