Who's afraid of philosophy and sociology?

I have degrees in philosophy and sociology. And I am outraged by the statements of... Trainee of a dictator and his minister of miseducation - who so far has not presented a single project or proactive action at the Ministry of Education. An ineffectiveness on par with the entire current government.

Let it be known to the heralds of fake news that university courses and/or areas of knowledge cannot be destroyed by decree. Article 207 of the Federal Constitution (which enshrines university autonomy) is clear: “Universities enjoy didactic-scientific, administrative, and financial and patrimonial management autonomy, and shall obey the principle of inseparability between teaching, research, and extension.” Even by stifling the area of ​​humanities with budget restrictions, these courses, because they require little investment, will continue to exist. Furthermore, there will always be altruistic and autonomous students who refuse to be mere cogs in the perverse machinery of capitalism that needs robots, not thinking beings.

Philosophy and sociology have always been a problem for lazy minds; for dictators who need to mobilize a mass of zombies and are afraid of reason; for capitalists who want mere screw-tighteners and not people who act autonomously; for charlatan and manipulative religious leaders who need fanatics, penitents of a blind and servile faith, incapable of seeing the various facets of religious control.

Our educational system, ever since the sham proclamation of the bachelor's republic, has always been marked by alienating positivism, incapable of forming autonomous citizens. That's why fanatics hate Paulo Freire so much. And the military dictatorship, through the MEC-USAID agreement, tried to repress as much as possible a model of liberating and emancipatory education. And that's also why, in this historical period marked by the rise to power of ignorant and idiotic people of all kinds and backgrounds, attacks are directed against everything related to education, art, culture, autonomy, etc.

As philosopher and professor Maurício Abdalla wrote, “philosophy has suffered fatal blows. They want it out of schools and universities, monopolized by pseudo-philosophies with fundamentalist and far-right agendas, with shallow reflections and false associations of ideas.” Moreover, astrologers disguised as pseudo-philosophers are extremely important for occupying the diversionary space of social media and mobilizing minds and hearts, given that television is becoming a less attractive opiate. New audience-grabbing figures are needed to keep the people distracted and mobilized with trivialities, while the perverse run a government that only knows how to destroy and is incapable of building, aggregating, uniting, and positively mobilizing.

As revealed by journalist Jamil Chade on UOL, studies indicate that humanities programs are the most sought after among university students in OECD countries, a group of wealthy economies that Brazil aspires to join. On average, one-third of new university students in these countries enroll in social sciences (humanities) programs, more than double the proportion of new students in engineering, manufacturing, and construction. Another study published by the OECD in November 2017 found that social science professionals are fundamental to innovation in business processes, organization, and marketing strategies. Citing two other studies, the publication points out that those with humanities degrees will be at the heart of innovative work in the business sector. According to the survey, humanities students participate in a "wide range of sectors." The conclusion: these courses are "important for innovation in the economy." Therefore, Bolsonaro's bogus and mendacious argument that "the government's function is to respect taxpayers' money, teaching young people to read, write, and do math, and then a trade that generates income for the individual and well-being for the family, improving the society around them" does not hold up; and only serves to deceive idiots; that is, those who hate politics and submit to a life guided by the dictates of the powerful and their henchmen.

Finally, reflective knowledge of the humanities and social sciences, including philosophy, is fundamental for the State in the formulation, monitoring, improvement, and evaluation of public policies, as well as for the critical development of other sciences. Any country that wants to be autonomous in the concert of nations prioritizes areas of knowledge capable of producing critical reflection.

In the current moment – ​​of inflection and attack on the welfare state – the social sciences and philosophy are fundamental for critical and reflective knowledge. Because a new social order has not yet been born, and the old, decadent structures are struggling to survive. We observe a global transition that demands the reconstruction of societies, based on the paradigm of citizenship, legitimizing equity, justice, equality, and autonomy. It is in this socio-historical context that the social sciences take on the challenge of changing the logic of the construction and socialization of knowledge; expanding people's capacity to "learn to learn"; and governing and controlling the state and the market. Ultimately, in the reconstruction of a civic society, the Humanities and Social Sciences, by guaranteeing the legitimate and necessary space for articulation between all sciences, enable the training of professionals committed to the collective and to a new social order that globalizes, beyond economic well-being, solidarity and access to services and policies that shift the centrality from capital, the market, and individualism to the ethical centrality of human life, where there is space for dignified life and fulfillment for all. Therefore, the social sciences and humanities are the "boogeyman" of those who hate ideas such as equality, justice, autonomy, creativity, aesthetics, goodness, beauty, etc.

We know that the current government is calling for foolishness, stupidity, violence, irrationality, religious fanaticism, and narrow-mindedness. But, on the other hand, there are signs of exuberant resistance, driven by critical thinking, analysis of the current situation, socio-political articulation, and creative strategies of struggle, signaling intelligent and vibrant life in these dark times. They will not silence us..