Revolt

One could continue writing about the staggering amount of idiocy this government presents us with daily. There's so much that sometimes I wonder if it's real. As if what's normal is fake news and vice versa.

What I'm watching is a guy who bought a driver's license to be president driving a beat-up truck downhill with no brakes, and then seeing his family, sometimes helping to push it, sometimes wanting to take the wheel.

If I, who am outside of Brazil, feel terrified by the total and utter lack of direction, zero planning, and dismantling of what used to work, I can only imagine how you, who live this daily nightmare, feel.

I see many people publicizing the names of the congressmen who are voting in favor of the pension reform proposed by the government. This reform, they say, will save Brazil's future as if our present were some kind of marvel. I'm not surprised by these congressmen; they are known for what they are, and they'll even receive R$ 40,0 million in thanks. What do you expect from people who steal half the salaries of their office staff?

What I think we need to publicize are the names of those who help elect these people. Incredibly, they are elected with the votes of many people. What kind of creatures are these who reward thieves with positions where they can enrich themselves at the expense of their voters?

It's so bizarre that there are people praising Globo Network when it criticizes the president and cursing it when it speaks in favor of the pension reform. The same people! What's happening to you?

Things are so crazy that I'm already seeing friends praising Mourão. Mourão! The general who accepted being subordinate to the captain and who won't shut up. A vice-president who doesn't know his place and has no idea what kind of job he holds. A despicable character in a chaotic government. Apparently, despicable is a virtue where he is found.

Hold on, there's more. The president's sons are a case apart. They hurl insults at the vice-president and take turns attacking everything and everyone who supposedly opposes their father. They speak poor, barely comprehensible Portuguese. They tweet nonsensical things, or at best, utter drivel. A family in perfect harmony.

I see the stock market falling and the dollar rising day by day. Gasoline at R$5,00 when, for half that price, a wealthy woman caused a national scandal at a gas station. Jobs being lost, businesses failing, and the government forgiving debts of friendly tax evaders. All this in an Alice in Wonderland atmosphere where the rabbit is the great intellectual behind government actions.

And how can we not talk about our Rasputin, a half-baked philosopher who isn't even good enough to be a newspaper back-cover astrologer? This Olavo de Carvalho is the epitome of what we're experiencing, that Brazilian who gets ahead because he's clever. The personification of Gerson's Law. A mediocre man who managed to become the guru of a bunch of incompetents who were rewarded with good government positions.

And our justice system? It's a walking joke. The nation's supreme court decides to order investigations into those who speak ill of it. They are violating the Constitution they should be safeguarding against those who try to use their power for their own benefit. It's like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse.

I can't say I'm incredulous at what I'm seeing. All of this didn't start overnight; it's been building on the abuses committed since the impeachment of President Dilma. Since then, all the limits of the law have been broken without anyone paying for it, except for President Lula, who is now a political prisoner in the hands of his tormentors.

Like India, Brazil is a caste system. The upper caste lives off the benefits the state provides. And with a population that silently accepts all of this, it becomes much easier. When they take to the streets, it's not to complain about those who steal, but to have the right to steal as well. For that, they are capable of worshipping a Jesus in a guava tree and denouncing penis-shaped baby bottles while burning gay kits.

This isn't going to end well. The only question is how much longer it will take for the population to take to the streets and demonstrate their dissatisfaction. I'm not talking about those frustrated with their votes; they'll remain hidden behind their pots and pans. I'm talking about those who have always been against it and are now suffering the consequences like everyone else. Wake up!

Only the streets can end this torment, and each day lost will only make recovery more difficult and painful. It is in the streets that great transformations are born, where every popular revolution begins and ends.

The time has come to take to the streets and revolt.