tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3594722532540683646.post2410618749382244803..comments2024-01-06T23:25:09.200-03:00Comments on Hunting White Elephants / Caçando Elefantes Brancos: Minha Preciosa / My PreciousChristopher Gaffneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04857921977919114588noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3594722532540683646.post-76032965778517010662012-08-23T19:52:20.827-03:002012-08-23T19:52:20.827-03:00Catalysts for change are indeed hard to come by. O...Catalysts for change are indeed hard to come by. One would have thought that the robbed elections in the USA in 2000 and 2004 + the financial collapse would have stimul,ated some changes there, but we are seeing the rightward turn of all debate and all parties instead of a call for more solid democratic institutions and greater controls on capital accumulation, etc. In Brazil there will be a crash, yes, but I don't think it will result in a change because people will resign themselves to the immutability of a cultura escravocrata. The very real changes and progress that have been made in Brazil over the last generation cannot be denied, but it is difficult to tell if the increase in purchasing power, provision of electricity, and elimination of hunger are enough to alter the basic pillars of society. Certainly not in 25 years, but perhaps in 100? Brazil's problems are not new, nor will they be solved quickly and it might take 100 million individual ctalysts to make meaningful change. That, in a passive society that is used to getting hit over the head with a baton (or worse, as dilma knows) when oppositional voices are raised, might take some time indeed. Christopher Gaffneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857921977919114588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3594722532540683646.post-70402955823262639952012-08-22T19:02:13.250-03:002012-08-22T19:02:13.250-03:00Thank you for the reply.
Dilma is the COVER of Fo...Thank you for the reply.<br /><br />Dilma is the COVER of Forbes September issue highlighting power women.<br /><br />http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexisglick/2012/08/22/dilma-rousseff-brazil-entrepreneurs-power-women/<br /><br />"According to Nielsen, Brazil had 82.4 million Internet users in the first quarter of 2012 compared with 62.3 million three years earlier. On Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter Brazilians are the second most active social network users behind the U.S. "<br /><br />This doesn't surprise me but I do scratch my head in bewilderment as to why it hasn't been used FOR CHANGE on the major issues of corruption, health, education, infrastructure and of course accountability.<br /><br />What do you think will be the CATALYST?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3594722532540683646.post-8681889840115083012012-08-21T12:52:57.070-03:002012-08-21T12:52:57.070-03:00I'm not sure to what degree Brazilians are &qu...I'm not sure to what degree Brazilians are "waking up" or reconsider the trusted sources of mis-information. There are some movements working towards presenting reality, but the influence of the "grande midia" is so pervasive, so encrusted into the DNA that there's not much we can do but continue to work for more social justice through writing and activism. Christopher Gaffneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04857921977919114588noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3594722532540683646.post-88786738739740713682012-08-21T11:01:25.124-03:002012-08-21T11:01:25.124-03:00What I'd like to know is the degree to which B...What I'd like to know is the degree to which Brazilians are waking up to political/media PROPAGANDA.<br /><br />Are blogs like yours, You Tube, Twitter, Facebook waking the povo up and starting an "arab spring" of sorts or not?<br /><br />Being Brazilian myself I'm grateful for your insight and I want to know how or if the truth is making the people reconsider their loyalties to politicians and TV Globo?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3594722532540683646.post-50946098258706810032012-08-20T18:55:12.586-03:002012-08-20T18:55:12.586-03:00Wow, bleak stuff. Really discouraging to read abou...Wow, bleak stuff. Really discouraging to read about conditions at this derby. Not to mention in your neighborhood.Davidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12347992001478684396noreply@blogger.com