[–] DeliciousGuave 0 points 8 points 8 points (+8|-0) ago (edited ago)
Brazil is a land of dychtomies. You have segregated poles of extreme wealth and extreme poverty. It's easy to walk into the country and find the exact demographic for your shocking violence video. Or the next "corruption is everywhere" documentary.
Yet it is just as simple to walk into a neighbourhood where everybody is wealthy, educated and ridiculously productive. Every major city in Brazil has those bairros and even within a community you may find that it is split between the rich and the poor.
Now, to give you some perspective: People estimate Brazil has about 205,168,963 inhabitants (Source is the IBGE.) But that number is inaccurate since, especially in rural areas, there are a metric fuckton of unregistered births. (And deaths for that matter). There are also a lot of unregistered people in the favelas.
From those ~206 mil people, only about 20mil have a decent living standard with a decent access to good education, regular meals and so on. Now, my numbers don't really match those of the IBGE, but my metrics are more restrictive. I also don't want to bog people down with too much detail here, I just want to give you a general impression of the inequality going on in Brazil.
I definitely belong to those 20% since I had the chance to study abroad and I was very well cared for. But many of my peers, who also belong to those lucky enough to have access to education, simply don't have a fucking clue about the world or about their own nation. They live in bubbles of perfect, americanized "bigger is better" lives. Only a few have any meaningful contact with the poor and needy, and then it's mostly through their maids or other servants. (My family had a maid from our bairro's favela for example.)
I can elaborate further in case you are interested. I'd also love to have additional HUEHUEHUEBRGIBMONIPLS chime in and give their impressions.
That's some shocking disparity and yes I met quite a few young Brazilians abroad but they were more like your demo. Basically wealthy enough to be traveling and studying overseas and in relatively expensive countries like the UK and Canada. When I'd ask a little about the seemingly pandemic thefts and robberies and pickpockets they'd kinda just laugh it off or would mention those 'favelas' but in a kind of 'joke way'. Yes, oh those places are full of crazies and gangs. But I could tell they were in the 'bubble' which you can see in rich Chinese kids, Indians and others from similar high-disparity countries
Thing that baffles me a little is that Brazil (so i thought?) has quite a Roman Catholic tradition. And if anything it seems South American Roman Catholicism really puts quite a lot of focus and respect and admiration on the poor and needy, social justice (not the SJW brand) but on charity and community spirit.
India doesn't have that. They really do have a 'caste system' deep-seated in theri religions and so there are real explanations on how and why one guy can have golden gates to a 600 million dollar mansion overlooking a horrifying slum.
China also has an entirely different mentality. The more poor people and the poorer they are only make the money man bigger and prouder. Hell you don't even have to get richer and Chinese can be happier everyone else is poorer. In a 'shame culture' there are lots of explanations for 5% having insane comfortable (and isolated or 'bubble life') wealth.
But Brazil? Brazil should have every Western ideal. Oh, I don't mean Venezualen 'Communism' or socialism either. I just mean Brazil should have all those Western values that just want to constantly clear the way for anyone to succeed, equality among classes and I'd think a kind of work ethic and pride for the working man??
I have to give one of the Colombian student credit. He was almost a kind of 'activist' but in a critical way about his own country. He was a helluva speaker who could have done 'TED Talks' and he say - "Colombia, we have only ourselves to blame! We have everything. Everything, every natural resource, every lush forest, farmlands and beaches, we have open spaces, we have beautiful warm weather, Colombia has everything to be one of the single greatest tourist destinations in the Western world, we have geography on our side and we even have some of the most handsome and beautiful people on the planet! We have Latin music, we have football champions, we have cathedrals, history, culture" - and then he'd explain why its just wasted over and over again. drugs of all the stupid things. senseless gangster cultures, blaming the USA, blaming Venezuala, blaming rich people, blaming poor people or as its said "voting in governments that we deserve" (meaning of course whos to blame when a terrible party sinks the economy again and again).
I was led to believe that its entirely possible his family, quite likely his uncle who I knew well, that they were abroad because of involvement in a group called something like 'The Pepes' and holy shit did they clear up some drug problems. And I give them credit. Because they just decided to 'take their country back'.
But can Brazil do something like that? Can Brazil ever have a kind of 'social revolution' that does NOT amount to people throwing toilet bowls in football riots or massive cops vs gangs shootouts and machete battles??
Come on Brazil.. get your shit together please!
[–] [deleted] 5 points -3 points 2 points (+2|-5) ago
[–] hyperoperation 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Government corruption in many of the countries in South/Central America is absurd. People bitch about the US government but they make ours look saintly. Parts of Brazil remind me of the Fallout game series.
[–] [deleted] ago
The USA is relatively safe and definitely wealthy when even inside the USA 'Brazil zones' where mostly black and latin gangs carry out warfare - most of those people would never spend a night in a 'Favela' in that kind of poverty. Shit, you gotta boil your fuckin water, no ESPN and who the fuck doesn't have one pair of new nikes at least?
but my understanding is that you go back far enough to the earlier days of the 'New World' and Brazil (and much of South America) was assumed to be the next big thing. So much so that one documentary says its why you see magnificent (but now crumbling) cathedrals in what are surprisingly shitty places. Its because the church itself also invested in the massive architecture and 'infrastructure' for the coming superpowers that would be Brazil, Mexico, and nope.
Do this:
You can only choose one country and you must live and work and raise your family there for the rest of your life. (so not just hold a passport). Nope, you are exiled to one country but the good news is you are a full citizen with all rights, opportunities, freedom of movement.
Brazil or USA?
Without even a microsecond of thought its obviously the USA. Its not even a debate or discussion in your mind. You'd even choose it if you knew you'd have to start out in Harlem or Detroit and work your way up. In a heartbeat without a doubt the USA is your choice.
[–] ServiceStud 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I'm guessing the lack of a solid middle class. But it looks like others have more thoughts on the topic so I'll defer.
[–] wolfsktaag 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
brazil has 2 or 4 major and very different racial groups (depending on how classify natives/mixes). the lighter skinned, more european folks are the ones that made people think brazil would be the US of south america. the darker skinned folks make it like africa
whichever have the most surviving babies will determine the future
[–] Zardoz [S] 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
One of the documentaries touched on this and the angle was: Brazils white people (more euro/caucasians) are the most depressed people in Brazil. More anxiety, clinical depression, therapists, 'prozac' types of antidepressant prescriptions. Vs The relative happiness factor of the 'mixed race' Brazilians. Even boasting up more successful mixed football champions.
I wasn't sure what to make of this though. While white people tend to be a big problem with being depressed it also occured to me that maybe the richer, wealthier (on average) europeanish Brazilians are also the ones trying to work in modern 1st worldish jobs with stress, responsibility trying not to get robbed by motorbike banditos every week and maybe feeling responsible for the country and their societies.
Maybe, and Im just 'guessing out loud' but maybe the reason the poorer black/native types had less psychology appointments or could bother reporting 'depression' on some forms is because (it seemed to me) they got up at about noon wearing the same tshirts and flip-flop sandals they slept in to gossip and goof around until it was time to party hard at the local drinking sidewalk where they will probably get in an exciting shootout.
So granted this - yes, poor unemployed partypeople do have that advantage of less likely to be getting SSRI prescriptions and filling out 'how depressed are you' surveys. Even if they are literate. Just my guess.
[–] wolfsktaag 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago (edited ago)
pigs are happy in shit, other animals not so much. euros tend to be happy in lands that they built, less happy in lands of theirs other animals invaded, and then one day explode and genocide everyone who isnt euro that inhabits their land
[–] drakesdoom 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
I blame the weather. Warm living is easy living, no reason to work with others.