Brazil
Brazil is heading for a presidential runoff at the end of the month. Bolsonaro has a narrow margin to win, supposedly representing ‘the right’, Lula is not far behind, supposedly representing ’the left’. But IMO, we’re just picking from two different flavours of cronyism.
Both are terrible choices. Quoting one of Brazil’s greatest movies, City of God “Do you wanna get shot in your hand or on your foot?”
It’s like a vicious circle. Populism wins elections. It’s not about policies or plans, it’s about selling an identity and then convincing people the other side is evil and stupid. If you question your side’s identity, that’s a betrayal, and if you are on the other side you’re a communist or a fascist, woke or a nazi.
Have we always been this tribal? Is there any hope for us to evolve past this type of behaviour?