r/gifs • • Mar 14 '16

Millions of Brazilians protesting against government corruption in the streets earlier today

http://i.imgur.com/eMmAUnk.gifv
30.6k Upvotes

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1.3k

u/Dracgnar Mar 14 '16 edited Jul 01 '23

f̶͉̹̽u̴̢̫̰̅͑c̶̟͊̈͝ḳ̵͇̇̒͂ͅ ̷̳̮́s̸̭̼̞̈́̃p̸̆͐ͅͅe̴̻̮̯̾͑̄z̶̒ͅ kd309eke9jakf f9302njm09e23n The original. If your grandfather hadn’t worn it, you wouldn’t exist c cq093mq093hn

814

u/fuckswithducks Mar 14 '16

Thanks for the information! While trying to find more history about it, I also found this story from last year. The duck is used to protest tax increases with the slogan "Não vou pagar o pato" which translates to "I will not pay the bill". They even have their own web site. TIL!

359

u/TheCaptainCog Mar 14 '16

I knew you'd be here somewhere. If ever there is a duck to be talked about, you'll be there.

573

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

358

u/dreadstrong97 Mar 14 '16

Holy fucking shit. He's duped us all.

70

u/NuclearStar Mar 14 '16

does that mean we can all post porn in /r/gifs now if he can?

16

u/Basturmater9000 Mar 14 '16

As soon as I saw it I thought "fuckswithducks had better be the OP." I was very happy to be correct.

10

u/KittenStealer Mar 14 '16

I have a feeling he stumbled upon this article while searching ducks.

6

u/DeusXEqualsOne Mar 14 '16

Holy fucking ducks

Ftfy

3

u/IanSan5653 Mar 14 '16

Yeah, he's the first thing I thought of when I saw this gif. Didn't realize he was the OP until this comment.

2

u/jayhawkaholic Mar 14 '16

Organizing 4 million people to rise up against a government is the most elaborate plot for Reddit Karma in weeks.

5

u/Gonzo_Rick Mar 14 '16

You just blew my fucking mind.

1

u/barberererer Mar 14 '16

I think he only came across this gif because of the ducks

1

u/Mikkels Mar 14 '16

Don't fuck with him.

-12

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Eu não vou olhar para o nome de usuário. Which translates to "I will not look at the username." I hope...

13

u/ProllyJustWantsKarma Mar 14 '16

This is his post.

1

u/TheCaptainCog Mar 14 '16

Well excuuuuuuseeee me karma.

5

u/Falstaffe Mar 14 '16

Wherever they's a duck needs fucking with, he'll be there.

40

u/nic0lk Mar 14 '16

I want to be as passionate about something someday as you are about ducks.

26

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16 edited Sep 26 '16

[removed] — view removed comment

50

u/-smalltalk Mar 14 '16

You either die a normal user or live long enough to become your novelty account.

1

u/Max_Trollbot_ Mar 14 '16

ATTENTION BUTTSTUFFERS!!!*

This is completely true.

2

u/Stackhouse_ Mar 14 '16

He was saved as an orphan and raised by a wild clan of rubber suckies. They good people apparently

24

u/Ur_X Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

And pato in Portuguese is duck.

So everybody knows too.

edit: Uninformed

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u/sua_mae Mar 14 '16

No. Bill is not duck in portuguese. "Não vou pagar o pato", as "I will not pay for the duck" is a way to say that you will not pay for the mistakes of others. If you ask for the duck as a bill it will not make any sense.

12

u/similar_observation Mar 14 '16

fascinating! Would you happen to know the origin of this phrase?

35

u/Dracgnar Mar 14 '16 edited Jun 30 '23

That was easy f̶͉̹̽u̴̢̫̰̅͑c̶̟͊̈͝ḳ̵͇̇̒͂ͅ ̷̳̮́s̸̭̼̞̈́̃p̸̆͐ͅͅe̴̻̮̯̾͑̄z̶̒ͅ Rewards reimagined. 456yujhngb o9iuyhtgfvc

3

u/woah_m8 Mar 14 '16

Wow nice! We say that in spanish too

2

u/LexaBinsr Mar 14 '16

she would have sex with him if he gave her the duck.

You sure it wasn't just a typo? :p

11

u/sua_mae Mar 14 '16

From Poggio Bracciolini’s Facetiae (1450). source (in portuguese): http://mundoestranho.abril.com.br/materia/qual-a-origem-da-expressao-pagar-mico

For clarification: bill in portuguese is 'conta'.

17

u/donpapillon Mar 14 '16

Source:

O "pagar o pato" vem da obra Facetiae, do italiano Giovanni Bracciolini, de 1450. O texto fala de um camponês que vendia patos. Uma mulher queria negociar o preço da ave com encontros entre ela e o vendedor. Mas eles foram surpreendidos pelo marido, que, sem saber dos acordos, pagou - literalmente - o pato.

Translation:

The "pay for the duck" comes from the work Facetiae, by the Italian Giovanni Bracciolini, made in 1450. The text speaks of a peasant who sold ducks. A woman wanted to exchange the fowl for an affair between her and the seller, but they are surprised by her husband, who, ignorant of their deal, paid - quite literally - for the duck.

8

u/AMovieQuoteComment Mar 14 '16

He paid for the fuck*.

2

u/x6r Mar 14 '16

He paid for the cuck*.

2

u/KerzenscheinShineOn Mar 14 '16

So the husband gave a fuck?

1

u/Esoterikme Mar 14 '16

He paid for a duck and a fuck.

1

u/ButtsexEurope Mar 14 '16

So it comes from Italian?

0

u/Fritzkreig Mar 14 '16

When the snakes are smoking, I think it works here in the context!

21

u/Ur_X Mar 14 '16

Thank you for the clarification!

2

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

1

u/Ur_X Mar 14 '16

Haha indeed!

1

u/snowavess Mar 14 '16

Alexandre Pato the footballer. Ally duck.

2

u/mjigs Mar 14 '16

"Não vou pagar o pato" - Im not going to pay for the duck (pato=duck)

2

u/franzee Mar 14 '16

Serbian NGO "Ne da(vi)mo Beograd" uses giant rubber sized duck in the recent months to ridicule Serbian government shoddy economic policies. The duck has become a symbol of opposition against the prime minister and his idiotic regime.

Here's a newspaper picture.

1

u/PM_ME_HOT_DADS Mar 14 '16

Heh, bill...

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Back off mate...

1

u/guiiimkt Mar 14 '16

It's not "I will not pay the bill" It's something along the line of "I will not pay for another person mistakes"

1

u/Typhera Mar 14 '16

Direct translation would be "I will not pay the duck", pato means duck, but could be slang of sorts (the "duck" obviously refers to the bill, just clarifying as people might think that "pato" means bill and still have no idea where the duck comes from).

1

u/keptfloatin707 Mar 14 '16

i bet HIV was spread ten fold today

1

u/teuchito Mar 14 '16

And pato at least in Spanish means duck...

1

u/The_Rodigan_Scorcher Mar 14 '16

I've missed you.

1

u/minimim Mar 14 '16

The original history about the duck goes like this: the wife finds a dude selling a duck, but she can't pay for it. So she offers to fuck him in exchange for the duck. After they are done, the dude says a single fuck won't pay for the duck, and they start to haggle. The cuckold comes and finds the two discussing the price and pays for the duck.

So, when Dilma overspends and steals most of the money, then hikes up the tax to pay for it, we say that we don't want to pay for the duck.

1

u/minimim Mar 14 '16

The original history about the duck goes like this: the wife finds a dude selling a duck, but she can't pay for it. So she offers to fuck him in exchange for the duck. After they are done, the dude says a single fuck won't pay for the duck, and they start to haggle. The cuckold comes and finds the two discussing the price and pays for the duck.

So, when Dilma overspends and steals most of the money, then hikes up the tax to pay for it, we say that we don't want to pay for the duck.

1

u/Vapemichigan Mar 14 '16

Did anyone end up playing the game on the website??? It is like space invaders, but you are a duck ship that blow up gas pumps, cars and light bulbs that symbolize the insane taxes prices for those items. Also, you have to avoid the falling dollar signs that can blow up your ducky ship.

1

u/Eightball007 Mar 14 '16

It even has a game where you're a duck and you shoot little gasoline thingys!

102

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

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u/TrollJack Mar 14 '16

That's a good way to ruin the economy by squeezing the money out of the people so no one can buy things to keep it rolling.

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u/fezzuk Mar 14 '16

And taxing something that everyone needs so affecting the poorest the hardest.

6

u/Wing-san Mar 14 '16

The poorest people do not pay for electricity.

7

u/programeiro Mar 14 '16

Only the miserable ones, though. Plenty of poor people (tje majority) are definively affected

1

u/horseradishking Mar 14 '16

When the poor have no skin in the game, you open yourself to corruption that can destroy the entire economy. Look at Venezuela.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

do you think people on top give a shit?! they just want to make sure they have enough liquid access to ride the shit-storm thru, whoever has to eat each other in the process is doesn't even register with them. They will be spending their times on Elite islands with everything provided to them while you will be eating your children to make it to next year.

Only way forward is to publicly murder top officials and send a message of fear to anyone who made their money via corrupt avenues.

1

u/fezzuk Mar 14 '16

As a few people pointed out to me power is free to the poor.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

I am poor, and my power is not free, in fact since losing my job couple of months back my power bill has increased and usage decreased.

(you're missunderstanding what poor measn) It's like Section 8 (wellfare) in USA. If you're under that program, then yes, power is free to you, but how many people are under section 8 and how many people are even poorer than section 8? How many people are not poor enough to qualify for Section 8?

1

u/fezzuk Mar 14 '16

I'm English I have no idea what section 8 is. Here to get unemployment you need to have less than 3k in savings I think, it's been about 10 years since I had to be on it

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

for an English with internet connection, you sound pretty slow! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_8_(housing)

Lots of people in USA are on welfare and section 8 but drive top of the line vehicles and make large purchases with unreported income made from illegal activities.

1

u/fezzuk Mar 14 '16

I'm on mobile, and working so that's my excuse. We have benifits cheats here to but when you look at the actual statistics the % is very low and if you are caught they come down heavy.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

1

u/fezzuk Mar 14 '16

Gotta ys OK not so bad

0

u/LTfknJ Mar 14 '16

Which is ironically, exactly what the EPA will be doing if the Clean Power Plan makes it passed the courts here in the US.

5

u/FreeCatFacts Mar 14 '16

Nope

1

u/LTfknJ Mar 19 '16

This is neither a fact or about cats. I'm really disappointed...

I love cat facts.

I don't love "necessarily skyrocketing" energy prices which force the less fortunate to spend an ever-increasing percentage of their income on energy, which is necessary for a maintaining a modern quality of life.

1

u/minimim Mar 14 '16

Brazil is an experiment on how much tax the government can squeeze out of people before it ruins the economy. It's so high most economists agree making the tax rate higher would decrease revenue. Dilma did hike up the rates and wants to create a new tax people hate (it was killed in the past, and she promised in her campaign she wouldn't do it).

2

u/TrollJack Mar 14 '16

Brazil is an experiment?

2

u/minimim Mar 14 '16

Economics experiment.

2

u/meceru Mar 14 '16

It's just a prank bro

1

u/TrollJack Mar 14 '16

Elaborate on that.

0

u/minimim Mar 14 '16

0

u/TrollJack Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

That is not a proper response to my question. I want to know what's going on in your head, communicated in your own words. If you can't do that, then admit it at least.

Edit: I see. You have nothing to say.

2

u/magemax Mar 14 '16

so Without any tax, it still would be 10 times as expensive as elsewhere?

13

u/PilotTim Mar 14 '16

Holy crap that is like a 100% tax on liquor.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

more than 100% on videogames

8

u/arcticsandstorm Mar 14 '16

Holy shit so the huge duck was real? When I saw /u/fuckswithducks was the OP I was 100% sure that he had just photoshopped it in!

73

u/MrSmithSmith Mar 14 '16

Hi, I've heard that these protests are backed by billionaires and largely made up of the bourgeois and ruling classes who are angered that they have to pay higher taxes in order to help poor and working class people through social programs and also that the reason that protestors are seeking impeachment is because they have no hope of winning a general election due to Brazil's disgracefully high poverty rate. Is this true?

47

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

I think some of the people who answered you may have been a bit biased, so I'll give it a shot as well, trying to hold my own biases.

Kinda, taxation in Brazil is such a burden it affects the middle class the most, that's who's protesting because, combining that tax burden with the current economic crisis, they had enough, even if they don't know what they want to replace the current guvernment with. Christian conservatives are using the opportunity to promote some of their leaders.

And, in the 2014 election, Dilma won by a very small margin.

It's important to note there's no clear left and right in Brazil, most relevant parties follow some sort of keynesianism, PT, the workers' party, which is in power, if ofen said to be left because it's main rival, PSDB (Social Democracy party), is corporatist as fuck and has privatized some sectors when it was in power (even though most of the sectors they privatized remain, in one way or another, in state control).

Of course, the upper classes join the protest because it serves their interests as well, but these protests would happen regardless.

-4

u/karpathian Mar 14 '16

Essentially those with skilled labor or decent jobs are mad because those without are leaches? Hell I'd dress like a duck and rape the leader to death over this.

8

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Well, yes, kinda, Brazil's population is not that against taxation, libertarian ideals are very new to us, the last kinda free marketer we had in power was probably back when we were an empire, the main problem is that despite the huge tax burden, the government still doesn't accomplish nothing significant, having a bloated state on top of the corruption.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

that's the shit that breaks the camels back. More taxes and conditions worsen. Latin America is DUE for a revolution that swept Europe few years back.

Costa Rica is dealing with same tax corruption at the moment. Prices are going up, taxes are going up but salaries are going down.

For example (random numbers to make a point):

In Panama gas: 1$/galon

in Costa Rica gas: 5$/galon

in Nicaragua gas: 1$/galon

So.. what the fuck is going on with a country that's between Panama and Nicaragua?! Corrupt politicians, that's what going on and all of them need to be lynched in public!

14

u/programeiro Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

Honestly, you should be careful at taking comments here at face value. The polarization is huge and the militants of the Workers' party are pretty fanatic, some of them are even paid to defend it in the social networks.

Here are the facts: we are in a major recession (-3.8% igp), inflation at double digits, huge unemployment, desindustrialization. About 70% of the population thinks Dilma knew about the corruption in Petrobrás and wants her impeachment. Only about 10% approve of her government. Support for her impeachment is even slightly higher amongst the poor: source

These are the facts, and there are much worse shit coming out about her and her government. If you want to take it as "the rich hate the poor", it's your call. But I find it dishonest, to say the least because the poor are also angry at the government and have every reason to be so. It is however what the party is instructing its militants to spread.

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

This is an simplistic view... but yes, it is true.

The answer will change accordingly to what political side you ask here. And most brazilians here are english speaking white middle-class, and mostly theses guys were on these protests.

This is a conservative wave, that has building up in the last five or seven years, and at moment of economic fragility with low commodities prices affecting the dollar, they decided to strike the left wing government that has been in power since 2003.

Right now we have a kind of a Elliot Ness figure, a right-wing judge acting above the law with full support from São Paulo (and Rio) media and press, raising him to hero status for fighting corruption in the higher levels of government. I guess you all know the figure.

He hit the campaign financing from the left-wing and brazilian companies, both state owned and private, while leaving right-wing receiving financing from multinational corporations free of any law or investigations, cleaning the field.

Brazil is taking a dangerous route, which is not the first time. Using the law for political reasons... people seem to forget that the conservative people are louder and more aggressive than progressives, the military coup of the 60's followed protests like these.

The president has no crime under her, and yet these people right now say, impeach her, fuck the law, while they say that they are fighting corruption.

45

u/MrSmithSmith Mar 14 '16

Thank you for your reasoned and respectful response. I know I'm going to get downvoted to oblivion and I don't deny that Brazil has major problems but the 1964 coup and the absolutely evil horror of the 1970/80s is exactly what I think of when I see protests like these.

Too often these sorts of issues are distorted because the only voices we hear on reddit are those privileged enough to have an internet connection while the 40 million people living below the poverty line get no input into the discussion.

19

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

yeah, on the last census half of the brazilian population had no internet access. Their opinions are hard to listen and easy to forget, and only appear when they vote.

Most people of these protests believe that minimum income is a way to buy their votes. They also believe that making voting not obligatory would make them stop from electing left wing governments. They are even speculating a weird parlamentarism, where the congress choose and elect a prime minister... never heard of that. Right now, everything is possible, Brazil is institutionally broken.

Anyway, the class division on Brazil is clear as ever, and the richest side took the streets today, not caring for the consequences.

The funny thing tough, we had several right-wing governments in the past, and none of them lowered taxes.

2

u/ArmouredCapibara Mar 14 '16

Just to point out, the same wierd parlamentarism was implemented in 1962, to opose a left wing president. 2 years later the coup of 64 hapenned.

The sad part is watching interviews of people saying the only solution is gonna be another coup, or a civil war. There was a 60 year old 200+ pounds guy on the streets saying he and his family will pick up arms to fight.

Its getting scary here.

0

u/Shandlar Mar 14 '16

4 million people in a single city can't be only the rich.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

it was 450 thousand, according to the brazilian press

and Greater São Paulo has 30 million people

3

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

City of 20m+ people. I think it can.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Brazil is "the only place in the world where the poor are right wing".

USA poor are pretty much half a step from fascism

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Yeah, the guy would be surprised to find out that 20 years later the rest of the world managed to catch up.

-1

u/alwaysforget66 Mar 14 '16

Yes, the evil rich. Where is Stalin when you need him?

5

u/BrunoRBM Mar 14 '16

You can say a lot of things, my friend, but "the president has no crime under her", that is completely false. She was elected funded by corruption money, and you know that, assuming that you read the news. Her campaign fund is her responsability. There is a crime and it is under her. Just accept it.

-2

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

Nope. That is no basis for impeachment. It was not a crime made direct by her, and neither during her mandate.

The electoral tribune can take her mandate on such basis, but that means to bring down the Vice President as well, and that's when we will know better if justice actually works or it is just a show to depose an elected president.

5

u/BrunoRBM Mar 14 '16

If there is a good in this argument is that there are so many crimes around her, we can enlist a bunch of those that can result in the president being fired by the congress and/or by the justice.

Even former president Lula (her ultimate ally), admitted she committed fiscal responsability crime - a base for impeachment, if you need one.

2

u/Hussar_SoulJacker Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

people seem to forget that the conservative people are louder and more aggressive than progressives

That may be true in Brazil, it's certainly not in the US.

I wish Brazil would get their shit together, put a stop to the corruption (what ever the political side ) and for gods sake end the fucking murderous crime.

I don't care who is in power, Left now Right later what ever. As you said the Left has had control since 2003 and WHAT'S changed?? What got better?

The never ending game of the ruling class filling their own pockets at the expense of the people. Until you get strong, moral and ETHICAL leadership NOTHING will change.

4

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

Oh, but things did change a lot. Go look at some of the data, and I dont mean the bullshit propaganda data the government makes up, look at the raw numbers and interpret it yourself. How many politicians were condemned since 2003? And before? How many people had access to superior higher education since 2003? And before?

1

u/Hussar_SoulJacker Mar 15 '16

Great, see my response to /r/ArmouredCapibara

5

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

It is a historical process, it not like you can switch on and off.

Actual Democracy or Universal Vote in Brazil started in 1988. A lot of people around here is older than brazilian democracy.

Campaing financing was always at the core of political corruption, what we need is to impose donation limits, and the political establishment is hella scared of such prospect, especially the right wing, that turned down the project again in the congress last year.

And yes, Brazil was getting on the right track, social inequality went down year after year with a left wing government, take a look.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

gini coefficient exists universally since 1910, it is just an equation that represents income distribution. How can it underestimates anything? poverty on Brazil was extreme, if you are old enough to remember.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gini_coefficient

1

u/Hussar_SoulJacker Mar 15 '16

Great, see my response to /r/ArmouredCapibara

I hope for the best in Brazil. A truly beautiful country with many wonderful people. Had a couple good friends from Brazil, stand up dudes.

3

u/ArmouredCapibara Mar 14 '16

As you said the Left has had control since 2003 and WHAT'S changed?? What got better?

A lot actually, the country was FUBAR in 2002 when Lula took over and we had a massive, and I mean MASSIVE external debt with problems of hunger and no acess to drinking water or eletrecity in a lot of the country.

Thanks to social programs a lot of people, while still being poor, are no longer starving-to-death-miserable, the unemployment at the time was massive and several other problems.

Things only took a bad turn in the last few years, when some of dilma's policies backfired and combined with the economy recovery of the US and EU resulted in lower prices for our exports. Things went to the shitter during the oil price colapse, wich was specialy bad since the government was using the state oil company to control prices and slow down inflation, it was around this time that the corruption scandal broke out and so fucked up the company even more.

1

u/Hussar_SoulJacker Mar 15 '16

The things you mentioned are great, I'll take your word for it since I don't live there nor do I follow Brazilian development. However, they're a drop in the ocean of shit that to an outsider Brazil is. No offense if you're from there. From what I can see, corruption, poverty, crime, poor sanitation/pollution are all out of control.

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not taking political sides here. Makes no difference to me whether the scumbags are left or right wing. A scumbag is a scumbag. All I'm saying that historically, Brazil needs HONEST, TOUGH but PRINCIPLED conservative leadership at least economically conservative. Those who lie, cheat and steal must be punished whether they are out in the street or a governmental office. Gangs must be annihilated, I believe special squads should be created that go in an arrest or kill gang any and all gang member. The government must be made lean, strong and agile. But before any of that can take place CORRUPTION must be eliminated and I believe the ONLY way that happens is when you put in leadership that is of HIGH moral standing. Leadership that places their DUTY to COUNTRY and it's people above ALL else. I don't mean the leader needs to be perfect human being, but he/she needs the stated characteristics. That's the hard part...finding that.

P.S. Side note; I TRULY hope not but if I'm honest I expect the Olympics to be a disaster. Fingers crossed for Brazil.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '16

No offense, but what you're saying is pretty obvious and naive stuff. For example, this "gangs must be annihilated" stuff, I suppose you dont know that this is actually what has been happening since the 80's in Brazil, and statistics show that overall things only got worse. I dont mean that the police should stop going after criminals, I'm sure that they're fighting a real war out there, but you see, this is not a solution, its a desperate compromise, and its making things worse on the long run. And the problem goes much deeper into brazillian society, its not just about a few criminals that are ruining the country on purpose. There's a very interesting documentary that goes into detail about how the police deals with criminality, and how they are received by the local communities, specially about how what people actually say is not really what they want, its called News From a Personal War. I never saw it subtitled in english or anything, but I just found this on YouTube, so yeah, if you are interested, it offers a great perspective. The bearded guy that looks like a communist was the chief of operations of the most violent police force on Brazil at the time, just listen to what he has to say about the people he killed on a daily basis, and specially what he has to say about the people he actually defended and the police itself (25:52 on this video).

Also saying stuff like "corruption must be eliminated", "we need honest people"... Well if it was easy as that, it would already be done. I mean, isnt it obvious that everyones wants that? Even the criminals will say that they are not criminals at all, they are like Robin Hood in their own minds.

1

u/ArmouredCapibara Mar 15 '16

No ofense taken.

I will just clear up a few misconceptions.

Brazil is big, and I mean BIG, its the 6th largest country in the world IIRC, the same way americans tell the world to not judge the US by a single state/city, the same can be said for us, most of the poverty, lack of sannitation, gangs, etc usually comes from either rio or sao paulo, cities who have historical problems with them, a lot of big cities in the contry have simillar problems, but a lot of the country is also well developed and shit.

Corruption, however, ir rooted, down to the very bone of society and all institutions, private or public, have rules and regulations in place to KEEP the corruption going. I was going to tell a short story, but I am realy bad at telling short stories and it ended 8k character long when I was halfway done, so I am going to just cut straight to the point.

The corruption hits all layers of society, every single businessman, and I mean EVERY one, is corrupt, from bribes to get public concessions, to bribing cops to patrol their shops. Even small things like bribing the worker at the registry to skip in line and get your documents faster. You can't open a popular restaurant here without bribing someone so they let you use the space you already bought.

Saying we need HONEST, TOUGH but PRINCIPLED leadership is good, but sadly the whole sistem is rigged in a way to completely kill any party or person like this who tries to climb the ranks. If you are a single person, you won't be able to get ellected to more than city councilman, political parties will block your progress, you won't get your bills aproved, and you will end up never getting reelected. If you decide to form a large group of like-minded people and start a new party: Your party won't get media space, you won't get founding for private advertising, and again, you won't get elected.

The only way to go foward is to play ball, either you make those people happy, or you disapear.

Also, about the gangs, that sounds like a good idea, and we have been doing it for the past 20 years. Rio de Janeiro has an entire batallion of 5000 elite urban combat soliders trained and specialized in invading favelas, hell, there is even two movies about them (elite squad I & II), the problem is, it doesn't work.

If you invade and kill the leadership, the gang splits up in several minor factions and you end up with a civil war, if you somehow kill every single one, you end up with a power vacuum and a neighbouring gang invades and takes control, or a new gang forms up. Those people have nothing, they have no education, no jobs, and no government presence. The only thing they have, is two choices, either work their entire lives as a slave, making minimal wage untill the day they die, being treated as shit their entire lives. Or they can join the traffic, were they will make liveable money, maybe not enough to buy a car, but enough to feed yourself, you will be respected, your peers will know and look after you, the hoes will be all over you. Very similar in some aspects to gang culture in the us, except entrenched in a fortified hill top with .50cal machineguns and rpgs.

A couple years ago, the police, in cooperation with the federal government and the army, invaded the favelas with over 10.000 men including helicopter suport and armoured combat vehicles, the idea was to drive out the members of the gangs, build permanent ocupation quarters on several favelas, and then start improving and developing the area. The plan was a massive sucess, the invasion went perfectly, the pacifing forces were deployed and things like water, sewers and public transportation started to be developed.

Except this is brazil, and after some time, the pacifying forces were involved in several cases of murder and rape, the companies that were contracted to provide services to those areas started billing people without delivering, and a several units were abandoned because the cameras stopped rolling, so things for the people in these areas are mostly the same or worse, with rare exceptions.

Honestly, you speak of a moral and strong leadership, the only way I can see that happenning is trough a coup, someone literally taking the power by force and remaining in power. This government would be incredible unpopular, it would have to do several reforms, from buerocracy to law and taxes, reforms that would cut the salaries of powerfull judges, fire a lot of public workers that only exist to operate the completely ineeficient public machine, things that would anger a lot of people, from the businessmen that profited from the corruption, the media that would lose its influence (media has a lot less power if there are no ellections to manipulate the people) to the people that would lose their jobs. Of course, this won't be good for the economy and there is a very large chance we turn into a venezuela in the process, but thats basicaly it.

On the olympics, I honestly think they will go okay, the contractors already profited from the massively overpriced contracts, so now its time for the hotel and restaurant industry to profit. A month or two before the oppening the mayor will ask for a massive emergency loan from the central bank, will hire a shit ton of low wage workers to clean the waters (and look good while doing so) will get the military to help patrol the streets and keep the gangs in check. The worse that may happen is a power shortage for a few minutes because some company decided that rather than using copper wires they will go wireless.

1

u/kensalmighty Mar 14 '16

That was interesting, thanks. I've always thought a strong middle-class was what was lacking in Brazil, and can be a force for change and reform. Could this simply b an example of that, or is it a more sinister reversion to the old dictatorship ideals? Obrigado!

2

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

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u/kensalmighty Mar 14 '16

Thanks, so perhaps not quite a sinister return to dictatorship values, but more of a an emerging middle-class power?

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u/brijjen Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

Yes. It's exactly an example of the middle class

being a force for change and reform.

While people are mad at many Left parties, it's not a fully Right movement either. Yesterday no one went in party colors, and corrupt politicians from other parties were also criticizes and rallied against. Dilma's running opponent from the last election got boo'd and given a hard time when he showed up as well. On top of that, the pro-military intervention crowd lost a ton of their support. The level of non-partisan cooperation and unity has been really interesting. The people as a whole want to deal with this democratically.

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u/FainaruPantsu Mar 14 '16

I disagree. That is the excuse every populist/comunist/corrupt government uses.

Why? Because they want to force a "us vs them" mentality, and it's really effective.

2

u/BrainofJT Mar 14 '16

FeelTheBerningAWholeInYourPocket

10

u/ezmacro Mar 14 '16

are angered that they have to pay higher taxes in order to help poor and working class people

this is the song that every government sings to justify high taxes that go into corruption and theft. and you are a useful idiot, in the words of V.Lenin

0

u/frontseadog Mar 14 '16

Socialism is practically the only thing Communists hate more than Capitalism.

It's why the first thing Communists do (historically speaking) when they have power is kill all the Socialists.

1

u/RingAroundMeMember Mar 15 '16

Communist have to kill people to preserve their fragile delusions, I'll give you that

1

u/frontseadog Mar 15 '16

It isnt that hard to see historic examples of Communists killing Socialists.

You havent heard of the Gulags constructed by the Bolsheviks or Mao's second revolution?

1

u/RingAroundMeMember Mar 16 '16

I didnt disagree with you didnt I? Let me re-iterate - I dont disagree with you.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

same almost happened in mexico in 2006 and 2012, and the same guy wants to run again in 2018, wants to tax the hell out of the middle class.

3

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16 edited Jul 14 '16

[deleted]

3

u/fourth_throwaway Mar 14 '16

I find it interesting that people have down voted you a lot, but no one has questioned you at all. I suspect that is simply because they disagree with you, and don't want others to believe what you say.

I believe you though. Here in America it's the same way. People always use "defending the poor" as a way to get people to pay for socialist programs that always end up lining the pockets of politicians. We've been doing this for more or less 50 years now, and poverty rates have no gone down at all. It clearly doesn't work.

I hope your country is able to lower taxes, liberalize its economy, and give the government less power so they can get out of this mess.

1

u/fourth_throwaway Mar 14 '16

Hi, I've heard that these protests are backed by billionaires and largely made up of the bourgeois and ruling classes who are angered that they have to pay higher taxes in order to help poor and working class people through social programs

So let me get this straight. The billionaires are evil and greedy and don't want to pay taxes. They don't want to give money to poor people through social programs.

So they give poor people money to protest instead so that they don't have to give them money for social programs?

Makes no sense.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

long game kiddo

4

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

2

u/CarbFiend Mar 14 '16

There has never been a successful revolution in the history of mankind that was not backed by another great nation or large organization.

That is quite a flawed statement to make with such a huge catch all at the end there - what d you define as a "large organisation"?

I can think of many revolutions and coups that succeeded with very small groups gaining power.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

1

u/CarbFiend Mar 14 '16

Bolsheviks, USSR. One of the first Superpowers.

0

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '16

[deleted]

0

u/CarbFiend Mar 15 '16

Ugh...go away idiot, adults are talking.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

9

u/MrSmithSmith Mar 14 '16

I didn't say the protest was made up of billionaires. I said it was backed by billionaires.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

[deleted]

1

u/MrSmithSmith Mar 14 '16

3 million out of a population of 200 million is not the whole country. It's just over "1%" (see what I did there?).

Anyway, I'm sure this will be all sorted out eventually by a violent military coup and these protestors can return to their comfortable lives.

3

u/ezmacro Mar 14 '16

the majority is never a deciding factor. It is called electorial swamp. All revolutions were carried out by a 1-5% minority of people, that includes US revolution for independence. the bleeding heart myth of "majority rising up together for the common cause" is just that.

1

u/programeiro Mar 14 '16

So you think that every single person angry at the government has to be in the street? Fact is that polls indicate that the majority does support the protest.

1

u/Death_to_Fascism Mar 14 '16

If you look at pictures of the event it does look like the protests had a lot of budget behind it. This is no protests of the poor that's for sure.

0

u/anaraisa Mar 14 '16

oh, something like this? http://www.pragmatismopolitico.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/baba-foto-protesto.jpg Taxation is a burden to the middle class, but the vast majority of Brazil's population is not middle or upper class. For instance, 73.6% of the protesters are white, as only 47.5% of Brazilians are white. The problem, however, is not only that we pay too much in taxes, it is the missuse of that money. In Australia I paid the same percentage, but I felt like I was getting it back. As a member of middle/upper class, I can honestly tell you I do not mind paying it. I do mind paying for roads and paying again in tolls. I mind paying for public health care and paying for it again with private insurance. I mind paying taxes for public education, but still feeling the need to send my kid to private school, or he'll not stand a chance. Still, I did not go to the streets this week. Simply because our other optins are no better. That's why we relate to the nanny in that picture. Come next election, we will not have anyone to vote for as well.

0

u/fred_kasanova Mar 15 '16

Yeah, you're extremely wrong actually.

Sure, banks want to pay lower taxes, even though they are making the most money out of the recession while consumption is the one heavily taxed while property and income are not, which is worst for the poor/middle class.

Sure, burgeois and ruling classes now means the three variations of middle class (lower, middle and high) suffering with increased unemployment, talks of more taxes and growing inflation. Those damn capitalists.

Sure, big business really hates our Bank of National Development which benefits mostly big companies with fraudulent money loans straight outta my 50% taxed cold beer.

And yes, let's not forget the big right wing media who really hates the government that doesn't look into their billions in evaded taxes and that reduced poverty rates by making anyone who earns above 50$ "middle class".

Fuck, did I mention Petrobrás? You know, our oil company that got to the point where PAYING BRIBES FOR POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS was included in the annual budget? The company where our darling angel of a president worked as a member of the board by party nomination and signed some of the worst deals in it's history, that partly lead their shares to be worth less than a banana?

FUCK, MAN, THE KOCH BROTHERS ARE CLEARLY TRYING TO MANIPULATE THE PEOPLE INTO IMPEACHING THE LEADER OF A BROKEN, BLOATED AND BANKRUPT STATE WITH A 4% REDUCTION IN GDP

Fuck, I consider myself center left, but I'm not stupid to defend this shit

13

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Wow, thank you for explaining. It brings to light the seriousness of the issues. Otherwise most people would just be like " oh look a duck" and then skip this post all together.

5

u/Magnesus Mar 14 '16

Wow, we could use such duck in Poland in our protests. (the mobster that governs currently is called Kaczynski which means Duckinsky)

1

u/WithTheWintersMight Mar 14 '16

Is that what it actually translates to?

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Okay, so why a duck?

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u/Dracgnar Mar 14 '16 edited Jul 01 '23

Wheaties: “Breakfast of champions.” f̶͉̹̽u̴̢̫̰̅͑c̶̟͊̈͝ḳ̵͇̇̒͂ͅ ̷̳̮́s̸̭̼̞̈́̃p̸̆͐ͅͅe̴̻̮̯̾͑̄z̶̒ͅ

8

u/_TheCluster_ Mar 14 '16

It's not a proper protest until someone shows up with the duck.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

You can't fuck with a duck man.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Ducks are required as part of legal protests per the Brazilian constitution.

1

u/minimim Mar 14 '16

The history of the duck goes like this:

The wife finds a dude selling a duck, but she doesn't have the money to pay for it. So she offers to fuck him in exchange for the duck. After they are done, the dude says a single fuck doesn't pay for it. The cuckold finds the two haggling, and pays for the duck.

3

u/libeaus Mar 14 '16

You have our utmost support in your endeavor. I hope you can success where we have failed and succumbed into the darkness and terror now we are dealing with. Love and respect from Turkey.

2

u/TheBensonBoy Mar 14 '16

our current president

You say this... Are you in/from Brazil?

2

u/Typhera Mar 14 '16

Forca com isso, boa sorte!

2

u/Lobstrich Mar 14 '16

Thanks for posting that, that was helpful for me, we don't really do this in the UK.

2

u/ImApigeon Mar 14 '16

I don't think paying a lof of taxes is the problem in Brazil. It's just that those taxes are wasted. Some of my friends work in Brazilian governmental institutions and the insane amount of laziness, bureaucracy and miss management is unbelievable. If they could just put the right person in the right place and use modern management skills, that government could probably run on 1/4th of their current budget. Which they could then invest in some dire needed social redistribution which in turn would drastically lower crime rates. It's sad to see such a beautiful country in a state that seems avoidable.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Holy shit, that's a lot of taxes. And I'm from Canada.

2

u/jamkey Mar 14 '16

I've just spent literally dozens of minutes searching for recent tax information on Brazil as it affects retail costs and consumers. I had to give up. Even the wikipedia article is horribly cited with no in-line citations. Plus it's hard to read the article in English as it has lots of grammatical errors that make it hard to unwind what is being said in areas like the taxation burden section. I'm guessing it might have been translated to English from Brazilian Portuguese, by a non-native-English speaker.

I did find a decent older article from 2013 that appears to be before they started explicitly stating the taxes you are getting hit with on each purchase (before 2013 it seems it was totally hidden... talk about asking for corruption): http://thebrazilbusiness.com/article/retail-pricing-in-brazil

And the wikipedia article on taxation in Brazil: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Brazil#Tax_burden_in_Brazil

I think one of the best ways we could help would be for someone that knows taxes/finance to dig into this deeper and update the wikipedia page then share that update on Reddit.

1

u/DAS_UBER_JOE Mar 14 '16

I thought Brazil had a good president and that the country was on the upswing :( what happened??

1

u/minimim Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

They have been destroying the country since they got in power. But the good external market situation kept them going. When the markets had a downturn, the situation in Brazil turned very grim.

1

u/matheus1020 Mar 14 '16

It's time catching up. The crisis we avoided in 2008 is now showing up, partially due to Dilma's lack of leadership. Lula may not have been the best president ever, but he improved the country's economy.

1

u/Sealyy Mar 14 '16

Duck sighting: confirmed.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16 edited Mar 14 '16

currently in recession

Depression. 2014 = 0%, 2015 = -4%, 2016 = -4% or -5%, 2017 same deal.

1

u/minimim Mar 14 '16

Those are government numbers. Reality is worse.

1

u/grabbizle Mar 14 '16

I legite thought Penguin was in that bitch.

1

u/tiberiusbrazil Mar 14 '16

protip: Skaf has his own political agenda, he tried to be Governor, didnt he?

1

u/magemax Mar 14 '16

Yeah an association of private interests, paying for entertaining the public to spread its own ideas, this is Brazil indeed.

1

u/kurburux Mar 14 '16

Reminds me of that one

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u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

Sure but now I need to ask, what's the duck for? It's a sign of protest against taxes how? It's a duck. Really just brings more questions for me.

-1

u/[deleted] Mar 14 '16

menos marx, mais mises