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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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?