Brazzil

although I can't deny the responsibility of government to provide more in the way of education, social assistance to the poorest...what also needs to happen is to stop the erosion of the middle/low-middle class in Brazil.
companies horde the money at the top levels. educated and experienced workers in white collar companies are not fairly compensated. blue collar expertise (electricians, plumbers etc.) are undervalued and underpaid.
this sense of entitlement and greed will eventually spell the end of utopia for so many privileged. "as Rome burnt, Nero played on".

"1.585 trillion dollars GDP, nearly 2.88 percent of the world's wealth...in 2005 "


This Brazilian GDP is based on PPP not actual GDP ! While the World total GDP is NOT based on PPP...but actual GDP !!!!!

Therefore the comparisons (2,88 % of world GDP) are misleading, erroneous and manipulated...on purpose...to show rosier stats than real facts !!!!!

In reality the 2005 Brazil real GDP was at around US$ 600-700 billion depending of the sources. Meaning closer to HALF of the 2,88 % mentionned in the article...against the 2005 World GDP !!!

One source showing Brazilian 2005 ACTUAL GDP at US$ 600 billion :

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/world_country_facts/south_america/cr_brazil_economy.html

Mixing and goofing on stats and comparisons....CANT end up in accurate results...by definition !

I defy anyone to prove me wrong !

2) " or 58.26%, of a total 127.4 million voters, did not complete the 4th grade (ensino primário)."

Hmmmm.....This is what I have tried to demonstrate to the many junk commentators....in this site....including to those writing articles full of errors and baseless facts ...such as above !!!!

3) "Government is one important entity that can spur the redistribution of this wealth in a more equitable manner."

They should but are unwilling to do it is a sad reality...proven by all stats...including Brazilians stats!
Brazil remains one of the world most UNJUST society....even with Lula as President.


This is just 3 facts within many others.

Strange, the article pretends the EXACT....opposite !!!!

Who lies...or disseminate wrong facts...on purpose ?

Not Romo.....in my view !!!!!

But in Ricardo Amaral clever long term plan......puting the oil money in a Sovereign Wealth Fund.....is much better !

And Bin the Crook and his 4000 thieves agree with Ricardo !

That is why Brazil is effectively creating a SWF.....instead of puting that money for the benefit of the whole society with more projects in infrastructure, healthcare, education, social progtams.

Sad truth and real shame !!!

Viva Bin Lula and his gang !

although I can't deny the responsibility of government to provide more in the way of education, social assistance to the poorest...what also needs to happen is to stop the erosion of the middle/low-middle class in Brazil.

How right you are. For years, the educated and well paid middle class was more concerned about bettering the lives of the poor (at least in the South). The continuing "erosion of the middle class" is a topic that nobody wants to discuss, including the Senator who wrote the article " Brazil's Lack of Nobels Has No Genetic Basis. Blame It On a Faulty Education". I am afraid that we are going to pay high price in the next decade, if not earlier!

Should it then not confirm that, as usual,the article is full of crap....since it says the exact opposite ?????

Hmmmmmmm ! Brazilians medias, politicians, government members, Bin the Crook and his 4000 liars, truly excel at hiding the sad truth.....by explaining the opposite of the truth !
Dont they ?

That is what I have been telling here...for years !!!!!

That is what I have been telling here...for years !!!!!

For how many years, Ch.c?

It is absolutely true. Not only from my personal experience, but also from that of my friends and relatives. For example, take the case of a professor in a Federal University with a Ph.d . When he travels, his travel allowance per day is not enough to stay in a decent hotel and pay for the taxi fares. This allowance has been frozen for years!! Because of the "Zero" inflation, of course.

I can go on writing for hours, but Romo succinctly explained what wee have in mind. Though, I would have preferred if he had not used the title "Corporate Responsibility"

That is what I have been telling here...for THE LAST 5 years !!!!!

You are confirming that most articles written here are full of crap, lies, cheatings and hiding the darker truth....since the article said the exact opposite for the middle class !!!!

"Because of the "Zero" inflation, of course"
Your forgot to add....also because of the 100 % inflation in corruption...of course !!!!

How many times have I said that if a minority of 5-10 % eat 70 % of the cake......the remaining 90-95 % will have to share the remaining 30 % ???

That is the center of your "development, wealth and economic model"
Development, wealth and economic model for the 5-10 % minority.... of course.

You are betrayed daily by the people you elected and you continue to elect them.....election after election !!!!
More masochists than Brazilians...there is not.
the harsher they are with you, the more you love them.

The man with itchy GENITALIA living north of ITALIA

This is the center (.....0.....) where you came from.

Costinha

Maybe that´s why he also resorts to....throwing his poo down from the tree....at people. If I ever get one for a pet, I´ll name him Costinha.

It believed that whiter population would make the country developed so the elites promoted a 'whitening' of the population through European immigration and race mixing to destroy the "genetically inferior" black race.

Let me try to understand your logic. How is mixing with "genetically inferior" going to improve anything? It won't. And how would they "destroy" the black race without destroying themselves as well?

Second, was there any contract that forced immigrants to mix? No, there wasn't. Those who did, did it on free will. Why in countries like the USA the immigrants stay in ghettos even today?

Third, do you know how IBGE gathers such statistics of "half of the salary of whites". Applying very unscientific ideas, such as one drop rule or considering Indians as "black" so they numbers can be even lower.

Fourth, even it wasn't manipulated, it would be still be wrong. Because of the economic differences between the regions of Brazil, such comparison means nothing. Someone living in Sao Paulo will always make more money than someone living in Ceará, even if they do the exact same thing.

And so many other wrong things. You would do well if you reviewed your text and fixed it.

I have observed it in the obstinacy of many about this racial nonsense, so much that it is worth mentioning it. Almost everyone that uses it follows the same pattern. Next time pay attention and you will see that I am right.

They try to portray themselves as "conscious" people, aware of the difficulties of other "ethnicities" (an euphemism for what our grandpas called "blacks"). So far so good...

Then they say something like this:

and race mixing to destroy the "genetically inferior" black race.

And accidentally show their true intentions.

In reality Brazil doesn't have many places for people to vent their racism just like in the US or Europe. It is against the law and people just don't talk about it and it is considered unpolite.

Now the racists found a place to talk about it without being threatened with a lawsuit. The message is the same: mixing is bad because "it destroys" the race.

This is the kind of people behind the racial movements in Brazil, and they come in many colors, not only white. Neo-nazis, black racists, etc, everybody "helping" the poor Brazilians.

When the history of Brazil is analyzed, and it has been done well by Gilberto Freyre and others, it's clear that mixing started way back in the colonization, mainly because the earlier colonizers weren't families of settlers, but men seeking richness and adventure. Simply there weren't enough white women for everybody.

But why read about your own country's history if you can just produce racist trash?

When people look at Brazil, feeling sorry for the condition "We" are in , they must get whithin and check how reality really works over here. As most of the countries, there are so many kinds of injustice, but things have changed. People go to school earlier and earlier, most of us speak more than two languages, we work hard, study hard, we make the difference.
These people the article is talking about means not the majority but a small part of our people, regarding the country´s size, but it is the thing foreigners like to show about us. Just think about Disney showing the Amazon jungle as our cities, but we Brazilians don´t live in tree, together with monkeys.
Like Africa is shown as Safari, Brazil has been too , like jungle and slums. If you could see, from the point of a real Brazilian view, you´d realise we are more than POOR THING FROM THIRD WORLD in need of mercy.

I am a Danish man who live permanent in Brasil, and I think I know what is the big problem here! It is not Lula - it is not the police - it is not the authorities! It is the people themselves!
I have never in my life seen more passive people! They just sit and wait until somebody do everything for them. What do they expect? That God come and help them? Yes that is excatly what they are waiting for!

I live and work in Rio as a teacher at a private secondary school for the wealthy, where I do my best to open the minds of the kids to what's going on around them. I sometimes feel I am just servicing the elite and have bought into the social injustice and inequality so I try when I can to raise awareness in the hope they might make some change in the future. Many, naturally, defend the system they do so well out of and will not recognise the extent of the problems. But even poorer Brazilians seem stubbornly accepting of or at times even proud of the status quo, in an almost bloody-minded way. They prefer to wave the flag - particularly if it is a football one - than take action such as a strike or public demonstration, as other latin American countries do. Most of the populatiob do seem passive or fatalistic, and prefer to waste the free time they have when they are not employed in some underpaid, laborious job, watching banal, patronising soap operas, which dull their minds and re-affirm class stereotypes. Bread and ciruses - in the form of football, carnival and infantile TV - ensure stability. And until people confront the issues, which they can do only if they are given the benefit of a decent education - they will continue to live in denial or ignorance. But, of course, it might just be better for the government and elite to keep things this way (though I would say not, infact, as, surely, the well off can't really be happy living behind bars in their high rise apartments, looking out on all that misery and squallor... and, what's more, one day the chickens might come home to roost). And as long as I can only get a decent teacher's wage by working in a private school I will continue in my effort to tweek the noses of my charges.

I am a US citizen visiting Brasil for the first time. I am staying with my wifes family in Rio and made a google search to find this page.

I have been very much stricken by the way of life here, trying hard not to draw comparisons with life in the USA. After only 10 days here I have a very limited perspective on what it must be like to live here. I am indeed having a very hard time reconciling the horrible poverty and the great natural wealth of the country.
Locks and keys are a way of life, trying to lock out the poor and pretend that everything is ok, acceptable and just the way things are.

It seems to me that the real issue is the ability of people to turn a blind eye to the suffering at their door. Living as a fat and happy American I have no room to judge and I am trying not to judge. My wifes family is middle class and they work for everything that they have, however I find myself agreeing with the Danish gentleman that posted above. Rolling up ones sleeves and making things happen just do not seem to be in peoples minds here, something that we in the US take for granted and is a part of our mind set.
Noble ideals require action to make real, not only talk.
Of course governments cannot be trusted to help. My own government is so corrupt that I actually expect a revolution in the US on the next decade. The differance is (in my mind) that US citizens will reach the breaking point and take action.
Thanks God for the second amendement.

david 67 and the articles has made some very good points. These problems in Brazil are very similar to other countries around the world. Many middle class and upper class Brazilians are in complete denial. Its difficult to discuss these issues with them (ive tried!)

Modern industrial civilization has developed within a certain system of convenient myths. The driving force of our industrial civilization has been individual material gain, which is accepted as legitimate, even praiseworthy on the grounds that private vices yield public benefits, in the classic formulation. Now it's long been understood, very well, that a society that is based on this principle will destroy itself in time. It can only persist with whatever suffering and injustice it entails, as long as it's possible to pretend that the destructive forces that humans create are limited, that the world is an infinite resource, and that the world is an infinite garbage can.

At this stage of history, either one of two things is possible: either the general population will take control of its own destiny and will concern itself with community interests, guided by values of solidarity, and sympathy and concern for others; or alternatively, there will be no destiny for anyone to control.

As long as some specialized class is in a position of authority, it is going to set policy in the special interests that it serves. But the conditions of survival, let alone justice, require rational social planning in the interests of the community as a whole, and by now, that means the global community.

The question is whether privileged elites should dominate mass communication, and should use this power as they tell us they must – namely to impose necessary illusions, to manipulate and deceive the stupid majority and remove them from the public arena. The question in brief is whether democracy and freedom are values to be preserved, or threats to be avoided. In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than values to be treasured, they may well be essential to survival.