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 In 2002, the Brazilian people demonstrated their daring and clear-sightedness by electing Lula president. They understood that, beyond administering its crisis-of-the-moment, Brazil also needed to reorient its social destiny to overcome the deeper crisis of a country that had not yet found its course.
Brazilians chose what would have been unimaginable years ago: a president who came from the poorer classes, from a party of the Left, someone making revolutionary promises.
It is still too early to know what the historians will say. But one thing can already be perceived: the government did not show either the intelligence or the daring demonstrated by the people. The leadership elites and the vanguard lagged behind.
The intellectuals prefer silence; the politicians prefer the Congressional Investigating Committee (CPIs). And the people see that Brazil needs reforms and believe in Lula.
But he, the politicians and intellectuals do not perceive the demands of the moment. Without imagination or daring, they are prisoners of the day-to-day, of circumstances.
Politicians and the press have demonstrated that they will not tolerate the payment of some thousands of reais in the form of under-the-table monthly allowances. Last week, however, the federal government submitted its budget proposal for 2006.
And neither the press nor the politicians dedicated any time to analyzing the billions of legal "monthly allowances" embedded in it. Defending its traditional interests, the vanguard lagged behind.
It showed neither the understanding nor the daring of the masses, who demand profound changes in the Brazilian social structure. It did not call for the use of public resources for the service of the people and for the construction of a united society.
In 2002, the people demonstrated that they wanted to reduce the gap separating the 20% richest Brazilians from the 50% poorest, those with 20 years of good education from those who do not complete four years of low-quality instruction. And they believed that what was needed for this was a president with the same origin as theirs.
We lost our chance. The intellectuals kept silent; the politicians, stumbling. And for one reason: no one wants to lose and revising the budget requires a redistribution of the priorities and the beneficiaries of public funds.
The vanguard is in the rear guard. They lagged behind.
Silence is the tomb of the intellectual. The vacuum of ideas. But the Brazil intellectuals kept quiet. They are not successful in explaining the crisis or suggesting new courses for the country.
The quick fix is the tomb of the statesman. But the Brazilian politicians are consumed by the routine of the CPIs and the corporativist demands. They are not successful in orienting the destinies of the nation, in formulating ideas, in leading.
In 2002, the Brazilians opted for a risky, courageous break with the past. Lula was elected at the height of the crisis of a country that was stagnating economically, indebted both domestically and abroad; a country with degraded cities, with concentrated income, with half of the population in misery and an education system that was shamefully backward and unequal.
An alternative road had to be risked. But we, the leaders and politicians, did not discover how to take advantage of the opportunity. We were not on top of the crisis.
And the masses, who risked the election of the president representing a break with the past, watch in frustration as the country skates over the crisis, like an eternal cycle of tragedies.
The generation of leadership today is not on top of the challenge of the moment. It does not perceive the exhaustion of the imperial, slave-cratic historical cycle.
It does not see that the economic development of the second half of the twentieth century came at a high cost in terms of financial resources and social disintegration.
It did not succeed in completing the free republic that was hoped for. Nor is it formulating an alternative design for the future.
There is in Brasil, however, an anxiety for alternatives, a desire to go forward. An immense will to not let hope die.
Cristovam Buarque has a Ph.D. in economics. He is a senator for the Federal District and was Governor of the Federal District (1995-98) and Minister of Education (2003-04). You can visit his homepage - www.cristovam.com.br - and write to him at cristovam@senador.gov.br.
Translated from the Portuguese by Linda Jerome - LinJerome@cs.com.
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Nobody in this world has yet been able to transform an old black/white TV into a crisp collored flat screen TV !!!!!
New plans, new technicians,new technologies, new plants, new tools are needed to do that.
Therefore old politicians and old black/white TV have another thing in common ! They are just good for....garbage !!!!!!
Therefore it is up to you...Brazilian society....if you want a true change...to vote for new politicians who have honesty, many new visions...and commitments for a change !!!