Brazzil

You forgot to mention on your article that you live in Curitiba - one of the best cities in the world regarding quality of life.

And I agree with you Brazilians are a friendly and great people.

.

Curitiba is the Brazilian Shangri-La.

.

NOT QUITE!

I'm wondering if the key to peaceful contentment lies in opening the symbols of the world's religions to everyone.

The key to a peaceful contentment (and FURTHER, MOST IMPORTANTLY, for a reduction in conflict) is the complete elemination of ALL primitive, hate inspiring religions! Indeed, BECAUSE ALL religious insititutions containg fundamentally DISTINCT (IF not outright opposite)sets of MYTHOLOGICAL concepts, all of which representing the (real)TRUTH, and the SOLE PATH towards a so-called "salvation" (thereby outmatically implying that all other religions are blasfemous or evil), they systematically and HISTORICALLY have been the main source of wars and conflicts. The fact that in some historical eras / locations, such institutions were led (or influenced) by clever, devient and powerful individuals, such NEPHARIOUS AMALGAMATION of primitive distintions have often been the tool of GREAT SUFFERING, TORTURE, AND MASS MURDER!

The ISSUE/ESSENCE Behind the power of symbols SIMPLY EMANATES from the POWER OF THE HUMAN MIND, which when in possention of a strong BELIEF and/or CONVICTION, is capable of utilizing whichever Symbol in order to direct all that energy towards the accomplishment of any desired goal...

I fully agree with Mr. Amaral's comments above:

Curitiba - one of the best cities in the world regarding quality of life.

Curitiba is one of the most civilized cities in Latin American, the source of great pride for Brazilians, and the place where most NEW urban projects are first tested and implemented

Don't let Bo(bão)hug your children!

Costinha

After returnin to my previous entry, which was quickly composed without any editing, I decided to reformulate and expand my views, thereby (hopefully) enriching their validity.

As befoire, my views are based upon the following entry:

I'm wondering if the key to peaceful contentment lies in opening the symbols of the world's religions to everyone.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF (RELIGIOUS) OBJECTS VIS-À-VIS THE POWER OF THE MIND VERSUS “FAITH” OR “MIRACLES”


The key to peaceful contentment (as well as the far more important goal of Reducing the quantity and/or scope of Human Conflicts) lies with mankind’s willingness to completely eliminate ALL types/versions of primitive, absurd, hate inspiring mythological sects (a.k.a. “religious faiths) from the fabric (and every aspect) of human societies. An effort which will not be attained until such time when the overwhelming predominance of human IGNORANCE, which renders mankind to blindly engage into a form of psychological voluntary slavery, whereby the “ideological Master” demands absolute obedience (since it emanates from a divine being) and engage into absurd sets of dogmatic beliefs in order to attain “salvation” without the ability or expectation of EVER question any principle or tenet, lest he/she may be deemed blasphemous or – worse – an Infidel!

In addition, because ALL remaining primitive, “mythological sects” (a.k.a. religious institutions) invariably contain fundamentally significant sets of rather DISTINCT (IF not outright opposite) ecclesiastical concepts, “divine dictates or commands”, not to mention the types (and scope) of SINS, all of which representing the KEY to the (real) TRUTH and/or the “righteous path” (often the SOLE path) towards a so-called "salvation", these Sects ultimately provide (in the long run) the “raw material” for a wide variety of antagonizing, irreconcilable positions as stipulated by competing philosophies, often also automatically implying that all other competing religions (and their infidel followers) are either blasphemous or evil!

A deeper significant analysis of current and historical conflicts is bound to stipulate that these fundamental and irreconcilable religious distinctions have been systematically and historically the underlying issue (openly or concealed) behind the source(s) of most wars and/or human conflicts across our planet.

Moreover, because during some key time periods (at various specific locations) of our known History, such religious institutions were either led or influenced) by clever, deviant and powerful clerics/priests/imams who were in a position to manipulate the ignorant millions of “faithful believers” vis-à-vis the previously mentioned irreconcilable AMALGAMATION of primitive distinctions, the tragic end result often culminated with the incalculable suffering, torture, and/or extermination/murder of thousands (in some fewer cases even millions) of innocent victims!

The actual underlying and significant issue behind the author’s concluding statement originates in an entirely different factor, namely: the Power of the Human Mind. Indeed, although modern science remains unable to fully explain the Power of the Human Mind and Brain power – despite the never ending string of recent discoveries – it is clear that Human Beings have the intrinsic capability to realize/bring to fruition a wide variety of great accomplishments if/when they apply their “power from within”, emanating from specific Strong beliefs and/or convictions (often confused with “faith” or “miracle”) by successfully utilizing certain Symbolic items (generally associated with a religious icon) towards the accomplishment of certain goals/objectives (particularly those which are deemed to be extremely hard and/or nearly impossible).

According to what RANKING ?????

Waiting anxiously your answer AND YOUR SOURCES, if not only out of your imagination !

And was it not recently that we read tens and tens of times that it was
RIO the Marvelous City as one of the World Best Cities For Quality of life.... for the 2016 Summer Games ????
Especially with their 1000 SLUMS ?
Short Memory ?
And be it Curitiba or RIO why are you...RICARDO AND AUGUSTUS...not going there permanently ?????
It would make sense to me.
I do reside in one of the World Best City - RANKED ACCORDINGLY -
WHY SHOULD I GO ELSEWHERE ?

AND WHY ARE YOU....ELSEWHERE THAN THE BRAZILIANS CITIES YOU PROCLAIM
TO BE ONE OF THE WORLD BEST ????

I tell you....something doesnt add up...IN YOUR STATEMENTS !
FOR SURE !

And as to the starting part of the article "Brazilians are always happy"
Yessss true. They have shown it recently from the Rio favelas and the helicopter BBQ !
And millions brazilians are more happy elsewhere. ILLEGALS OR LEGALS !

ASK RICARDO AMARAL AND...LORD AUGUSTUS !

Eventually.....YOU SHOULD LOOK AT YESTERDAY ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THIS SITE....CONCERNING THE HAPPIEST COUNTRIES ON EARTH !

REAL FUN THESE BRAZILIANS !

Ricardo C. Amaral middle name is CONTRADICTION !

if this city is one of the best in BRAZIL it is ONE THING,
but stating it is one of the World Best for quality of life is ANOTHER THING !

Because if one of the World Best...then a ranking or another should show it......SOMEWHERE !!!!!
And not simply a NATIONALIST VIEW ! Too easy !
Voters should be from many many countries.... NOT ONLY ONE ! That is how RANKINGS ARE DONE WHEN NOT PURELY FROM MATHS & STATS !

Mixing up everything will result in a mix up by definition !

And brazilians are great for c**ktailed GUSHING mess !
NAVEL CARESSING REMAINS THE BRAZILIAN ENDEMIC DISEASE...ONCE MORE !!!!

Brazilians "always happy"? What planet are you living on? Just some examples: extreme complex of inferiority towards "primeiro mundo",
feeling of helplessness due to rampant corruption, extremely low quality of life, anxiety due to ever-present threat of violent assault, unhappiness due to extremely low salaries...

Let me give you some examples:

- My dentist in Rio was looking to emigrate as soon as possible from one of the best
neighborhoods (Ipanema), due to rampant violent crime.

- My relatives immigrated to Florida last year, because they couldn't stand the polution,
traffic congestion, corruption and constant threat of kidnapping in Sao Paulo.
They never let their daughter to play in the street, because she could disappear
at any moment, just like that, never to be seen again. Also, THEY could
be kidnapped because they had (relatively) good jobs; in the worst case, they could even be tortured, maimed or killed, their bodies never to be seen again.

Curitiba is at best "solid". It may be the best in Brazil, perhaps. Jesus, have you ever been (or lived) in cities like Vienna, Auckland, Sidney, Montreal, Honolulu? Or even Montevideo or Santiago de Chile in South America?

That being said, I also adore those Brazilian customs, habits, mannerisms and behaviors, like great communication skills, openness, tolerance, giving beijos, abracos, and so on.

And this is exactly why these levels of crime and corruption in Brazil bother me so much - should Brazilians get their act together and deal with crime, corruption and polution, Brazil would be among the best countries in the world to live, play and work.

Smiling, is a social code, in Brazil. Cordiality, is a social code of politeness... If English people are formal, to be polite, Brazilian people are sympathetic, in the same situation. If English people are sarcastic, during humour, a Brazilian laughs louder, or tells you a joke. "Pleasent" people, in Brazil, are oftenly perceived as "clowns" in certain other countries.

I really don't think we're happier. That's the impression foreings have, when they first come here. I met several desilusional people in my life, who suddenly looked amazing, in social situations. People pretent liking each other, even when they couldn't care less. What really makes you happy, is the serotinin degree, in your organism... Sun MAY help with...

How about the two of you, cornos da silva, getting together for a beer bash? That way you both can grow even bigger that dimple in the middle of your pot-bellies!

What I'm saying is that both of you losers have a sourmug of faces, so take good care of your Pedigree, ladies!

Costinha

In brazil you cannot take your camera with you without being robbed.
Is this a free country? Pics are ok at home, but outdoors it's dangerous since favelados steel your cam.

Oh yeah, "happiness".

Did you know that Brazilians always take 10 reais in cash when they go out? This is just in case someone assaults them - the reasoning is that if they give the robber at least 10 reais, the chance to get shot and killed by the robber is not so great as in the case of not giving anything to the robber and thus "pissing him off". This is so sad when you learn about it, but for Brazilians is a normal thing.

Next, taxis - you can't just call a taxi passing on the street, and go wherever you like. No, you have to call a verified taxi service, otherwise a random taxist could simply kidnap you, and after that you are f**ked.

Moving around by your car - if you think that you can just buy/rent a car and move around in Brazil, wherever and whenever you like - think again. Large areas of Brazilian cities are no-go areas. On intersections, you have to be careful not to be assaulted at gunpoint. Traveling to areas which are just 100-200km out of major cities is impossible, because potholes are the size of swimming pools. (Did that once, trying to get to Bahia by car - never again! Pure suicide. Ah, how naive I was.)

I could go on an on. Happy Brazilians and their "low expectations". Really, there are so many things to be happy about in Brazil!

As you all know Brasil is almost the size of Europe. And what happens here is that each region and each state is TOTALLY diferent from each other. Travelling around Brasil sometimes seems as travelling from a country to another, such huge are the differences.
There is no doubt that the South of Brasil is the best region to live, especially the state of Paraná witch the capital is Curitiba and Santa Catarina witch the capital is Florianópolis. On those places you can say that people are happy indeed. This is because the quality of life is a million times superior than other regions here. In fact I ought to say that in the South we have all the good things of Brasil without the bad things that is always shown by the media.

Correcting: "are always".
Sorry for my english guys, first time here

The real truth from a real brazilian

Rafa, PLEASE stop promoting PR/SC in this blog!!!! We dont want invaders from other states. Do you?

i know salvador, natal and most of all recife

i love the people, the culture, the afro brazilian dances and beats..

the food, the beaches, porto is fantastic

but i have to admit, ive been admiring the democratic cracks in the last few days down here , god , i love freedom

chiquinha gonzaga started the chorinho movement in rio , and , from the roda de sambas from bahia moving to rio, samba evolved to its highest leval....bossa nova followed ...all in rio, along with jongo

pernambuco has unbeleivable culture, maracatu 300 years old, frevo, coco,cavalho marinho, caboclino,ciranda, all mesmerising

bahia has bloco afro (one of the founders of olodum died today), axe, tro electrico, one of the centers of condomble rythyms and dances in brazil , it is all over, capoeira is all over with a rich story in recife but is famous in salvador

sao luis de maranhao has bumba meu boi,danca de criola, carimbo

belem has some unique culture

what foclorico does sao paulo have that is as powerful as those i mentioned ?

santa catarina is weak, boi de mamao compared to bumba meu boi ? no way...if you like german culture italian culture you would love it...i dont and here and rio grande de sul are riddled with agentinian and uruguain and german and italian influences...the one thing interesting is working with those bolas, and that is from argentina....ok churasco too

rio and north east absulutly wipe out sao paulo and below as far as unique brazilian culture ...sao paulo is great with techno and it does have a lot of technicaly good musicians, but the heart of the musical movements in brazil came from rio and above...no one plays samba like the rio musicians

Rafael is absolutely correct.
But in addition to Parana & Santa Catarina, thre is also Rio Grande do Sul.
The three southern States PLUS (naturally) the state of Sao Paulo, are completely apart from the rest of Brazil... I wish the rest of the country could be half as well to do, developped and content...

guga kuerton, fernando scherer, neco and teco padaratz, great world class atheltes who come from santa catarina

industry that funtions and fairly clean cities, you can see that also

but, culture is truly weak down in the south, it just doenst stand up to rio and north of rio, where the true roots of brazilian music and dance are an inspiring river of beauty and inspiration.

i miss it down her, but, i have a good life so im not moving soon...but god i get tired of the weather and boring culture some times

I have lived in Brazil for 10 years and see little evidence that Brazilians are as happy the odd person who drops in for a few months claims they are. To think so is to ignore life in the favelas. And to do that would be to be just like a middle class Brazilian.

As for Curitiba, there is absolutely nothing special about it by world standards. I find it to be dreary and dull. Anyone who claims it is one of the best cities in the world clearly has not been outside of Brazil.

"extreme complex of inferiority towards "primeiro mundo""
"Curitiba is at best "solid". It may be the best in Brazil, perhaps. Jesus, have you ever been (or lived) in cities like Vienna, Auckland, Sidney, Montreal, Honolulu? Or even Montevideo or Santiago de Chile in South America?" Jakob

LOL ! You tell me! You must be feeling very inferior!