How does Brazil Compare?
Having being in Brazil for 3 months now it is perhaps time to share some insights:
Poverty - is apparent here, but not as obvious and open as one might expect. But you do get some scary images, to see a bearded man walking around the streets wearing dustbin bags (really, just bags), then to see another man eating rice someone split on the wet pavement as the pigeons also eat the same meal, does make me think. Then sometimes you see things you do not expect. The 3 year old street child or the 60 year old woman sleeping near the rubbish bins. When we discuss these issues with Brazilian's they are rather blase towards them. In many cases they do not see the poverty as they have grown up with it and so it is not anything important to consider.
Divide - Compared to South Africa the phyiscal divide is not as great. Of course, the wealthy go to their posh-places and the poor pick up the trash and scraps of food from the posh-places. However, the divide is well maintained in Brazilian society. It is just expected. In South Africa they needed armed guards and big fences to tell people on which side of the fence they should be (and stay, probably). In Brazil, each side happily stays on their side by their own choice. The poor almost never consider entering a shopping mall etc. Crime is also lower. Brazil respects authority and so the poor know their place, the rich know there place and so no-one needs to pass the hidden wall. This device is much more effective in maintaining the current social fabric than armed guards and high walls will ever be!
Authority - The Brazilian respect authority and rarely question things. They do not think critically (in the sense that British do) and so it is actually scary, when as a foreigner and/or an MC member I say things, they take it as Solid. I often have to tell them "hey, what I say might not be right! Think about it a bit."
Leadership - Leadership in Brazil (of course this is a general view to summarise!): ideas matter more than processes (vice-versa to Switzerland), leaders generate the ideas here and find solutions to problems. Leaders who listen and ask the right questions are highly respected highly. Leaders have potentially too much power (see note on authority) and could miss any form of democracy if they wanted to and few would complain! So they should (I feel) be careful and open the topics to democracy scrutiny, especially as the leaders need to ensure that the members themselves are involved and help implementation (implementation and delivery is minimal in Brazil - probably because of the lack of understanding and democratic empowerment).
Poverty - is apparent here, but not as obvious and open as one might expect. But you do get some scary images, to see a bearded man walking around the streets wearing dustbin bags (really, just bags), then to see another man eating rice someone split on the wet pavement as the pigeons also eat the same meal, does make me think. Then sometimes you see things you do not expect. The 3 year old street child or the 60 year old woman sleeping near the rubbish bins. When we discuss these issues with Brazilian's they are rather blase towards them. In many cases they do not see the poverty as they have grown up with it and so it is not anything important to consider.
Divide - Compared to South Africa the phyiscal divide is not as great. Of course, the wealthy go to their posh-places and the poor pick up the trash and scraps of food from the posh-places. However, the divide is well maintained in Brazilian society. It is just expected. In South Africa they needed armed guards and big fences to tell people on which side of the fence they should be (and stay, probably). In Brazil, each side happily stays on their side by their own choice. The poor almost never consider entering a shopping mall etc. Crime is also lower. Brazil respects authority and so the poor know their place, the rich know there place and so no-one needs to pass the hidden wall. This device is much more effective in maintaining the current social fabric than armed guards and high walls will ever be!
Authority - The Brazilian respect authority and rarely question things. They do not think critically (in the sense that British do) and so it is actually scary, when as a foreigner and/or an MC member I say things, they take it as Solid. I often have to tell them "hey, what I say might not be right! Think about it a bit."
Leadership - Leadership in Brazil (of course this is a general view to summarise!): ideas matter more than processes (vice-versa to Switzerland), leaders generate the ideas here and find solutions to problems. Leaders who listen and ask the right questions are highly respected highly. Leaders have potentially too much power (see note on authority) and could miss any form of democracy if they wanted to and few would complain! So they should (I feel) be careful and open the topics to democracy scrutiny, especially as the leaders need to ensure that the members themselves are involved and help implementation (implementation and delivery is minimal in Brazil - probably because of the lack of understanding and democratic empowerment).
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