What `bugs´ me about Brazil
Autor: Bernard Naughton | Publicado: 2017-04-17T06:05:00-07:00




A little of
what `bugs´me about Brazil&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

`Get
it off my chest´ clearing statement

Gerson´s Law. That´s it&nbsp; in 2 words. That´s the root of the problem in
Brazil. Not corrupt politicians. Not inefficiency. Not ignorance (lack of
education). Not lack of infrastructure. Not inequality . Not favoritism. Not
lack of respect for the law. All of these things have an impact but are effects
only…the root cause is Gerson´s Law. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What
is Gerson´s Law?&nbsp; Some journalist , I
guess, coined the phrase based on a TV ad campaign featuring a national
football star called Gerson, who was promoting a discount on cigarettes (how
ironic!).

Paraphrasing the idea, what it meant was that : in
every situation you should be `smart´ and get whatever advantage you can for
yourself. If buying cigarettes at a cheaper price is desirable for you then
don´t miss the opportunity.&nbsp; If that
`advantage´ causes your early death &nbsp;is
not a relevant detail in the message. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Living
here for 20 years and observing the chaotic state of government I would have to
say that ,&nbsp; the sector of the population
who best exemplify this &nbsp;philosophy of
`me first´ are the politicians of all parties and levels. If putting themselves
in first place creates a problem for&nbsp;
others less privileged and damages the economy and the international
credibility of Brazil , in the eyes of the world , for them that´s not a
relevant detail.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

They follow
this law to such an extent that the quality of life for the vast majority of
people is reduced &nbsp;, as essential
services such as health and education are seriously affected for the worse due
to public funds being put in the pockets of the aforementioned group and thus
necessitating expensive private services to `fill the gap´ . In effect , as I
have heard many times here , people pay taxes for services they don´t receive
and pay again to receive them from the private sector. &nbsp;

But wait a
minute isn´t Brazil a democracy, you may ask, albeit an immature democracy?&nbsp; Sure, it´s not a military dictatorship like
in the past, &nbsp;so who votes for these thieving
politicians is the people not the `system´ In the words of John Lennon `Power
to the people´ is an immortal phrase. This idea is also behind the phrase of
Abraham Lincoln: `Government of the people , by the people, for the people´ . A
simple and beautiful idea but not seen in many countries. Why not?&nbsp; Why is Brazil , a country so full of natural
riches and self –sufficient &nbsp;in
everything , so full of poor people? Can you blame only the politicians? 

A country
gets the government it deserves is an idea which transmits the idea that there
are no victims. If a country is ruled by a dictator it´s because the people
permit that to happen. Monarchy was the norm some centuries ago but as
education and freedom became more available common people realized they had
rights and could make demands to receive those rights. Democracy was a direct
result of this process. Here in Brazil , the popular response to the question
of why so many opportunists get themselves elected is that people with no
education vote for them in exchange for a bag of rice or some other personal
short term advantage. There may be a `grain of truth ´in this assumption and it
is another example of Gerson´s Law´ on a very small level

The current
scandal over the big construction companies paying bribes to politicians to get
lucrative contracts&nbsp; is an application of
Gerson´s Law on a major scale , but the principal is the same. Do what´s best
for yourself. Imagine how much cheaper apartments and houses etc could be if
the bribes paid beforehand didn´t need to be included in the retail price?&nbsp; 

&nbsp;A friend of mine who has a paint store
informed me recently that 95% of architects or engineers who come to the store
are looking for a commission if they recommend his store to their client. In
the past they negotiated this at the back of the store. Nowadays they ask at
the front desk. They are charging their client a professional fee for their service
and on top of that, &nbsp;they are looking for
an extra charge to which they are not entitled which , if the store owner
agrees will be included in their clients&nbsp;
bill as the store is not obliged to reduce their profit margin &nbsp;to satisfy the greed of the architect or
engineer in question . One more application of Gerson´s Law. 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This practice of looking for a `cut´
where no value was added is one&nbsp; major
reason for the high price of goods and services here , especially if you bear
in mind the income per capita. All sectors and levels of the economy are
infected by this `cut´ where no value has been added. 

How to change
this attitude ? Not easy given the historical tradition of colonization and
exploitation of natural resources to fill the coffers in Europe . Add to that
the tradition of slavery and its opposite ; privilege , and you have the
essential&nbsp; ingredients for unmerited
profit-seeking .

Nowadays the
exploiters are not from Europe but native Brazilians adopting the Law of Gerson
to `screw´ their fellow citizens. From the simplest service to the most
sophisticated one, one &nbsp;needs to be alert
to over-charging.&nbsp; No wonder so many
Brazilians want to live and work abroad. They love their country but know that
the quality of life in first world countries is better and effort is rewarded
more justly. 

So , in
conclusion the politicians are in a privileged position and are applying the
Law of Gerson for personal benefit at&nbsp; an
absurd level of&nbsp; greed. Other people
apply it according to their situation. In the words of my friend , `the only
difference is the number of zeros´ 

There are
many major changes taking place in Brazil at the moment in terms of applying
the power of the law in upper echelons of power which before were above the
law, in terms of transparency of business malpractice which&nbsp; represent a major sea-change in public life
with enormous consequences for a better future , but until the root of Gerson´s
Law&nbsp; is removed and replaced by the
concept of added value these changes will delay in trickling down to all levels
of society. Until they do, Brazil will remain a place of tremendous potential
but for ever unrealized