Letter to the “Exempt”

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By JEAN-PIERRE CHAUVIN*

On Sunday, October 30th, arm yourself and encourage yourself to participate in the civilizing process

Good person, may health, peace and class consciousness be with you.

I begin by apologizing for sending you a new missive. As soon as the first round is over, here I come to disturb you with a new text that appeals to your conscience. However, it should be noted: the concern is legitimate and there is nothing illegal in writing letters addressed to you, even if they are open to the wider public.

I don't know how the situation is in your habitat, but the days have warmed up here, not only because of the ecological imbalance caused by earthlings. Survivor, from June 2013 (to the manifestos supported by FIESP) to October 4, 2022, passing through the misgoverned Michel Temer (who set in motion the massive destruction project in the name of the future), and suffering the congestion of his successor, no I know if I swallow well the nickname of victorious, so widespread among citizens of your lineage.

Let me explain: a worthy victory would imply sharing the moment of success with all those who, in theory, lost the battle. However, as you well know, the issue is very delicate: officially, almost 700 fellow citizens lost their lives, largely due to the negligence of the federal government in admitting the seriousness of the disease caused by the virus, and thanks to the supreme incompetence of its ministers , who knew nothing about cultural geography, science, human rights or anthropology.

Of those who survived the defiance and mockery of the executioners, many of us felt the various simultaneous struggles: the stubbornness to exist was added to disputes in defense of acquired rights, freedom of creed (and disbelief), sexual orientation, belonging to particular ethnicity, the possibility of studying, the persistence in looking for jobs with dignified wages and conditions, etc.

Do me a favor. I know you don't ignore these questions. I can well imagine your discomfort, in the middle of a warm and still Sunday, at having to leave the house right after a sumptuous breakfast to cast the compulsory vote, in the midst of the noisy and indiscreet crowd. Not to mention your fear of violence, naturally repudiated by your exemplary conduct. But look and see the seriousness of the present situation: you were not alone. Beside you, at least twenty percent of jealous patriots stopped voting – some out of resignation; others, out of laziness; the third, out of pure and simple cowardice. And in that, both some and others acted in such a way as to prevent the possible democracy from defeating latent fascism. Since when is parking a move? Let me explain: not voting is the act of settling at home (or traveling to another hemisphere), under the pretense justification that politics is all the same and nothing changes. Nothing more defeatist, do you agree?

Therein resides a question that has already become a commonplace for those who think and rethink the recent history of the country. By reproducing these empty formulas, you level fundamentalist fascists with democrats and laymen; you give equal weight to rulers and statesmen; you pretend to ignore that there is no point of comparison between the subject whose “specialty is killing” and any other human being.

And when I say “any other”, please note that I am not restricting your freedom to vote for whoever you think is most convenient (that freedom, I mean, for which we fought for 21 years to survive). Do you understand my surprise? In the name of the supposedly discreet, elegant or exempt stance in the face of polarization, you stopped voting. Perhaps it would be more comfortable to alienate the country's decision to those you identify, laughingly, as the rabble, the common people, militancy, trade unionists, bologna and the like.

Let me whisper something to you? Polarized we always were. Ever since Brazil became a country, based on the imperial plan announced in September 1822, government supporters and antigovernment supporters have always clashed, first under the nickname of liberals against conservatives; then of republicans against monarchists; in the third moment, of socialists against dictators; then civilians against military; finally, of social democrats against tyrants.

If you examine events more closely, you will realize that there is an enormous difference between those who, for better or worse, have a project for an inclusive and unifying country and those who are proud of their excessive incompetence, reinforced by disinformation conveyed in the form of fake news by his minions and repeaters, on social networks and messaging apps.

To stick to the essentials, you must agree that the last four years have been marked by physical and verbal violence, the destruction of the ecosystem, the withdrawal of rights and the propagation of untruths. Surely, you noticed how the amount of miserable, on the edge of your door, increased. All in the name, remember, of the homeland (under the hands of delivery men), of religion (under the baton of pastors who, by debit and credit, order who the faithful should vote for), the high business community (which has inoculated humbler the belief that everyone can prosper), industrialists (who were left), microentrepreneurs (who began to see themselves as bastions of the national economy) etc.

The bigger and more immediate question is that, while you were looking at us with disdain from the balcony of your apartment in the gardens, or comforting yourself in the cramped living room of your studio apartment, complaining about the sound coming through the windows without anti-noise protection, the future of your country it was violently disputed by a group of motorcyclists (mounted like knights of the apocalypse, in vehicles perhaps more expensive than your home) who lined up behind (always behind) the pastiche of Mussolini.

Do me a favor? Take a stand in defense of democracy in the second round. The country's future is right around the corner. I know, as you do, that the regime I support is not perfect. However, if you don't want the plot of Aia's Tale contaminate the half that has not yet been subjected to the theocratic-military-business-delivery necropolitics, trust me. Have your coffee on Sunday, October 30th, arm yourself with energy and encourage yourself to participate in the civilizing process. Don't do it for private causes, let alone for me. Do it for the collective, even if you don't like to mingle with the people you proudly distance yourself from.

*Jean Pierre Chauvin He is a professor at the School of Communication and Arts at USP. Author, among other books, of A thousand, one dystopia (Publisher Glove).

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