By JEAN PIERRE CHAUVIN*
Voters prefer to maintain the combo of ineptitude + corruption + soft talk rather than acknowledge the scandal of keeping thousands of entire families under viaducts.
Few people would dispute that São Paulo is the capital of conservatism and various forms of exclusion.
At least since the 1980s, when the country was authorized by the States to reestablish some market democracy and the new neoliberal order has embraced the representative fallacy in the states and municipalities, the São Paulo voter accumulates pseudo-arguments that would justify his vote, whether he is a member of the MDB, Maluf or PSDB: “he steals, but he gets things done”; “at least he is not radical”…
None of this should surprise us, after all there were those who believed that “the sun rose for everyone and also for you: vote Quércia, vote Quérica, PMDB”.
Parochial patriotism? Anti-communist struggle? In defense of morality and good customs? Uncompromising defense of private property? Downsizing of the public sector? Maintaining order? Fighting corruption? Reducing the costs of hiring a worker with a formal contract?
The menu is the same as always, but voters don't hesitate to point out the same dishes, indifferent as they are to social ills. And in this, voters, who are not beyond the condition of sadists, are perfectly at ease: they choose any of these clichés to call their own and put their foot down on the pedal of arrogance and hypocrisy, while distilling authoritarianism when interacting with anyone they consider “inferior” or “differentiated people”.
Who doesn't remember the protests by the residents of Jardins, who were against the bus lane? The protests against the Higienópolis subway station? Or the petition signed by the residents of this same neighborhood, recommending the “removal” of the poor people who were occupying the golden path that goes from their house to the mall preferred?
After all, how long will our fellow countrymen continue to ignore the eighty thousand homeless people living on the streets in the richest megalopolis in the southern hemisphere? How long will they pretend not to see the dozens of corruption scandals of the current administration, which have even affected the quality of children's learning?
How long will the “good citizens” in the “city of work” remain blind to the overpriced construction projects? How long will pedestrians pulled by dogs or inflated SUVs drive around the asphalt that doesn’t stick? How long will the voters of São Paulo ignore complaints about public contracts that benefit relatives or friends of the current (indi)management?
Will they ever recognize that, in part, it was their privatization drive that caused blackouts, cut jobs, increased the reserve army and increased the number of homeless people fivefold?
When will they admit that it was their exclusionary, cynical and egotistical vote that made it impossible to conceive of a more inclusive city, one that is not roughly resurfaced (pruned in a hurry) every four years?
For São Paulo, the recipe that directly affects progressive agendas is valid: the São Paulo voter confuses assertiveness with radicalism; he mixes his own ignorance of the law with class selfishness. What he really likes is people who do not express revolt even in their tone of voice, disguised as poker face.
Voters prefer to maintain the combo of ineptitude + corruption + soft talk rather than acknowledge the scandal of keeping thousands of entire families under viaducts.
The first thing a São Paulo resident should do would be to consult the 1988 Federal Constitution and read what the law says about the legal and legitimate occupation of territories. But, as we know, informing oneself (what am I saying?); taking others into account is asking too much.
*Jean Pierre Chauvin Professor of Brazilian Culture and Literature at the School of Communication and Arts at USP. Author, among other books by Seven Speeches: essays on discursive typologies. [https://amzn.to/4bMj39i]
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