1. The election matters
We are for Bolsonaro’s defeat. So we want Lula to win. But everything indicates that this is not a conventional election, because its outcome may lead to developments well beyond what we might normally expect from the electoral process. A Bolsonaro victory could open the doors for a coup – as could his defeat. Nothing is certain. And yet, Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat would at least guarantee that any coup-mongering would remain illegitimate and illegal.
2. Democracy is an asset
In defense of legality, a new consensus has emerged within civil society, one in which the political spectrum represented is even wider than that seen in the campaign for re-democratization that birthed the New Republic in the 1980s. Parties, trade unions, social movements, personalities, a large part of the media and the bosses’ associations – and, indirectly, the US government – have united in defense of democracy and the rule of law.
Why so late in the day? Our impression is that this consensus, in defense of institutions that have long been under threat, signifies a general agreement to endorse a Lula presidency.
3. The masses left out
The aspirations of a significant part of society to oppose Bolsonarism and its coup-mongering are understandable and legitimate. A wide consensus can provide a feeling of relief in the face of the far-right avalanche of recent times. The more support against Bolsonaro, the better.
However, it was only when the economic elite took a stand, with the backing of the mainstream media as well as the United States’ seal of approval, that a national campaign against Bolsonaro’s coup-mongering began. In contrast to the diretas já pro-democracy campaign of the 1980s, this campaign has not been accompanied by mass awareness-raising and support. It seems that this “democratic consensus” has been stitched together in the upper reaches of Brazilian society.
4. From acceleration to containment
The new democratic consensus can be seen as an agreement endorsed by political leaderships and elites. Its electoral effect is to undersign a probable Lula victory. But why? It was with elite support that Bolsonaro accelerated various destructive and uncontrollable tendencies – ones which have now become counterproductive to the smooth functioning of Brazilian capitalism. As it was starkly put by one of the organizers of the “Charter for Democracy” (launched at the University of São Paulo’s law school, a bastion of the establishment): “the chaos in the country is making the business world lose money.”
Could it be that, in the name of fighting authoritarianism, there is an attempt to put a stop to this self-destructive tendency, at least temporarily? Behind the new consensus, is there not a new attempt to contain Brazil’s crisis?
5. Who will pay for the consensus?
It may be that the strength and breadth of the New Consensus is actually a symptom of its weakness. This is because the country is faced with economic and social degradation on a scale that will restrict the room for maneuver of any new consensus. In this context of ongoing devastation, it is possible that even very limited social policies, such as those Lula promises, will have a major effect.
There are many indeterminate elements in the short term – and the election itself is undecided. But nothing indicates the return of the favorable international winds that benefited Lulismo in the 2010s. Hence our unease, caused by the feeling that we’re dealing with an “unrealistic pragmatism”: an attitude that ignores what needs to be done in the face of a crisis that cannot be resolved at the ballot box. Who will pay for this indifference in the face of crisis?
6. Truce
From the point of view of elites, the new consensus may be a tactical repositioning in pursuit of pacification: an indication of conciliatory politics that seeks to remedy the immediate ills of the country. But this agreement does not represent a return to the New Republic. Instead, it looks like a moment for reorganization. Something, it seems, is being cooked up.
The return of the Lulista consensus may be a step back, by a ruling class seeking a way out of the New Republic. In essence, it would be the antechamber of new battles. The New Consensus seems to be a truce, in view of then returning to the inevitable war.
7. The daily war
The dynamic of war emerges out of the forms of reproduction of Brazilian life. There is a war from above, against those below. There is a war by the state against the black and poor population. But, above all, there is a daily war, because we have a form of life based in competition: the unemployed compete with the unemployed, and also with the employed. In turn, the employed compete with their work colleagues. On TV, Big Brother reflects this dynamic of competition and exclusion: without the specter of eviction, there is no spectacle. In sum, daily life is lived as a war: “I’m struggling.”
This war has not been voted for: it doesn’t matter who wins the election, the war will continue. But what political forms will this dynamic take? Which political bodies will clash?
8. Two worlds unknown to each other
For the vast majority who experience this war, democracy seems like a concern of the upper reaches of society. There are two worlds mobilizing, but which ignore each other. In the world ignored by those above, the social imaginary is that of a political battlefield. Police officers and pastors see themselves as defenders of the homeland and of good against evil, while Christians give themselves up to an eternal war for the redemption of a corrupt world and of the evils that, one day, will disappear. These desires go well beyond the immediate needs of material survival. One of the keys to the far right’s success appears to be their embrace of these desires that mobilize the popular imagination.
9. The war for eternity
We are faced with two paths. On one side, where the masses barely figure, there’s a campaign for legality and for the defense of institutions, rooted in conciliation. On the other path there is a torrent crossing through the elections, carrying political mobilization. It fills the streets with Marches for Jesus (a yearly evangelical demonstration that draws millions) and other events in which change is understood as coming through salvation – the outcome of the war. On the fringes of the liberals and progressives who have now joined hands are those who are also preparing for an inevitable war. But their war appears to be against both sides.
10.The future of this present order
Does a war of all against all produce society? Or does it produce a violent social dynamic that appears ungovernable? For many, the ungovernable demands order – at any price. It provokes a desire for a violence that orders. Bolsonaro can be seen as one iteration of this politics. It is likely that other, more capable versions will be developed. The future of this present will be contested by these new iterations.
11. The world in crisis is here, and our politics have little to say
We are facing a total environmental crisis, in relation to which Brazil’s responsibilities are decisive. A change in energy paradigm is urgently needed, and there are risks of planetary food shortages. There is a global crisis of investment and in the production of wealth – a crisis that has now reached the proportions of a European war, and which threatens to become a world war. China’s industrial might and its emerging technological supremacy is leading to the threat of an embargo by, and even war with, a United States that is unable to revive its economy. Authoritarian, fascist and regressive tendencies are appearing in various points around the world. This all indicates a social and economic crisis of the system itself, one which exceeds the capacities of national responses. And yet we must respond, on the basis of our national experiences and powers, to this universal impasse.
12. The impossible as politics
We live in a world that produces abundance, but this abundance is experienced as scarcity. This curse has a name: the commodity. We must recognize that scarcity, which puts us in competition with each other, is a political construction. Is it not of the utmost urgency that we politically confront this politics?
It is technically possible to liberate people from alienating work and to share social wealth. But it is politically impossible at the present moment. And yet, it appears that only such an impossible politics is capable of disarming the war. So, doesn’t the impossible need to become possible?
13. The path on the other side
It is unclear whether peace has a future. But what is clear is that we will only have an emancipated future to match our imaginations if we are able to escape from the politics of the commodity. Elections, at our current stage, serve only to disguise this fact. On the other side of the elections, perhaps we will be able to find a path.
August 2022
Article and image originally published at https://outraspalavras.net/pos-capitalismo/polemica-no-avesso-das-eleicoes/
Coletivo Desmedida do Possível (Unbridled Possibility Collective)
Antonio Mota, Daniel Feldmann, Debora Goulart, Fabio Agostinho, Fabio Luis B. Santos, Fernando Cunha Sato, Fernando Kinas, Frederico Lyra, Gabriel Rocha, Guilherme Meyer, Henrique Costa, Isabel Loureiro, Patrícia Mechi, Tales Ab´Saber, Thais Pavez, Thiago Cannetieri