Attention: this text was originally published on September 16th, 2020 on the Movimento Choice blog.
You can access this article in Portuguese by clicking here.
Where are we going?
Reflections for a better future
News about the destruction of the Brazilian environment does not stop appearing in the media. It is the Pantanal losing more than 16% of its territory to fires, or the Amazon with increasingly higher levels of deforestation. These are hard times for dreamers.
But why should the preservation of our fauna, flora, and culture be a dream? Do we no longer have any hope for a better future? Is being Brazilian, “with a lot of pride, with a lot of love” for the moments of the World Cup?
The system is crude and cumbersome. I once heard that “private initiative is like a speedboat: with a reduced population capacity, it is easy to change the route. The public initiative, in turn, is like the Titanic, where its population is huge, and any change of route on the vessel is complex”. Over the past few years, I’ve noticed that we’re feeling this shift. After more than a decade of progressivism (doubtful? Yes! But still progressivism!), we are being led to a conservatism… strange. My hope is that we don’t hit the iceberg.
Without the support and action of the public sphere, any change in society tends to be only palliative. Only structuring public policies that privilege the population over the market will be able to make economic and social inequality begin to decrease. To exemplify, a very emblematic case: is the Farinata.
The project planned by the Government of São Paulo in 2017 sought to use a granulated compound based on industrialized foods close to the expiration date for school meals and people in social vulnerability. The project ended up not going ahead (thankfully!), after pressure from various sectors of society. Meanwhile, CEAGESP (Companhia de Entrepostos e Armazéns Gerais de São Paulo) wastes 150,000 kilos of food PER DAY. Which of these issues should be the priority of the public sphere?
Another, more urgent example: is the rice price. In addition to the memes (have you noticed the creativity of the Brazilian people?), the rise in the price of one of the foods most consumed by Brazilians is frightening. Not only because of the value but also because it is a matter of national scope.
The issue here is that there is a market regulation device called public grain stocks, which ensure the sale of grains at a fair price (if for some reason, there is a problem with rice production, stocks are used and comply with the role of price containment). In recent years, this stock has been practically zero and not encouraged, putting at risk not only the average price of the grain but also, ultimately, the food and nutrition security of the population.
The pandemic came and, with it, a whole need to rethink the system. In the free-market economy, we are living in, the rice boom is just the beginning. Public corn stocks are also in a critical state.
Of course, the discussion about the price of rice is more complex than that, but it serves as an example to demonstrate the power of the impact of public initiative.
The government does have many problems to be solved. The state is still slow and flawed, but it is the surest way to bring about real change in society.
Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) emerged with the function of reaching where the public sphere does not, and they do it with mastery. More recently, Social Impact Business (NIS) emerged as a hybrid model, which combines the financial issue of the private sector with the impact caused by NGOs. Changing the world, but making money from it.
There are thousands of heroic projects that solve real problems. When (and if) everything goes well, it becomes public policy. And this gives a certain comfort, in the sense of knowing that yes, it is possible to promote change and even base a career on a positive impact on society.
But this is not the only option. We can do more, one act at a time. It’s buying that notebook or diary that your friend makes. It’s knowing where what you put on your plate comes from. It’s understanding that, regardless of gender, you have responsibility for hate speech. It is thinking that native fruits can be a source of national pride, and by consuming them, you strengthen the work of the small producer. It is betting on excellent research carried out by public institutions. At every moment, we have the power to alter the consumption chain and, thus, pressure not only the government but also the private sector, to create an economy that makes more sense for people.
You don’t know how to start? November is here, and we have the chance to elect our closest representatives, the councilors. It doesn’t seem like much, but that’s when we start thinking about the model of society we want.
