Babak Fakhamzadeh
The title of the book refers to a comment, near the end, where Pisani states that she feels that, in the AIDS industry, "we are all whores". The book's an interesting introduction to 'the business of AIDS', which Pisani on occasions refers to as 'AIDS mafia', though she's also deploying a certain level of hypocrisy. Particularly in relation to her first years at UNAIDS, Pisani tries to show the enthusiasm as well as the amateurishness of those working for the organization, meanwhile seemingly trying to cover up that, though she's now talking about it, she was in no way more professional than everyone else. In fact, the general story of her rise and rise could be construed as an example of opportunism in the face of millions of dollars of funding.
Most of the book is an interesting series of anecdotes, where Pisani occasionally wags the finger at her colleagues and herself and, with it being accessibly written, reads away easily. This makes the book both entertaining and readable but also not much more than something like "my years with the AIDS mafia", the only real value being the very last chapter of the book, where the author recounts her list of solutions for stopping the spread of HIV:
+ Persuade uninfected people to use condoms with partners who are likely to be infected. In East and Southern Africa and most gay communities, that's every new sex partner, in most other places, that would focus on sex workers. Promote lubricants for anal sex. + Provide methadone and clean needles to reduce the risk of injecting drugs. + Reduce the viral load in infected individuals. Keep a mother's viral load down around childbirth. + Circumcise men. Screen for and treat sexually transmitted diseases in sex workers, their clients and their partners.
The title of the book refers to a comment, near the end, where Pisani states that she feels that, in the AIDS industry, "we are all whores". The book's an interesting introduction to 'the business of AIDS', which Pisani on occasions refers to as 'AIDS mafia', though she's also deploying a certain level of hypocrisy. Particularly in relation to her first years at UNAIDS, Pisani tries to show the enthusiasm as well as the amateurishness of those working for the organization, meanwhile seemingly trying to cover up that, though she's now talking about it, she was in no way more professional than everyone else. In fact, the general story of her rise and rise could be construed as an example of opportunism in the face of millions of dollars of funding.
Most of the book is an interesting series of anecdotes, where Pisani occasionally wags the finger at her colleagues and herself and, with it being accessibly written, reads away easily. This makes the book both entertaining and readable but also not much more than something like "my years with the AIDS mafia", the only real value being the very last chapter of the book, where the author recounts her list of solutions for stopping the spread of HIV:
+ Persuade uninfected people to use condoms with partners who are likely to be infected. In East and Southern Africa and most gay communities, that's every new sex partner, in most other places, that would focus on sex workers. Promote lubricants for anal sex. + Provide methadone and clean needles to reduce the risk of injecting drugs. + Reduce the viral load in infected individuals. Keep a mother's viral load down around childbirth. + Circumcise men. Screen for and treat sexually transmitted diseases in sex workers, their clients and their partners.
Essentially a more elaborate version of the film Citizenfour.
Greenwald is at his best when synthesising the US government's history of abuse of surveillance, and its consequences for the fourth estate, the media. Though, he is also overly wordy, perhaps in part as, at the time of publication of this book, Greenwald was still not quite certain of his position vis-à-vis the US government and his chances of facing prosecution. The introductory chapters, on obtaining the documents, read like a bad spy novel, and particularly now, some 10 years after the initial revelations, take away from the importance of the contents of the book. In addition, Greenwald's ability to turn his recounting of the experiences of others really about himself, I know now, is a less-pleasant feature of Greenwald's personality and style, which dovetails with Greenwald's more recent unexpected stances on more current American politics.
Some analyses have mostly been overtaken by reality:
+ Greenwald asks whether the internet will provide individual liberation or omnipresent monitoring, pointing out that both are possible, but now mostly seems to have been answered: A little bit of the former, quite a lot of the latter. + Snowden justifies being based in Hong Kong on the city's arc towards independence from China, which, we now know, was more a anomaly than anything else. + Greenwald's departure from The Intercept, the public row, and the closing of the Snowden Archive, as well as the infiltration of the British secret service at The Guardian, make it difficult to not be cynical about society's options for avoiding full-scale surveillance and the knowledge of such. + Since the Snowden revelations, the US has started accusing Russia and China of doing exactly the things they themselves have been doing, specifically the manipulation through digital services, and the surveillance through both software, backdoors, and hardware. To this point, the rise of Chinese hardware companies is what has made the US government jittery, for its lack of access to backdoors in these technologies. + Greenwald's descriptions on the attempted character assassination against him and Snowden are almost exact, if less severe, copies of what Assange is still facing. What was coming for Assange should have been more obvious. More so, Greenwald's claim that “it is no longer possible for the US government to distract from the message simply by demonizing the messenger” has worked very well for Greenwald, though his rhetoric in relation to Trump could draw some odd conclusions, but not so much for Assange.
Points worth reiterating:
+ The post-9/11 American veneration of security has created a climate particularly conducive to abuses of power. + History shows that the mere existence of a mass surveillance apparatus, regardless of how it is used, is in itself sufficient to stifle dissent. + The ability to eavesdrop on people’s communications vests immense power in those who do it. And unless such power is held in check by rigorous oversight and accountability, it is almost certain to be abused; Expecting the US government to operate a massive surveillance machine in complete secrecy without falling prey to its temptations runs counter to every historical example and all available evidence about human nature. + The NSA is able to turn cellphones into roving bugs, turning them on at will, as long as the battery is inserted. And, in a 2006 federal case, this was deemed *legal*. + The NSA has direct access to communications on platforms like Google and Facebook. + The NSA has shared raw unfiltered data with Israeli intelligence; "As the NSA complained, the partnership was geared “almost totally” to Israel’s needs." + The disturbing entanglement of spying for security concerns as well as economic concerns; "The documents left no doubt that the NSA was equally involved in economic espionage, diplomatic spying, and suspicion-less surveillance aimed at entire populations. " This is underscored by the more recent shift in American foreign security policy, to target 'corruption' abroad, in order to serve their own political agenda. + Snowden: “This was when I really started seeing how easy it is to divorce power from accountability, and how the higher the levels of power, the less oversight and accountability there was.” + The Five Eyes relationship is so close that member governments place the NSA’s desires above the privacy of their own citizens. + There are far too many power factions with a vested interest in the fear of terrorism: the government, seeking justification for its actions; the surveillance and weapons industries, drowning in public funding; and the permanent power factions in Washington, committed to setting their priorities without real challenge. + Democracy requires accountability and consent of the governed, which is only possible if citizens know what is being done in their name.
A few additional points:
"The evidence shows that assurances that surveillance is only targeted at those who 'have done something wrong' should provide little comfort, since a state will reflexively view any challenge to its power as wrongdoing."
"We shouldn't have to be faithful loyalists of the powerful to feel safe from state surveillance."
"Transparency is for those who carry out public duties and exercise public power. Privacy is for everyone else."
"The point is not the hypocrisy of those who disparage the value of privacy while intensely safeguarding their own, although that is striking. It is that the desire for privacy is shared by us all as an essential, not ancillary, part of what it means to be human." and "The evidence shows that assurances that surveillance is only targeted at those who 'have done something wrong' should provide little comfort, since a state will reflexively view any challenge to its power as wrongdoing."
Greenwald in his last chapter points out that the fourth estate and the political elite, in the U.S., have become near-interchangeable. With that, Greenwald identifies a throbbing cancer hiding in plain sight in modern western journalism in general and American journalism in particular: that in the past, journalists took pride in being the outsider, confronting the abuse of power (by the government or others), but that now, many journalists feel they are doing the right thing when their governments praise them instead.
An important aspect of the US' ability to monitor virtually all internet traffic is that, up to recently, most internet traffic ran through the US. Brazil was early in working towards connecting to the rest of the world without having to go through the US. It's now obvious why Putin has done exactly the same thing. This also very strongly ties in to the concept of 'multiple realities', based on contradicting 'facts', invisible to members of disjoint groups.
A nice aside, something I had forgotten after the first time I read the book, is that Snowden in part explains his reason for pursuing societal justice by referring to his experience in playing video games, in which a 'regular' character goes through a typical hero's journey to overcome the worst odds in defeating a nemesis.
Essentially a more elaborate version of the film Citizenfour.
Greenwald is at his best when synthesising the US government's history of abuse of surveillance, and its consequences for the fourth estate, the media. Though, he is also overly wordy, perhaps in part as, at the time of publication of this book, Greenwald was still not quite certain of his position vis-à-vis the US government and his chances of facing prosecution. The introductory chapters, on obtaining the documents, read like a bad spy novel, and particularly now, some 10 years after the initial revelations, take away from the importance of the contents of the book. In addition, Greenwald's ability to turn his recounting of the experiences of others really about himself, I know now, is a less-pleasant feature of Greenwald's personality and style, which dovetails with Greenwald's more recent unexpected stances on more current American politics.
Some analyses have mostly been overtaken by reality:
+ Greenwald asks whether the internet will provide individual liberation or omnipresent monitoring, pointing out that both are possible, but now mostly seems to have been answered: A little bit of the former, quite a lot of the latter. + Snowden justifies being based in Hong Kong on the city's arc towards independence from China, which, we now know, was more a anomaly than anything else. + Greenwald's departure from The Intercept, the public row, and the closing of the Snowden Archive, as well as the infiltration of the British secret service at The Guardian, make it difficult to not be cynical about society's options for avoiding full-scale surveillance and the knowledge of such. + Since the Snowden revelations, the US has started accusing Russia and China of doing exactly the things they themselves have been doing, specifically the manipulation through digital services, and the surveillance through both software, backdoors, and hardware. To this point, the rise of Chinese hardware companies is what has made the US government jittery, for its lack of access to backdoors in these technologies. + Greenwald's descriptions on the attempted character assassination against him and Snowden are almost exact, if less severe, copies of what Assange is still facing. What was coming for Assange should have been more obvious. More so, Greenwald's claim that “it is no longer possible for the US government to distract from the message simply by demonizing the messenger” has worked very well for Greenwald, though his rhetoric in relation to Trump could draw some odd conclusions, but not so much for Assange.
Points worth reiterating:
+ The post-9/11 American veneration of security has created a climate particularly conducive to abuses of power. + History shows that the mere existence of a mass surveillance apparatus, regardless of how it is used, is in itself sufficient to stifle dissent. + The ability to eavesdrop on people’s communications vests immense power in those who do it. And unless such power is held in check by rigorous oversight and accountability, it is almost certain to be abused; Expecting the US government to operate a massive surveillance machine in complete secrecy without falling prey to its temptations runs counter to every historical example and all available evidence about human nature. + The NSA is able to turn cellphones into roving bugs, turning them on at will, as long as the battery is inserted. And, in a 2006 federal case, this was deemed *legal*. + The NSA has direct access to communications on platforms like Google and Facebook. + The NSA has shared raw unfiltered data with Israeli intelligence; "As the NSA complained, the partnership was geared “almost totally” to Israel’s needs." + The disturbing entanglement of spying for security concerns as well as economic concerns; "The documents left no doubt that the NSA was equally involved in economic espionage, diplomatic spying, and suspicion-less surveillance aimed at entire populations. " This is underscored by the more recent shift in American foreign security policy, to target 'corruption' abroad, in order to serve their own political agenda. + Snowden: “This was when I really started seeing how easy it is to divorce power from accountability, and how the higher the levels of power, the less oversight and accountability there was.” + The Five Eyes relationship is so close that member governments place the NSA’s desires above the privacy of their own citizens. + There are far too many power factions with a vested interest in the fear of terrorism: the government, seeking justification for its actions; the surveillance and weapons industries, drowning in public funding; and the permanent power factions in Washington, committed to setting their priorities without real challenge. + Democracy requires accountability and consent of the governed, which is only possible if citizens know what is being done in their name.
A few additional points:
"The evidence shows that assurances that surveillance is only targeted at those who 'have done something wrong' should provide little comfort, since a state will reflexively view any challenge to its power as wrongdoing."
"We shouldn't have to be faithful loyalists of the powerful to feel safe from state surveillance."
"Transparency is for those who carry out public duties and exercise public power. Privacy is for everyone else."
"The point is not the hypocrisy of those who disparage the value of privacy while intensely safeguarding their own, although that is striking. It is that the desire for privacy is shared by us all as an essential, not ancillary, part of what it means to be human." and "The evidence shows that assurances that surveillance is only targeted at those who 'have done something wrong' should provide little comfort, since a state will reflexively view any challenge to its power as wrongdoing."
Greenwald in his last chapter points out that the fourth estate and the political elite, in the U.S., have become near-interchangeable. With that, Greenwald identifies a throbbing cancer hiding in plain sight in modern western journalism in general and American journalism in particular: that in the past, journalists took pride in being the outsider, confronting the abuse of power (by the government or others), but that now, many journalists feel they are doing the right thing when their governments praise them instead.
An important aspect of the US' ability to monitor virtually all internet traffic is that, up to recently, most internet traffic ran through the US. Brazil was early in working towards connecting to the rest of the world without having to go through the US. It's now obvious why Putin has done exactly the same thing. This also very strongly ties in to the concept of 'multiple realities', based on contradicting 'facts', invisible to members of disjoint groups.
A nice aside, something I had forgotten after the first time I read the book, is that Snowden in part explains his reason for pursuing societal justice by referring to his experience in playing video games, in which a 'regular' character goes through a typical hero's journey to overcome the worst odds in defeating a nemesis.
Quite the character, Page was to some extent the inspiration for the character portrayed by Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now. A war photographer, specifically active during the Vietnam war, he underwent neurosurgery in the US after a near-fatal encounter. Afterwards, working as caregivers for amputees and traumatized returnees, he worked with Ron Kovic, who's story became the movie Born on the Fourth of July. Derailed is something of a memoir, released in 1995, but written mostly a few years before, detailing Page's return to Vietnam and Cambodia, as a photographer. For me, having visited Vietnam the year prior to reading the book, the country Page encountered only 20 years ago is as different as to how I saw it as it was from when he left it during the Vietnam war. As a result, the book has relevance primarily as a memoir or, if you will, a sign of the times. Page, known for his extensive drug use, too regularly makes a point of his smoking habits, which gets old quickly. Interestingly, he doesn't drink.
A large part of the book is about Page's times with Sean Flynn, the son of Erol Flynn, who went MIA in Cambodia (and who was immortalized in a The Clash song). Later, when returning, Page spent quite some time tracking down what happened to his friend.
Two years after this book was released, he released Requiem, containing photographs by journalists killed in south east Asia during the many wars there. From this, a permanent photographic exhibition followed at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh, which I went to see last year.
Quite the character, Page was to some extent the inspiration for the character portrayed by Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now. A war photographer, specifically active during the Vietnam war, he underwent neurosurgery in the US after a near-fatal encounter. Afterwards, working as caregivers for amputees and traumatized returnees, he worked with Ron Kovic, who's story became the movie Born on the Fourth of July. Derailed is something of a memoir, released in 1995, but written mostly a few years before, detailing Page's return to Vietnam and Cambodia, as a photographer. For me, having visited Vietnam the year prior to reading the book, the country Page encountered only 20 years ago is as different as to how I saw it as it was from when he left it during the Vietnam war. As a result, the book has relevance primarily as a memoir or, if you will, a sign of the times. Page, known for his extensive drug use, too regularly makes a point of his smoking habits, which gets old quickly. Interestingly, he doesn't drink.
A large part of the book is about Page's times with Sean Flynn, the son of Erol Flynn, who went MIA in Cambodia (and who was immortalized in a The Clash song). Later, when returning, Page spent quite some time tracking down what happened to his friend.
Two years after this book was released, he released Requiem, containing photographs by journalists killed in south east Asia during the many wars there. From this, a permanent photographic exhibition followed at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh, which I went to see last year.
The book's a factual account of the story of Amedeo Guillet, an Italian commander during the second world war, in Italian occupied Libya and eastern Africa. The author mixes Amedeo's personal story with informational, occasionally detailed but always well written historical accounts and backgrounds for Italy's adventures as a colonial power in Africa.
Although Amedeo's story is quite spectacular, nearly being killed on numerous occasions, fighting on for the Italians long after the Italians surrendered to the Allied forces, escaping to the Yemen, struggling to get back to Italy, only to volunteer to continue fighting immediately, the first couple of chapters are a bit confusing at times when the mix of historical fact and personal (although factual) adventure is a bit too fluid. It not always being clear when historical accounts stop and personal memories continue.
Nevertheless, the author has captured quite an amazing story and has been able to write it down in an enjoyable style, keeping the suspense in the personal tale and supplying a very good backdrop of information on Italy's reasons for its conquests.
The book's a factual account of the story of Amedeo Guillet, an Italian commander during the second world war, in Italian occupied Libya and eastern Africa. The author mixes Amedeo's personal story with informational, occasionally detailed but always well written historical accounts and backgrounds for Italy's adventures as a colonial power in Africa.
Although Amedeo's story is quite spectacular, nearly being killed on numerous occasions, fighting on for the Italians long after the Italians surrendered to the Allied forces, escaping to the Yemen, struggling to get back to Italy, only to volunteer to continue fighting immediately, the first couple of chapters are a bit confusing at times when the mix of historical fact and personal (although factual) adventure is a bit too fluid. It not always being clear when historical accounts stop and personal memories continue.
Nevertheless, the author has captured quite an amazing story and has been able to write it down in an enjoyable style, keeping the suspense in the personal tale and supplying a very good backdrop of information on Italy's reasons for its conquests.
Quite the character, Page was to some extent the inspiration for the character portrayed by Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now. A war photographer, specifically active during the Vietnam war, he underwent neurosurgery in the US after a near-fatal encounter. Afterwards, working as caregivers for amputees and traumatized returnees, he worked with Ron Kovic, who's story became the movie Born on the Fourth of July. Derailed is something of a memoir, released in 1995, but written mostly a few years before, detailing Page's return to Vietnam and Cambodia, as a photographer. For me, having visited Vietnam the year prior to reading the book, the country Page encountered only 20 years ago is as different as to how I saw it as it was from when he left it during the Vietnam war. As a result, the book has relevance primarily as a memoir or, if you will, a sign of the times. Page, known for his extensive drug use, too regularly makes a point of his smoking habits, which gets old quickly. Interestingly, he doesn't drink.
A large part of the book is about Page's times with Sean Flynn, the son of Erol Flynn, who went MIA in Cambodia (and who was immortalized in a The Clash song). Later, when returning, Page spent quite some time tracking down what happened to his friend.
Two years after this book was released, he released Requiem, containing photographs by journalists killed in south east Asia during the many wars there. From this, a permanent photographic exhibition followed at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh, which I went to see last year.
Quite the character, Page was to some extent the inspiration for the character portrayed by Dennis Hopper in Apocalypse Now. A war photographer, specifically active during the Vietnam war, he underwent neurosurgery in the US after a near-fatal encounter. Afterwards, working as caregivers for amputees and traumatized returnees, he worked with Ron Kovic, who's story became the movie Born on the Fourth of July. Derailed is something of a memoir, released in 1995, but written mostly a few years before, detailing Page's return to Vietnam and Cambodia, as a photographer. For me, having visited Vietnam the year prior to reading the book, the country Page encountered only 20 years ago is as different as to how I saw it as it was from when he left it during the Vietnam war. As a result, the book has relevance primarily as a memoir or, if you will, a sign of the times. Page, known for his extensive drug use, too regularly makes a point of his smoking habits, which gets old quickly. Interestingly, he doesn't drink.
A large part of the book is about Page's times with Sean Flynn, the son of Erol Flynn, who went MIA in Cambodia (and who was immortalized in a The Clash song). Later, when returning, Page spent quite some time tracking down what happened to his friend.
Two years after this book was released, he released Requiem, containing photographs by journalists killed in south east Asia during the many wars there. From this, a permanent photographic exhibition followed at the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh, which I went to see last year.
1.
Buarque positions ‘Iberia’, the nation from which Brazil ‘received its heritage’, as a ‘bridge-territory’, through which Europe communicated with other worlds. He characterizes Iberians as 'unique in developing the cult of the personality', individualism, independence, within society. This implies that ‘lasting group agreement’ is not possible unless imposed from the outside, with a lack of social cohesion the norm, with weaker hierarchies as compared to other European nations, as a consequence.
The Iberian, says Buarque, values individual responsibility, meaning that, because of this, not natural human association, but governments were the unifying factor, with military dictatorships being particularly well suited to facilitate this.
Valued personal attributes were things like ‘integrity’, ‘honor’, and ‘seriousness’, not, specifically, a Protestant work ethic; a dignified idleness being seen as more ennobling than the struggle for daily bread. And, with a limited work ethic comes limited social solidarity, except in the personal, domestic, sphere.
2.
The Portuguese were well suited to conquering equatorial lands, particularly because their negligent and careless nature.
Buarque divides societies in ‘adventurers’ and ‘workers’. A society is one, or the other. For the former, the world is of unlimited space. For the latter, one of overcoming difficulties. They are not compatible, though neither exists in pure form. But, 'naturally', nations favoring the adventurous spirit were ideally suited for conquering South America. Spain, Portugal, but also, apparently, England.
The fertile tropical lands could not be scaled up in their exploitation through free labor, as the indigenous population couldn’t, or refused to, work under meticulously organized conditions. Slave labor was a necessity.
Buarque notices that agriculture in Brazil slid into using ‘bad’ methods. “In the agrarian economy, bad methods… have always tended to push out good methods”. To me, this seems a bold statement, but, it appears, is based on the desire for short term gains, only, supposedly connected to the adventurous spirit of the Portuguese. Then again, the destruction of the Amazon could be seen as fitting this pattern, though that could also simply be (more likely, even?) a dovetailing with the root features of capitalism.
Buarque also observes a comparative lack of racial pride in the Portuguese, comparing this with other nations of Latin origin and, more so, with African Muslims. Buarque claims Portuguese have a large proportion of African blood. Quoting 1926 research, Buarque claims that Swahili speakers differentiate between Europeans and Portuguese. But also, Buarque makes the claim that, in the 1500s, Portugal had significant numbers of slaves work the land and function as servants. Either way, ‘racial exclusivity’ was less prominent in Brazil, though Africans were very much considered inferior, even if the native population was less so.
Worker cooperatives, guilds, were not established in Brazil due to the prevalence of slave labor, home industries, and the general shortage of skilled workers. Also, with many regularly switching careers in pursuit of greater profits, craftsmanship was not established.
Buarque puts the spirit of cooperation, when it exists, not towards the achievement of material object, but to the satisfaction of providing assistance to a neighbor or friend.
Then, the Dutch occupation is discussed. The Dutch focus on urban development was significantly different from the Portuguese process. Buarque mentions that ‘the first parliament ever convened in the western hemisphere met in Recife in 1640’. Buarque positions the Dutch as destined to fail; they tried to make Brazil into a tropical Europe, whereas the Portuguese lack of true understanding of the difference between the motherland and the colony, a weakness, was their strength as a consequence. Earlier, Buarque posits that the relatively small numbers of Dutch making the journey was testament to the success of the United provinces at home. The Dutch, like other Northern Europeans, were just not suited to the tropics. The Portuguese adapted. Quoting from a German source, “they became negroes”. In addition, Buarque says, both the Portuguese language and faith found much more fertile grounds amongst Africans and indigenous populations.
3.
Brazil has primarily been a country centered around agriculture. According to Buarque, the industrialized and capitalist shift carried as a consequence the incompatibility with slave labor. Seems to me like a misunderstanding of capitalism, as we now very well understand that modern capitalism and effective slavery go hand in hand.
Interestingly, from around 1850, the import of slaves dried up. As a consequence, to channel the funds that were freed up, the bank of Brazil was founded. But, patriarchal features remained; party politics became a process of staying loyal to the party, not to principles. Buarque connects this to a central feature of Brazil’s agricultural history, where every fazenda itself functioned as a small republic, self sufficient, with the patriarch at its head, while, at the time, the country as a whole did not function as such. Interestingly, apparently, the patriarch in these rural settings had de facto jurisdiction over his family and possessions, able to condemn his family members to death, which Buarque connects to the power of the pater familias in ancient Roma. Buarque then makes a case that, historically, mental capacity, intelligence, in Brazil, has been seen as a kind of commendable feature of the human individual, but not as a source for meaningful potential advancement. Then, pointing out that as a country of slaves and masters, with trade engaged in by foreigners, there was very little base for the creation of an (urban) middle class. The result, on the whole, was a prolonged dependence on agricultural regions and practices. To the extent that cities, until the arrival of the royal court, were surprisingly quiet and run down due to the owners of the houses, landowners, would only visit cities during specific holidays, keeping their wealth in the countryside.
Buarque ends this with another comparison with the Dutch, saying that they actually favoured the city over the countryside.
4.
Buarque draws a distinction between Spanish and Portuguese colonization efforts: the Spanish 'are meticulously organized', emphasizing the role of a well organized, Roman, city as the center of control, with the intention to expand the Spanish state. The Portuguese focused on commercial exploitation, which Buarque compares to Phoenician or Greek methods. So, by the 1550s, the Spanish had already established multiple universities in the new world.
Similarly, the Spanish pursued settlements more inland, at altitudes, with less extreme climates, whereas the Portuguese stayed along the coasts, testament to the often used term ‘interior’, to describe Brazil away from its shores. It’s no coincidence, to Buarque, that the call for Brazil’s independence started in São Paulo, away from the coast, in a city less connected to the coast and, thus, less connected to Portugal. This focus on the coast only reduced after the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais.
Buarque observed that the Portuguese primarily occupied coastal regions that only recently had been taken over by Tupi, they themselves pushing other indigenous groups into the hinterland, while creating a coastal environment occupied by a fairly homogenous group, speaking one language, making it easier for the Portuguese to replace them exactly in these territories. Perhaps more interesting was the mentality of extraction, not settlement, the colonizers favoring exploitation, for they all expected to return to the motherland. The Portuguese went so far that, as late as the end of the 18th century, Brazil was forbidden to produce numerous goods that were manufactured in Portugal.
Buarque continuous to compare the Portuguese mindset with that of the Spanish, through which he explains the differences in colonial administration. The Spanish, more strict, sought control through rules. The Portuguese, with a trader mindset, allowed for more freedom. And Buarque introduces what he sees as the typical Portuguese concept of desleixo; not quite laxity but “it’s not worth the trouble”, accepting life as it is, with a disdain for efficiency and social solidarity. This is followed by a broad range of literary references that, for their obscurity, to me, confuse, as opposed to enlighten.
In the same chapter, appendices mention the lack of the printed word, by design up to the imperial period, in Brazil, and the common use of Tupi as the língua franca in the 17th century.
5.
Buarque argues that Brazilian bureaucracy has not been formal, but has been infused by ideals coming from relationships within the context of family. Interpersonal relations, intimacy, not cordiality, are essential to the Brazilian.
Buarque continues to say that this attitude extended to religion and that that desire for intimacy meant that, by necessity, the republic needed to be created by those outside of religion.
6.
The Brazilian republic was constructed top to bottom, not based on popular demand.
Buarque sprouts flowery prose, including skepticism that full literacy would not necessarily be desirable to improve the fate of the nation. Buarque then mentions an innate shame of Brazilians of being Brazilian, effecting their perception of themselves in relation to others. This recalls the 'viralata' attitude, the mixed-breed inferior dog, often ascribed to Brazilians.
7.
The end of slavery marks the switch away from a state built on agricultural and Iberianism.
Buarque points out that coffee, less intensive agriculture requiring fewer financial investments, made it more democratic, as smaller farms were sustainable, in comparison to sugar exploitation. This also lead to a less rural autonomy.
Interestingly, Buarque makes the case that the trappings of the monarchy remained after abolishing slavery and royalty, while the economic systems, and the societal layers, supporting those structures had fallen into irrelevance, creating a framework of pompous irrelevance.
Also interestingly, Buarque points to the perception of Brazil on the world stage as being full of elevated goodwill toward all nations of the world, resonating even today. However, this policy stemming from that disconnected elite also meant it was disconnected from society at large.
Buarque makes the observation that fascism flows from liberalism, similar to how, more recently, it’s understood that neoliberalism is capitalism that feels secure, while fascism is capitalism that feels threatened.
Buarque identifies victory of the revolutionary change centred on the abolishing of slavery and monarchy through the dissolution of the archaic systems that float on top of society. But, related, Buarque sees Brazil’s struggle as yet being unable to do away with politics centered around individuals, as opposed to ideas.
1.
Buarque positions ‘Iberia’, the nation from which Brazil ‘received its heritage’, as a ‘bridge-territory’, through which Europe communicated with other worlds. He characterizes Iberians as 'unique in developing the cult of the personality', individualism, independence, within society. This implies that ‘lasting group agreement’ is not possible unless imposed from the outside, with a lack of social cohesion the norm, with weaker hierarchies as compared to other European nations, as a consequence.
The Iberian, says Buarque, values individual responsibility, meaning that, because of this, not natural human association, but governments were the unifying factor, with military dictatorships being particularly well suited to facilitate this.
Valued personal attributes were things like ‘integrity’, ‘honor’, and ‘seriousness’, not, specifically, a Protestant work ethic; a dignified idleness being seen as more ennobling than the struggle for daily bread. And, with a limited work ethic comes limited social solidarity, except in the personal, domestic, sphere.
2.
The Portuguese were well suited to conquering equatorial lands, particularly because their negligent and careless nature.
Buarque divides societies in ‘adventurers’ and ‘workers’. A society is one, or the other. For the former, the world is of unlimited space. For the latter, one of overcoming difficulties. They are not compatible, though neither exists in pure form. But, 'naturally', nations favoring the adventurous spirit were ideally suited for conquering South America. Spain, Portugal, but also, apparently, England.
The fertile tropical lands could not be scaled up in their exploitation through free labor, as the indigenous population couldn’t, or refused to, work under meticulously organized conditions. Slave labor was a necessity.
Buarque notices that agriculture in Brazil slid into using ‘bad’ methods. “In the agrarian economy, bad methods… have always tended to push out good methods”. To me, this seems a bold statement, but, it appears, is based on the desire for short term gains, only, supposedly connected to the adventurous spirit of the Portuguese. Then again, the destruction of the Amazon could be seen as fitting this pattern, though that could also simply be (more likely, even?) a dovetailing with the root features of capitalism.
Buarque also observes a comparative lack of racial pride in the Portuguese, comparing this with other nations of Latin origin and, more so, with African Muslims. Buarque claims Portuguese have a large proportion of African blood. Quoting 1926 research, Buarque claims that Swahili speakers differentiate between Europeans and Portuguese. But also, Buarque makes the claim that, in the 1500s, Portugal had significant numbers of slaves work the land and function as servants. Either way, ‘racial exclusivity’ was less prominent in Brazil, though Africans were very much considered inferior, even if the native population was less so.
Worker cooperatives, guilds, were not established in Brazil due to the prevalence of slave labor, home industries, and the general shortage of skilled workers. Also, with many regularly switching careers in pursuit of greater profits, craftsmanship was not established.
Buarque puts the spirit of cooperation, when it exists, not towards the achievement of material object, but to the satisfaction of providing assistance to a neighbor or friend.
Then, the Dutch occupation is discussed. The Dutch focus on urban development was significantly different from the Portuguese process. Buarque mentions that ‘the first parliament ever convened in the western hemisphere met in Recife in 1640’. Buarque positions the Dutch as destined to fail; they tried to make Brazil into a tropical Europe, whereas the Portuguese lack of true understanding of the difference between the motherland and the colony, a weakness, was their strength as a consequence. Earlier, Buarque posits that the relatively small numbers of Dutch making the journey was testament to the success of the United provinces at home. The Dutch, like other Northern Europeans, were just not suited to the tropics. The Portuguese adapted. Quoting from a German source, “they became negroes”. In addition, Buarque says, both the Portuguese language and faith found much more fertile grounds amongst Africans and indigenous populations.
3.
Brazil has primarily been a country centered around agriculture. According to Buarque, the industrialized and capitalist shift carried as a consequence the incompatibility with slave labor. Seems to me like a misunderstanding of capitalism, as we now very well understand that modern capitalism and effective slavery go hand in hand.
Interestingly, from around 1850, the import of slaves dried up. As a consequence, to channel the funds that were freed up, the bank of Brazil was founded. But, patriarchal features remained; party politics became a process of staying loyal to the party, not to principles. Buarque connects this to a central feature of Brazil’s agricultural history, where every fazenda itself functioned as a small republic, self sufficient, with the patriarch at its head, while, at the time, the country as a whole did not function as such. Interestingly, apparently, the patriarch in these rural settings had de facto jurisdiction over his family and possessions, able to condemn his family members to death, which Buarque connects to the power of the pater familias in ancient Roma. Buarque then makes a case that, historically, mental capacity, intelligence, in Brazil, has been seen as a kind of commendable feature of the human individual, but not as a source for meaningful potential advancement. Then, pointing out that as a country of slaves and masters, with trade engaged in by foreigners, there was very little base for the creation of an (urban) middle class. The result, on the whole, was a prolonged dependence on agricultural regions and practices. To the extent that cities, until the arrival of the royal court, were surprisingly quiet and run down due to the owners of the houses, landowners, would only visit cities during specific holidays, keeping their wealth in the countryside.
Buarque ends this with another comparison with the Dutch, saying that they actually favoured the city over the countryside.
4.
Buarque draws a distinction between Spanish and Portuguese colonization efforts: the Spanish 'are meticulously organized', emphasizing the role of a well organized, Roman, city as the center of control, with the intention to expand the Spanish state. The Portuguese focused on commercial exploitation, which Buarque compares to Phoenician or Greek methods. So, by the 1550s, the Spanish had already established multiple universities in the new world.
Similarly, the Spanish pursued settlements more inland, at altitudes, with less extreme climates, whereas the Portuguese stayed along the coasts, testament to the often used term ‘interior’, to describe Brazil away from its shores. It’s no coincidence, to Buarque, that the call for Brazil’s independence started in São Paulo, away from the coast, in a city less connected to the coast and, thus, less connected to Portugal. This focus on the coast only reduced after the discovery of gold in Minas Gerais.
Buarque observed that the Portuguese primarily occupied coastal regions that only recently had been taken over by Tupi, they themselves pushing other indigenous groups into the hinterland, while creating a coastal environment occupied by a fairly homogenous group, speaking one language, making it easier for the Portuguese to replace them exactly in these territories. Perhaps more interesting was the mentality of extraction, not settlement, the colonizers favoring exploitation, for they all expected to return to the motherland. The Portuguese went so far that, as late as the end of the 18th century, Brazil was forbidden to produce numerous goods that were manufactured in Portugal.
Buarque continuous to compare the Portuguese mindset with that of the Spanish, through which he explains the differences in colonial administration. The Spanish, more strict, sought control through rules. The Portuguese, with a trader mindset, allowed for more freedom. And Buarque introduces what he sees as the typical Portuguese concept of desleixo; not quite laxity but “it’s not worth the trouble”, accepting life as it is, with a disdain for efficiency and social solidarity. This is followed by a broad range of literary references that, for their obscurity, to me, confuse, as opposed to enlighten.
In the same chapter, appendices mention the lack of the printed word, by design up to the imperial period, in Brazil, and the common use of Tupi as the língua franca in the 17th century.
5.
Buarque argues that Brazilian bureaucracy has not been formal, but has been infused by ideals coming from relationships within the context of family. Interpersonal relations, intimacy, not cordiality, are essential to the Brazilian.
Buarque continues to say that this attitude extended to religion and that that desire for intimacy meant that, by necessity, the republic needed to be created by those outside of religion.
6.
The Brazilian republic was constructed top to bottom, not based on popular demand.
Buarque sprouts flowery prose, including skepticism that full literacy would not necessarily be desirable to improve the fate of the nation. Buarque then mentions an innate shame of Brazilians of being Brazilian, effecting their perception of themselves in relation to others. This recalls the 'viralata' attitude, the mixed-breed inferior dog, often ascribed to Brazilians.
7.
The end of slavery marks the switch away from a state built on agricultural and Iberianism.
Buarque points out that coffee, less intensive agriculture requiring fewer financial investments, made it more democratic, as smaller farms were sustainable, in comparison to sugar exploitation. This also lead to a less rural autonomy.
Interestingly, Buarque makes the case that the trappings of the monarchy remained after abolishing slavery and royalty, while the economic systems, and the societal layers, supporting those structures had fallen into irrelevance, creating a framework of pompous irrelevance.
Also interestingly, Buarque points to the perception of Brazil on the world stage as being full of elevated goodwill toward all nations of the world, resonating even today. However, this policy stemming from that disconnected elite also meant it was disconnected from society at large.
Buarque makes the observation that fascism flows from liberalism, similar to how, more recently, it’s understood that neoliberalism is capitalism that feels secure, while fascism is capitalism that feels threatened.
Buarque identifies victory of the revolutionary change centred on the abolishing of slavery and monarchy through the dissolution of the archaic systems that float on top of society. But, related, Buarque sees Brazil’s struggle as yet being unable to do away with politics centered around individuals, as opposed to ideas.
Radhika Subramaniam’s Footprint: Four Itineraries is less a book about feet than about the entangled histories, metaphors, and politics that follow in their wake. A hybrid, sitting between critical essay, travelogue, and cultural history, Subramaniam’s text is structured around four “itineraries”, Stride, Pace, Trudge, and Track. The book meanders across centuries and continents, from fossilized prints at Laetoli to the boot marks on the moon, from Hopi migration routes to border patrol surveillance, from urban pavements to the abstracted “carbon footprint.”
Originally posted at walklistencreate.org.
Radhika Subramaniam’s Footprint: Four Itineraries is less a book about feet than about the entangled histories, metaphors, and politics that follow in their wake. A hybrid, sitting between critical essay, travelogue, and cultural history, Subramaniam’s text is structured around four “itineraries”, Stride, Pace, Trudge, and Track. The book meanders across centuries and continents, from fossilized prints at Laetoli to the boot marks on the moon, from Hopi migration routes to border patrol surveillance, from urban pavements to the abstracted “carbon footprint.”
Originally posted at walklistencreate.org.