During Brazil's entire history, those above deck have thrown
leftovers to those in the holds, the better to maintain a
living workforce and to prevent violence. We created an
economy for the few and assistance to delude the rest.

Cristovam Buarque

Brazil is a slave ship bound for the future. A slave ship, with millions of excluded poor in the holds lacking food, education, healthcare, and an elite above deck enjoying a high standard of living and bound for a disastrous future. Because our economy has been based upon social exclusion and upon the short term, Brazil is a slave ship Titanic, insensitive both to those in the holds and to the icebergs ahead.

One hundred fifteen years after Abolition, our economy still treats poor Brazilians as if they did not figure in its objectives and views long-term planning as if it did not exist. Our economy has been administered in a manner insensitive to the present necessities of the poor and the future objectives of the nation.

During our entire history, those above deck have thrown leftovers to those in the holds, the better to maintain a living workforce and to prevent violence. We created an economy for the few and assistance to delude the rest. In the times of slavery, the economic texts taught how, where, and at what price to buy a slave; how to feed him or her at the least possible cost, while maintaining maximum profitability; how to limit violence so as not to cripple the slave. At the same time, the economic texts functioned as protective entities for slaves, although they did not advocate abolition.

The slave-ocratic system ended but the assistance-instead-of-abolition era continued.

Throughout our history since Abolition in 1888—and, above all, in the last two decades of full democracy—the Brazilian economy has made no commitment to abolition. At best, it stimulated assistance. We gave assistance to street children, while believing it impossible to abolish child abandonment; we gave assistance to child prostitutes, while believing it impossible to abolish child prostitution; with pride we announced that the number of working children had diminished but did not make the effort necessary to abolish child labor; we say we have 95 percent of children enrolled in school but neglect to ask for forgiveness from the 5 percent who are abandoned, just as in 1870 it was said that "only" 70 percent of black Brazilians were slaves.

After the one hundred fifteen years since Abolition and the Proclamation of the Republic, Brazil now has a government committed to replacing assistance with abolition. To constructing an abolition economy. An economy that, instead of concerning itself only with increasing wealth, will formulate ways to abolish poverty; one that will view unemployment as a tragedy to be confronted and not as a lack of equilibrium to be coldly described; an economy that will give priority to producing food for the poor in the holds and not for export to pay for the orgies above deck. An economy that will consider spending on education and healthcare as a priority.

During the time of slavery, many in favor of abolition said that there were no resources to acquire the owners' vested property rights by buying the slaves before liberating them. Others said that abolition would disrupt the process of production. Today we say the same thing about spending on the education, healthcare, and feeding of our people. The public sector's commitment to vested rights does not permit fulfilling the resource needs for education and healthcare in the public sector budgets.

An abolition economy must remain vigilant of monetary stability because inflation weighs most heavily on those in the holds of Ship Brazil; it is impossible to increase the enormous fiscal burden already weighing upon all Brazil; nor can we ignore the strength of the creditors. But a country with our national income, with the power of our public sector to collect taxes, has the resources necessary to implement an abolition economy serving its people, one that guarantees education, healthcare and food for all.

Our major problem is not the lack of resources; rather, it is the legacy of centuries of a society accustomed to traveling above deck while despising those in the holds and feeling satisfied with providing merely short-term assistance.

Brazil elected a different government in October of 2002, but this new government will only show its true face at the end of 2003 when the public-sector budget will be decided upon. Only then will we discover if Brazil is going to swerve its titanic destiny around the iceberg and begin bringing the excluded part of its slave ship up from the holds.

To do this, all Brazil must manifest its will to choose abolition and leave assistance behind, directing its public spending with the radicalism necessary to attend to the needs of the excluded. The true victory of a president lies not his election but, rather, in the budget that he succeeds in approving afterwards. While his election augments his political résumé, the budget consolidates his legacy as a statesman.

Unlike dictators, kings, and prime ministers, a president of the Republic has the major task of persuading his people what future course their country should take. President Lula is persuading us that the time has come to leave behind assistance and complete the process of abolition, to leave behind a Republic with an aristocracy in favor of a Republic of citizens: it is time to swerve from the iceberg's course and bring the poor above deck.

Cristovam Buarque - cristovambuarque@uol.com.br, 59, Ph.D. in economics, is Brazil's Minister of Education. He was the rector of the University of Brasília (1985-89) and the governor of the Federal District (1995-98).

Translated by Linda Jerome LinJerome@cs.com

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