SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
American journalist and constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald, who lives in Brazil, broke down the top lessons for Western democracies from recent electoral victory of Brazil's new president, Jair Bolsonaro. (Photo: The Intercept/YouTube)
Watch: Glenn Greenwald Breaks Down Lessons for the West From Bolsonaro's Fascist Victory in Brazil
"When the establishment class fails a huge portion of the population for enough time and to enough of an extent, sooner or later they will decide that it is the ruling class that is their enemy."
Oct 30, 2018
In a video published by The Intercept on Monday, U.S. journalist and constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald, who lives in Brazil, breaks down the top lessons for Western democracies from the rise and ultimate victory of Brazil's newly elected fascist, misogynistic, racist, and homophobic president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Greenwald challenges the popular Western media narrative that Brazil's new leader is the President Donald Trump of the Tropics, calling it "woefully inadequate--in fact, wildly misleading." Bolsonaro poses a far graver danger to basic human rights and democracy, Greenwald argues, because he previously was part of a military dictatorship and wants to reimpose it; Brazil's institutions are newer and far more fragile than other democracies, limiting accountability; and he comes from the right-wing movement of the 1960s and 1970s--which obsessed about an "existential war" with Communism--rather than today's emerging reactionary movements in the U.S. and Europe that focus on stoking xenophobia while attacking social programs and democratic institutions.
Bolsonaro's victory, he explains, largely comes not from voters who support his hatred toward marginalized groups, but from poor people, people of color, LGBTQ people, and women "who voted for him despite that out of desperation and hopelessness." The lesson to take from Brazil is, according to Greenwald, "when the establishment class fails a huge portion of the population for enough time and to enough of an extent, sooner or later they will decide that it is the ruling class that is their enemy and they will run into the arms of anybody who they perceive as being its enemy and who is threatening to tear it down."
Watch:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
In a video published by The Intercept on Monday, U.S. journalist and constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald, who lives in Brazil, breaks down the top lessons for Western democracies from the rise and ultimate victory of Brazil's newly elected fascist, misogynistic, racist, and homophobic president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Greenwald challenges the popular Western media narrative that Brazil's new leader is the President Donald Trump of the Tropics, calling it "woefully inadequate--in fact, wildly misleading." Bolsonaro poses a far graver danger to basic human rights and democracy, Greenwald argues, because he previously was part of a military dictatorship and wants to reimpose it; Brazil's institutions are newer and far more fragile than other democracies, limiting accountability; and he comes from the right-wing movement of the 1960s and 1970s--which obsessed about an "existential war" with Communism--rather than today's emerging reactionary movements in the U.S. and Europe that focus on stoking xenophobia while attacking social programs and democratic institutions.
Bolsonaro's victory, he explains, largely comes not from voters who support his hatred toward marginalized groups, but from poor people, people of color, LGBTQ people, and women "who voted for him despite that out of desperation and hopelessness." The lesson to take from Brazil is, according to Greenwald, "when the establishment class fails a huge portion of the population for enough time and to enough of an extent, sooner or later they will decide that it is the ruling class that is their enemy and they will run into the arms of anybody who they perceive as being its enemy and who is threatening to tear it down."
Watch:
In a video published by The Intercept on Monday, U.S. journalist and constitutional lawyer Glenn Greenwald, who lives in Brazil, breaks down the top lessons for Western democracies from the rise and ultimate victory of Brazil's newly elected fascist, misogynistic, racist, and homophobic president, Jair Bolsonaro.
Greenwald challenges the popular Western media narrative that Brazil's new leader is the President Donald Trump of the Tropics, calling it "woefully inadequate--in fact, wildly misleading." Bolsonaro poses a far graver danger to basic human rights and democracy, Greenwald argues, because he previously was part of a military dictatorship and wants to reimpose it; Brazil's institutions are newer and far more fragile than other democracies, limiting accountability; and he comes from the right-wing movement of the 1960s and 1970s--which obsessed about an "existential war" with Communism--rather than today's emerging reactionary movements in the U.S. and Europe that focus on stoking xenophobia while attacking social programs and democratic institutions.
Bolsonaro's victory, he explains, largely comes not from voters who support his hatred toward marginalized groups, but from poor people, people of color, LGBTQ people, and women "who voted for him despite that out of desperation and hopelessness." The lesson to take from Brazil is, according to Greenwald, "when the establishment class fails a huge portion of the population for enough time and to enough of an extent, sooner or later they will decide that it is the ruling class that is their enemy and they will run into the arms of anybody who they perceive as being its enemy and who is threatening to tear it down."
Watch:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.