Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Brazil’s Giant Problem

Brazil’s Giant Problem

    Wall Street Journal


Corruption is just a symptom of Brazil’s deeper issue: a vast state apparatus that has tried to be the country’s engine of economic growth



By John Lyons at john.lyons@wsj.com and  David Luhnow at david.luhnow@wsj.com

It is worth reading it. Read here: http://on.wsj.com/1T4g7Fc via @WSJ

Some comments:

What got my attention in the article was the reference of the Brazil's State as a Leviathan. It looks like if the authors got that name from the intercessors of Brazil, from those involved in spiritual warfare. The Leviathan is pretty much a principality who operates through pride, witchcraft and idolatry. 

Here are some excerpts from the essay. 

Brasilia, the capital "was one more expression of the country’s long and troubled attachment to the concept of a giant paternalistic state, responsible for managing the affairs of the entire society, from its biggest companies to its poorest citizens.

Founded by Portuguese monarchs who moved their court to Rio de Janeiro in 1808, Brazil has experienced almost every conceivable sort of rule over the past two centuries. Its leaders have run the gamut from emperors and dictators to democrats and former Marxists. Regardless of their politics, however, almost all of them have shared a commitment to the Leviathan state as the engine of progress.

Today, the Leviathan is sick. Brasília is embroiled in a sprawling embezzlement scandal at the state oil company, Petróleo Brasileiro SA. Investigators say that politicians, oil executives and businessmen conspired for a decade to siphon billions of dollars from the firm, channeling money to Swiss accounts and the slush funds of major political parties.

In Brazil’s Congress, where six in 10 members now face some kind of criminal investigation, lawmakers in the lower house have voted to impeach President Dilma Rousseff, a leftist economist whom many blame for fostering corruption and ruining Brazil’s economy. One vote against her came from Congressman Tiririca, a professional clown who won office campaigning that “it can’t get any worse.

Why does Brazil’s Leviathan state endure? One reason is a strong current of nationalism running through Brazilian life. Another is that it has delivered just enough on its grand promises to win the loyalty of key segments of the population.

Perhaps the most insidious legacy of Brazilian’s Leviathan state is the country’s endemic corruption. Bureaucrats with broad controls become tempted to seek bribes to issue permits, licenses and contracts. Businessmen become tempted to pay them. 

Brazil’s Leviathan grew so great that it gave rise to a popular theory that corruption could be a good thing because it “greased the wheels” of otherwise paralyzed bureaucracies. 

The Petrobras scandal is also a case study in opportunities squandered by Brazil’s Leviathan state. 

The Petrobras scandal also allegedly shows how politicians used corruption to retain control.

Trimming back Brazil’s Leviathan state won't be easy. As much as 85% of Brazil’s federal budget goes to spending that is guaranteed by law, from increases in retirement plans to spending on housing. Changes will require constitutional amendments.

Now some Bible references:

"These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”” 2 Peter 2:17-22 NIV

Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook
    or tie down its tongue with a rope?
Can you put a cord through its nose
    or pierce its jaw with a hook?
Will it keep begging you for mercy?
    Will it speak to you with gentle words? Job 41:1-3

“But God is my King from long ago; he brings salvation on the earth. It was you who split open the sea by your power; you broke the heads of the monster in the waters. It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.” Psalm 74:12-14 NIV

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