Photograph: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty [globalpost.com]
Neoliberalism at its core is about the transfer of wealth out of the public social safety net and into the hands of private capital. As anyone who has ever had to rely on public services – little things like schools or hospitals - would understand, this agenda is wildly unpopular with much of the world. But the IMF wants it. The World Bank wants it. Local elites want it. And international capital wants it. So how do they make it happen? One way is to unleash the police and simply smash institutions of popular economic self-defense such as trade unions, general assemblies and social movements. But that approach carries an attendant risk. As we’ve seen in Turkey, Brazil, and even New York City in the early days of the Occupy movement, police repression can make demonstrations seem sympathetic and even wildly attractive to people who are fed up but have no outlet for their frustration.The Olympics, World Cup, and other kinds of mega-events have over the last 30 years provided something that couldn’t be found at the end of a military-grade truncheon: consent of the masses to neoliberal policy goals. That’s why these events are best understood as “neoliberal Trojan Horses.” [...]The countries change but the scenario stays the same: a profit orgy and tax haven for both corporate sponsors and private security firms; obscene public spending on new stadiums, and then brutal cuts that fall on the backs of the poor when the party's over and the hangover begins. But in Brazil, they’re not waiting for any hangover after the cameras are gone and the confetti has been swept away.The mass actions of the last two weeks have exposed all the neoliberal theft rooted in the planning and execution of the World Cup. A prominent slogan in the streets is, “We need FIFA-quality hospitals and schools.” This is a direct reference to a line from the World Cup planning committee that repeated ad nauseum, “We need FIFA-quality stadiums.” The people have taken the neoliberal priorities of the international athletic complex and turned them on their head [...].[...][T]he overwhelming mass of people are actually in the streets because they want basic economic justice in a country where it's promised but most are left at the mercy of the market.
Banners read 'Sao Paulo is not alone, we're together' and 'Rebel against the increase in transportation'
Photograph: Paulo Santos/Reuters [theatlantic.com]
Photograph: Paulo Santos/Reuters [theatlantic.com]
Photograph: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters [theatlanticcities.com]
Photograph: Tasso Marcelo/AFP/Getty [theguardian.co.uk]
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