Joel Pinheiro launches book on political crisis in Brazil – 03/10/2023 – Politics

Economist and columnist Sheet Joel Pinheiro da Fonseca launches this Sunday (12) the book “God is no longer Brazilian”, presenting his perspectives on the process of political polarization, the economic crisis and the threat to Brazilian democracy from 2017 to 2022.

The autograph afternoon will be at 3 pm at Livraria Drummond, at Conjunto Nacional (Avenida Paulista, 2073).

The work, which marks the author’s debut in the publishing market, brings together a collection of articles published in the newspaper and which covered everything from the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff (PT) and the government of Michel Temer (MDB) to the election of Jair Bolsonaro (PL). ) to Planalto, the pandemic and last year’s election, which took Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) back to the Chief Executive.

According to the columnist, the analyzes present in the work try to prioritize the discussion of economic development, thinking about social issues and the environment, in addition to respect for institutions and the democratic regime, which he considers to be part of a liberal perspective.

Joel also states that most of the articles he has chosen discuss the institutions and values ​​of a liberal society, which, according to him, “despite its flaws, is the best political and social model we have”.

The economist also raises the importance of the press and journalistic articles —the main source of the book— for the creation of a common ground of facts for all, so that the debate of antagonistic ideas, natural for democracy, does not run into the misinformation.

The book’s title is the same as one of the columns published by the author on June 12, 2018 —the text criticized how political and economic behavior demanded benefits, but avoided discussing the costs, which would end up falling on the most socioeconomically vulnerable layers.

“We have a tendency in Brazil not to face difficult issues head-on, to think that somehow without us having to worry too much about it, the big problems will be solved by circumstances. A bit on the idea of ​​’God is Brazilian’, that is, everything conspires in our favor, the universe is somehow on our side”, commented Joel.

“God is no longer Brazilian, but we are Brazilians, it’s up to us and not external circumstances or greater causes, it’s up to us to solve our problems.”

He still sees the international scenario as one of the factors of economic and political tension for the country, in addition to highlighting in the work the role of technology and the impact of disinformation on public debate —despite recognizing the broad freedom of discussion on networks, Joel says there is a lot of manipulation of information.

“The deepest cause [da polarização no país] is how technology impacts public debate. This is true for Brazil, but it is true for the whole world, the whole world is experiencing this instability and it is here to stay and we will have to find solutions for this, but I also believe that solutions are possible.”

Editora Coerência, which publishes Joel’s work, says it hopes that it will bring solidity to readers in developing their thoughts on the country’s political scene through the published columns, and now compiled and organized by the author.

The company focuses on authors at the beginning of their careers in the publishing market, which is considered quite challenging. This is the case of the columnist, since “God is no longer Brazilian” is his first published book.

“We look forward to Joel’s articles, which previously appeared in his column in the Sheetreach the reader with quality, thus, perhaps, forming more sensible thoughts in the Brazilian political scene.”

Journalist Pedro Doria, who signs the preface to Joel’s collection, highlights the liberal point of view adopted by Joel for the analysis of the facts that occurred in Brazil, and states that this political-ideological perspective is marked in the book as an opposition to the process of radicalization in the country.

“What years we live in. Years of extreme changes, of a radicalism that wants to silence the debate, and here, in this book, dear reader, what there is is a liberal accompanying all these moments. Groping in search of understanding. Proposing paths . Evidently, always massacred by one side and the other. It is customary. But Brazil is better because of this constant and reflective gaze”, he wrote.