To the middle classes ‘orphaned by the government’ – 03/29/2023 – Maria Hermínia Tavares

Since taking office, President Lula has hinted more than once at the possibility of creating initiatives aimed at the so-called middle classes. According to him, because they are not covered by public policies, they end up orphaned “of father, mother and government”.

There are good reasons for a progressive administration to focus on this sector, which is as heterogeneous as it is electorally important. After all, a significant portion of it is located in the anti-PT camp, many inhabiting corners colonized by Bolsonarism.

Appropriately, Lula quoted him when talking about the Minha Casa, Minha Vida housing program. It turns out that, if taken seriously, the challenge will require a set of possible actions in the economic and social areas. The most obvious will be to incorporate principles of progressivity into tax reform.

The government will also have to think about approaching the major social policies —health and education— not only from the angle of coverage but, above all, the quality of the services offered.

Underfunded, the SUS, effective in basic health care, falls short when its beneficiaries demand more complex services. For their part, public schools, which serve more than 70% of children in the fundamental cycle, have notorious failures in teaching basic skills. Not by chance, as soon as the family’s income increases, she seeks private health insurance and tries to enroll her children in private schools.

In the babel of demands that took thousands to the streets in 2013, the aspiration for quality social policies was expressed in posters that called for “FIFA standard” schools and hospitals. Even so, the government will be mistaken if it believes it can speak to the middle sectors engaged in anti-PTism, waving only promises of material well-being and disregarding the appeal to values.

In formulating the mobilizing discourse that gave self-confidence to the right and placed it under the leadership of the most extreme, the denouncement of corruption played a central role — regardless of whether it was reliable or exaggerated for political purposes. For those who doubt it, we recommend the self-congratulatory series “A Direita no Brasil”, by the production company Brasil Paralelo.

For populists of all stripes, the specter of robbery serves the purpose of corroding democracy — offering rhetoric devoid of concrete action. As for the progressives, its fight necessarily implies the creation of institutional mechanisms that reduce the opportunities for it to be practiced.

For the democratic front government, it is a crucial dimension of dialogue with the middle sectors enmeshed in anti-PTism.

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