As the global revolution against the increasingly supra-national ruling elites continues to spread like wildfire, Brazil is quickly becoming a hopeful example of what happens when the people awaken to this very simple reality: The wealthy elite, having been able to buy off the political establishment, has become increasingly tyrannical and predatory. That's what it means to have awakened!
The BBC reports tonight that "
Brazil protests [have] spread in Sao Paulo, Brasilia and Rio"
As many as 200,000 people have marched through the streets of Brazil's biggest cities, as protests over rising public transport costs and the expense of staging the 2014 World Cup have spread.
When the typical intimidation and misinformation tactics usually deployed by security forces (and corrupt media outlets) protecting the rich and the status quo fail to intimidate the people, what you get is a massive uprising--and at that point the corporate goons have no option but to relent...
And in Brasilia, more than 200 protesters managed to get onto the roof of the National Congress building. After negotiations with police, the crowd agreed to leave. Later, youths formed a human chain around the building, the AFP news agency said.
In Sao Paulo, some 65,000 protesters gathered at a central plaza before moving off in three directions, bringing the main avenues to a standstill.
Police stood by and watched the demonstrations, in contrast to last week when clashes in the city led to dozens of injuries and claims of excessive use of force by police. Police denied they had acted unlawfully but said they would investigate the allegations.
The emphasis is mine
There is recurring theme behind this global uprising...
The mass of people gathered at Sao Paulo's Largo da Batata was impressive - but more impressive was that after the demonstration began, thousands more kept arriving, streaming peacefully towards the city's main avenues in a constant flow.
Their bright banners bore diverse demands - but all reflected a fatigue with what people here get from the state. I repeatedly heard the word "tired": protesters told me they were tired of corruption, of nepotism, of high taxes paid for poor public services.
People chanted that others should join the movement and that "the people have awakened". They warned foreigners not to come to the World Cup - because of the billions of dollars being spent on stadiums.
The emphasis is mine
Now watch how quickly the "authorities" sit at the "negotiating table" with the protesters and start making concessions that just a few days ago said were impossible.
There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart, that you can't take part! You can't even passively take part! And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels…upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop! And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all!
--Mario Savio
Why are they protesting? Listen to this young man... You'll notice that a lot of what he says resonates...
Our
turn is coming up. When the government has failed, the people have no other option than to rise up...
Restore the Fourth is a nonviolent grassroots movement protesting indiscriminate government surveillance and the erosion of Fourth Amendment privacy rights. Inspired by recent NSA scandals, Restore the Fourth is planning a series of demonstrations across the U.S to take place this coming July 4th holiday.
Let's truly celebrate the Fourth of July!
See you there...
TUE JUN 18, 2013 AT 10:30 AM PDT
Talking Points Memo just published a photo journal of the ongoing uprising in Brazil. Below are some of the photos.
More than 240,000 people participated in the biggest demonstrations to hit Brazil in decades this week, the Associated Press reported. The protests broke out in at least eight of Brazil's largest cities, with masses united around frustration about poor transportation, health services, education and security despite a heavy tax burden.
I consider the act of one human being putting his hands on another human being in aggression one of the most fundamental transgressions ("
Take your hands off me"), bar none. Why do these pigs feel it is alright to attack people who have rising in protest against exploitation, oppression, and corruption? Under what authority, and for whose benefit, do they move in against their own citizens in this violent fashion?
But what happens when
el pueblo rises up in large numbers, in solidarity? Will the corporate goons be able to use chemical weapons, and batons, and other violent means to subjugate an entire population? What will happen once hundreds of thousands of people realize who exactly is behind the brutal oppression? The people united will never be defeated!