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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   32063 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 31, 2022

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Giving a perspective from Brazil, I think you are overrating Bolsonaro. He never said anything about conceding or accepting defeat during his very short speech, he only thanked his votes, said that the current protests come from indignation and that the left's tactics should not be copied.

More importantly, most of his supporters were not dissuaded by such a thing, and there remains a lot of unrest, as seen by the trucker's blockades. Many of his more radical allies, like congresswoman Carla Zambelli, outright encourage such movements.

most of his supporters were not dissuaded by such a thing

What would you estimate the baseline unrest to be? Do you think Bolsonaro's actions reduced, amplified, or did not affect unrest?

I believe some sort of unrest would be inevitable after the loss, given the animosity the right wing had acquired to the judiciary and the media, viewing then as having rigged the elections. They even started well before Bolsonaro or his sons made any sort of announcement (they went quiet for two days, and they were very prolific on social media). Bolsonaro's declarations, in any case, were weak enough that his most zealous followers either ignored it or took it as some 4d chess move. Alongside that, Bolsonaro was supported by some in the right (me included) only as a way to stop Lula and PT from returning to power, and for this group the protests are less for a second Bolsonaro term than stopping Lula's third term.

Perspective from the relevant location is much appreciated. I hope you will post follow-ups.

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