I reiterate that, for me, it was impossible to vote for Jair Bolsonaro in 2018 or 2022, given everything I discussed and published during those election years and throughout his administration. I opposed, for instance, the liberalization of gun ownership; I believed that making firearms more accessible in a country already severely affected by crimes committed by individuals carrying such weapons would only further increase insecurity and criminality—much like pouring alcohol on a fire instead of trying to extinguish it with water. This was, in fact, one of the core proposals of his first presidential campaign in 2018. Furthermore, it effectively amounts to outsourcing a function that should primarily be the responsibility of the state/government.
Then came 2022, following his administration’s handling of the worst health crisis in a century—the Covid-19 pandemic. He encouraged his base to disregard virus-containment measures, trivialized the suffering of those who were infected or hospitalized—many of whom passed away shortly thereafter—and sought to undermine public confidence in the efficacy of vaccines.
This is not to say that certain criticisms of the measures adopted—such as mandatory quarantine and the resulting financial hardship for small business owners—were not legitimate.
I even went so far as to harshly criticize his supporters, and I believe I was right to do so.
But that’s just how it goes...
The world keeps turning, and when a new administration takes office, the bulk of the responsibility for governing shifts to them. Lula was elected in 2022, and I celebrated in a way I hadn’t in a very long time. It felt like a personal release from all the psychological suffering I had endured during those years under the Bolsonaro administration—especially throughout the pandemic, with the imminent risk of infection and death. I feared not only for my own life but also for the lives of my immediate family, friends, and acquaintances. I truly believed that, in what was expected to be his "final term," Lula would lead a reasonably sensible administration. I had even come to consider him one of the best presidents the country had ever had—though, perhaps, more in the sense of being "one of the least bad." I had simply forgotten—or perhaps hidden from myself, despite being fully aware of it—the reality of the many years under Workers' Party (PT) administrations and what that has meant for the country in the long term: the massive ideological infiltration of various social sectors, such as education and the media. This has had tangible consequences, including a rise in crime—directly fueled by the growing dominance of an "anti-punitive" leftist ideology within the judiciary—and the promotion of various "pseudo-scientific"left-wing notions, presented as absolute, common-sense truths. This ideological hegemony has also contributed to the destruction of Brazilian culture, eroding its inherent plurality and authenticity by prioritizing—always for ideological reasons—specific groups or categories that align most closely with their totalitarian agenda.
The world has effectively turned upside down. Lula and the Left have disappointed once again—a particularly bitter blow for me, given that I placed my trust in them in 2022. Now, following his reelection—which, it must be said, is highly suspicious (involving a mathematically impossible surge in votes for the incumbent during the second round, coupled with an abrupt and arguably unconstitutional pause in the vote count)—I foresee an even worse administration. If the previous one was already poor, this new term promises to be worse, given the accumulation of supposedly "well-intentioned" errors that were codified into public policy—policies whose repercussions extend far beyond their abstract rhetoric of "love," "justice," and "historical rectification." This affects every vital sector of a modern society, from the economy to culture.
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