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 Elections and chaos
 2018.10.03 20:23:25 CEST
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 If you are Brazilian, have Brazilian friends, spouse or relatives
 then you definitely know about the upcoming presidential election 
 Brazil. The situation is so chaotic that you barely hear about the
 state government or Congress elections (held on the same day).

 If you thought Clinton vs. Trump was a shit-show, you have no idea
 how bad things are right now in Brazil. There are a lot more
 candidates, but at the moment (3 days until election) it seems the
 race will be decided between Bolsonaro (a right-wing conservative
 candidate) and Haddad (a center-left candidate).

 Here are the problems: Bolsonaro is accused to be homophobic,
 racist, misogynist and bigoted, besides supporting a harder law an
 order approach to criminality, and praising the military
 dictatorship (which was known to be very violent and oppressive, a
 usual).

 Haddad on the other hand is from the Worker's Party, who is still
 attached to the former president (and now inmate after being
 sentenced to jail due to corruption) Lula. Many members of his par
 have stated they wish to disrupt the judiciary to free the former
 president and display very authoritarian attitudes (against the
 press and I would say even more authoritarian than the right wing
 opponent).

 So there is no good choice. Some people have compared the situatio
 to having to pick between HIV or terminal cancer. The population i
 divided and there is no one trying to bridge the divide - both
 candidates are actually betting on the polarization getting worse.
 I've heard from multiple friends that they cannot have conversatio
 with other people who have a different opinion than they do,
 including family members.

 Honestly, I don't think either of the candidates is as evil as the
 opposition paints them to be. Sure, they are barking a lot, but th
 political system in Brazil makes their action dependent on having
 majority in Congress, so no biting. Neither of them have a clear p
 on how to handle the current economical, political and social cris
 after all they are profiting from it. So I also don't think either
 will improve the country directly.

 What I'm considering now are the indirect side-effects of electing
 one or the other. And I still haven't made up my mind.