The Brazilian electoral marathon

The ideological battles on social media, the new battlefield of contemporary times, have very clearly shown the flaws in the strategy of what we understand as the “conservative movement”. We are possibly experiencing a guerrilla war, where the opponent launches incendiary bombs every day, forcing the brave soldiers to act as firefighters. The consequence of this is that advances are less consistent than we might expect. Even in the face of the overwhelming motorbikes, the significant number of followers of right-wing influencers, the excitement caused by Jair Bolsonaro's speeches in the “fenced playpen”, in general we watched each “fire” being put out and we sighed with relief at each narrative and false news overturned.
We have been reactive, just like our representatives in the legislative houses, who need to employ human material from their offices and a lot of useful time in defenses, which despite resulting in the victory of truth, force them to postpone the presentation of new proposals and efficiently articulate a basis more compact and proactive parliament.
The 2018 numbers still haunt some minds: Bolsonaro had 39% of the votes of qualified voters, Haddad had 32%, whites, nulls and abstentions totaled 29%. Even though there are suspicions regarding the number of votes received from side to side, which could have given Bolsonaro victory in the first round, non-voters are too visible to be ignored. Approximately 62 million voters said no to both sides or were so disillusioned that they didn't even leave their homes to vote. 62 million is such a significant number that any thought of “already won” would be considered something like electoral suicide.
It's about the waste of time involved in defenses on social networks (some of them passionate), which paralyze our march towards the 62 million undecided people we want to reflect on. But after all, where do we want to get to? We are not saying that defending what is fair and right are wrong attitudes, but the waste of time with the left-wing electorate can be useless, as apparently they have not changed and will not change sides, even in the face of the truth. These are diametrically opposed world views, which produce electoral stillbirths. Professor Olavo de Carvalho already warned, referring to the issue of debates and was precise when he said:
“This debate situation is defined above all by the person of the opponent, that is, what he is looking for in the debate, what his objective is and how you should treat him. Aristotle already recommended it, that is, he was the guy who best defined the rules for comparing evidence. He said that one should never argue with anyone who does not know or respect the rules of the test. So this becomes a universal precept.”
In relation to those who are undecided or disillusioned, these should interest us, but not with memes or 'counter-memes', but with education, information and strategy. So, let's go back to the beginning of the 5th century BC to learn something about a particular war and its paradigm.
Field battle strategies generally consisted of man-to-man confrontation in an almost chaotic manner. Victory and glory on a battlefield were possible for the army with the largest number of soldiers, so the coldness of numbers mattered a lot when it was necessary to decide between fighting or accepting a dishonorable surrender. On the other hand, the individual valor of some soldiers was also important. Bravery, physical strength, and a good sword or spear could tip the scales of fate favorably in favor of a smaller army. The paradigm of wars definitely changed at the end of that century and influenced the minds of many generals from then on.
The Medical Wars brought into conflict two adversaries with expansionist characteristics: Greece and the Persian or Medo-Persian empire (the latter in the region where Iran is today located). Control of Ionia, a region currently belonging to Turkey, and in particular the city of Miletus, would give the victors control of important land trade routes and open the door to control of trade via the Aegean Sea, the Bosphorus Strait and finally the Black Sea. More than a question of military expansionism, it was above all a struggle for the subsistence of the people of Greece and Persia.
The powerful Persian kingdom of King Darius I, under the command of General Mardonius, advanced towards Ionia, having recovered Thrace and Macedonia where several rebellions had put the strategic control of those regions at risk. In 490 BC, a second campaign, across the Aegean Sea, already under the command of Datis and Artaphernes, the Persian empire continued to regain control and aimed to attack Athens. The defense against this attack prevented, albeit temporarily, the Persian victory over Athens. In the famous Battle of Marathon, the Greek army commanded by General Milciades managed to defeat the Persians, who had a wide advantage. According to some historians, the Greek forces numbered 10 to 15 thousand men while the Persians numbered more than 20 thousand men when they disembarked in the Bay of Marathon. Some sources even indicate the Persians with forces that would reach 50 thousand men.
The disproportion between the Greek and Persian forces made it obvious that, in hand-to-hand combat, man to man, the Persians would win easily. However, a new strategy was used and completely changed the scenario: the infantry formed in phalanxes. With a compact organization, surrounded and protected by shields interspersed with long spears, the Persian soldiers were unable to use their cavalry, they had no chance of approaching due to the long spears, their short swords were unviable and so, they were forced to retreat to the beach where they disembarked. The Persians were defeated, but in a completely unexpected way. The compact, trained, disciplined and persistent organization was the new thing.
After the battle was won, Miltiades sent Pheidippides back to Athens to announce the victory. Approximately 42 kilometers away, in a heroic and at the same time dramatic race. According to reports, Phidippides fulfills his mission by informing: “rejoice, Athenians, we have won!” and collapses dead from the effort. True, romanticized myth? We don't know. The fact is that Pheidippides' supposed effort inspired one of the most difficult Olympic events, the marathon.
At this point the stories come together. Among Bolsonaro's convinced voters and the 62 million undecided voters, there is an angry mob of activists who, as we said, use a guerrilla strategy with fake news, distortions, memes and derogatory videos that take focus and attention away from the “conservative movement”. . How can we call “movement” something that still resembles the hand-to-hand combat of antiquity, dispersed and chaotic? We are attacked individually with each piece of news and memes received, we often lose our emotional balance, we waste energy responding, trying to convince those who don't want to be convinced. Many times we slip into news planted among us that, however absurd they may seem, sound like music to our ears. We share and then we are labeled as fake news publishers by fact-checking agencies (agencies that are impossible to check). While all this is happening, time passes, the elections are approaching and we are still celebrating the more than 57 million votes received.
May God grant that the words now addressed to the Bolsonarista electorate are just excessive zeal. However, it never hurts to encourage the creation of serious groups to study the activities of deputies and senators, listing their proposals, their votes and associations. Candidates for new seats in the “house of the people” must also be the target of our attention, to avoid the errors and mistakes made in 2018. As important as re-electing Bolsonaro is forming a solid and armored majority in Congress, which frees us from the need to govern supported by the so-called 'centrão', mercenary politicians who, as a rule, support themselves while giving support to those who occupy power.
Phalanges formed in chambers at the Federal level, in states and municipalities, in addition to the Senate and the Supreme Court, added to an informed, conscious and participatory voter base, will provide the instruments that Bolsonaro currently does not have to govern within the four lines of the Constitution, as per he always defends. Legislative elections are the foundation for a successful Conservative government.
To truly win our marathon, our infantry needs to gain strength and form compact phalanxes. Education, based on classical principles and values, is our shield, our daily example of what we defend is our longest spear, the truth hurts more than a thousand enemy arrows. Even though death is the laurel of victory for those who rush to announce the victory of a people, freedom is our most desired final prize.
Article published in Knowledge & Citizenship Magazine Vol. I No. 09 – April 2022 Edition - ISSN 2764-3867
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