I boycotted the World Cup for the the same reasons young Brazilian Carla Dauden explains in her 6 minute video. Carla begins, “No, I’m not going to the World Cup and this is why …” She tells why the World Cup is good for the rich and for FIFA, but terrible and even terrifying for the average citizens of Brazil. Included are 90 seconds of clips showing conditions of oppression and tremendous need in a country that spent billions on the World Cup but refuses to invest in hospitals or medical care and that recently hiked public transit fares up so high people couldn’t afford to go to work.
A country which, under cover of darkness and in preparation for tourists arriving for the World Cup, “sanitized” its streets by tearing down homes and exterminating lives. Danish journalist Mikkel Keldorf had plans to cover the World Cup but left the country in protest after learning that the government had killed at least 120 orphaned street children in its cleansing drive. His short video is called “The Price of the World Cup”.
Forbes’ Kenneth Rapoza writes,
Brazil is a society that is over-taxed and governed by a state that under-deliveries. Outside of the rich southeastern corridor, which stretches from Porto Alegre to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil still looks under developed. Brazilians pay a lot and get a little. Worse yet, they live on the edge of corruption and petty crime. Most Brazilians have been robbed, regardless of race or economic status.
In light of that civil circus, Brazilians look around the big top they live in and see new soccer stadiums getting built. They wonder why the government can find all this money for sports, so fast, and nothing for schools. FIFA quickly became the expression of a busted social contract between civilians and their government.
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