Image source: nationalgeographic.com
The Latin American behemoth once sat back tossing up high-rises to the skies of its key cities and swinging a wrecking ball into any project of global significance, as the no less economically emergent Middle East erupted into the Arab Spring. The Olympics and the World Cup pocketed, and now Brazil’s political spectatorship is turned in. Where it was previously unmoved and occupied as the country shopped European imports of luxury goods and Asian electronics, it now comes to a boil.
For wise pundits, Brazil’s take-off never erased home-grown inequalities. It did, however, establish a new middle class, and people have become more expectant than ever of a providential state that seemed at ease with newfound industrialism. China’s economic emergence is a sobering testament. It’s the kind of progress that leaves the working classes behind, a world of inequality pulsing with both excitable consumerism and the din of unfed labor. Another example in Latin America is Mexico, where President Enrique Pena Nieto could simultaneously promise investors a sound business climate and still remark poverty levels to be strapped.
Image source: qubanaha.com
As working class demonstrations in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo force a reality check on emergent economies, they also challenge the world order that made developed countries ahead of developing ones. The working classes are the motors of these fruitful changes, but they remain disenfranchised by state services, disgruntled by corruption, and trapped by limited purchasing power.
Relatively new governments of emerging economies like that of Mexico are increasingly aware of the role of working classes in driving economic progress. Check out President Enrique Pena Nieto’s programs for addressing inequality through the Mexican Presidency’s official website.
Image source: latimes.com
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