Brazil's Teenage Flashmobs Are A Lot More Serious Than They Sound

BI ^ | 1-20-2013 | Brian Feldman, The Wire

[blam]

Brazil's Teenage Flashmobs Are A Lot More Serious Than They Sound

The Wire
Brian Feldman, The Wire
Jan. 20, 2014, 7:43 AM

Over the past week, flashmobs have been occurring all over Brazil as a form of protest, drawing thousands of participants and sometimes turning violent. The rolezhinos—"gatherings of predominantly poor, black youths who party in malls usually occupied by mostly wealthy, white consumers"—have been so effective in garnering attention that even the country's president is paying attention.

The protests, according to The New York Times, "involve large numbers of dark-skinned teenagers" and cast an eye on public space in Brazil, where parks are a scarcity in urban areas. One Brazilian academic told the Times, “Kids from the lower classes have been segregated from public spaces, and now they’re challenging the unwritten rules.”

(snip)

[Count of Monte Fisto]

Is it genetic or something ?

Yes.

[Buckeye McFrog]

Brazil also has a helluva lot of teeangers. The bulk of their population is under 35.

[Mount Athos]

In portuguese it is Brasil, english Brazil

[FreedomPoster]

I love it when people ask the ugly questions that get to the heart of the matter.

[Tax-chick]

According to the article, these events seem to be cultural challenges, one might even say "territorial disputes."

With improving conditions for the lower classes, the flashmobs—which involved running, shouting, flirting and singing—are also an opportunity for the adolescents to show off their nice clothing and other signifiers of affluence.

However, it's a small step from that to assault, vandalism, and theft.

[Mercat]

Wait, wasn’t there a movie about that scenario recently?

[Arlis]

Portuguese is spelled “Brasil”.

Pronounced more like English “s” ... As in the word “seal”. But with a bit of “z” in it.

English is “Brazil”.

[PapaBear3625]

The publication’s focus is on “large numbers of dark-skinned teenagers” — apparently a LOT of Nazis made it to Brazil after WWII.

So anybody who notices the demographics of the underclass is a Nazi?

[P.O.E.]

It’s called epigenetics, where behavior triggers certain genes, which then pass those behaviors on to future generations.

[PapaBear3625]

Now... is it Brasil or Brazil ?

Americans spell it Brazil. The natives spell it Brasil. Below is the national seal:

[blam]

"In Sao Paolo wealthy people are travelling by choppers from their homes in gated communities to helipads on skyscrapers they are working in."

I read about a 'compound' of 30,000 (a little city actually) that is enclosed in walls that are patrolled by a 1,200 member private security force. (they work for and are paid by the residents).
You must have a residence pass or a special type of security pass for service workers.
All non-residents are subject to a complete search on entering and departing.
It is mostly White but not exclusively so....it appears to be a separation by class and economics.

[PUGACHEV]

"All of Latin America countries have a similar problem. They were settled by people from countries who had no history of human rights or democracy...."

I do not think that other European countries, particularly France or England, had any better notion of human rights when it came their turn to colonize the Americas. In fact, although it had had little practical effect, Charles V of Spain Spain seems to be the only European monarch that seriously debated the issue of whether native americans had any rights that a European was bound to respect. See The Council of Vallodolid.

[blam]

"It’s called epigenetics, where behavior triggers certain genes, which then pass those behaviors on to future generations."

Epigenetics, a very interesting area of study.
(I think my parents passed on some of their Depression Era trauma to me, lol)

[Capt. Tom]

Brazil also has a helluva lot of teengers. The bulk of their population is under 35.

I was briefly in Brazil about 25 years ago. I was a thousand miles up the Amazon River in Manaus.
Then, the stats were 90 % of the population was under 30 yeas of age for the whole country. -Tom

[ilovesarah2012]

I did not realize Brazil had a large black population. That explains a lot.

[ilovesarah2012]

I’m beginning to believe that.

[jocon307]

Thanks for your replies.

It is interesting how much intermarriage went on in Latin America, much more than here.

I read a very interesting piece a while ago, about the almost unknown plague that severely impacted the Native American population before the white man really started coming here. (The gist of the piece I read was that had that not happened perhaps the whites would not have been able to defeat the indians and settle across the continent.)

Maybe there just weren’t enough people here for that to happen.

[blam]

"I read a very interesting piece a while ago, about the almost unknown plague that severely impacted the Native American population before the white man really started coming here"

I believe there were a number of plagues. My guess is that most haven't any idea how many...

Historical Review: Megadrought And Megadeath In 16th Century Mexico (Hemorrhagic Fever)

"The epidemic of cocoliztli from1545 to 1548 killed an estimated 5 million to 15 million people, or up to 80% of the native population of Mexico (Figure 1).In absolute and relative terms the 1545 epidemic was one of the worst demographic catastrophes in human history, approaching even the Black Death of bubonic plague..."

I've read that in North America the (European) diseases preceeded (by decades) the western advance. When the westerners reached certain areas and asked who built such and such...no one knew...so many old people died that any base of historical knowledge died with them. The usual answer was 'the ancient ones.'

[UCANSEE2]

Thank you for the info and your comment.

The only reason I brought it up is that you seemed to be INCONSISTENT in the way you spelled it in your original comment.

[Arlis]

I guess I was inconsistent as I was going back and forth from the Portuguese spelling to the English spelling. Initially it was to make the point that in Portuguese it is Brasil. Then, without noting the change, I reverted to English spelling.....

Sorry.