Inspired by his brother Frei Chico,
Lula joined the labour movement when he worked at Indústrias
Villares. He rose steadily in the ranks, and was elected in 1975, and
reelected in 1978, president of the Steel Workers' Union of São
Bernardo do Campo and Diadema. Both cities are located in the ABCD
Region, home to most of Brazil's automobile manufacturing facilities
(such as Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and others) and are
among the most industrialized in the country. In the late 1970s, when
Brazil was under military rule, Lula helped organize union
activities, including major strikes. Labour courts found the strikes
to be illegal, and Lula was jailed for a month. Due to this, and like
other people imprisoned for political activities under the military
government, Lula was awarded a lifetime pension after the regime
fell. (Wikipedia)
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He admires the European road to social welfare without copying it. He sees the European Union as an historical achievement that inspires other nations and their regions. In this article he insists that Europe and Latin America should continue their road to social welfare and democracy by looking for what he calls a new utopia. I hope this article will inspire to look together with him to the new utopia with long term solutions for the problems in our continents and the world alike.
WHAT DOES EUROPE MEAN TO LULA?
Contributor: Luiz Inácio Lula da
Silva, June 20th 2014
I believe that the construction of the
European Union is not just a European legacy, but rather part of the
world’s heritage. It is a political institution that inspires
countries to work together and increase cooperation and integration
in their regions. It was the inspiration for South America with
Mercosur and the Union of South American Nations, and for Africa with
the African Union and the regional economic communities that are now
engaged in developing the continent. It is an amazing achievement
that countries that have been at war for centuries, begun to work
together peacefully to resolve their differences through dialogue and
politics and not by force of arms.
EUROPE HAS COME A LONG WAY
It is perhaps difficult to perceive at
this moment, especially from inside a Europe that suffers from
unemployment and the loss of worker’s rights after years of
economic crisis, which dates from the collapse of Lehman Brothers in
2008. Mainly for a generation that had the good fortune to grow up in
a developed society and did not have to suffer the pain of war. But,
just as it is advisable to step back some distance in order to
discern the magnitude of a giant monument, certain achievements are
only clearly visible when seen from a distance and with a broader
perspective of time.
The social rights and the standard of
living that Europeans enjoy are still a distant goal for the
populations in the majority of countries in the world. The social
welfare state is a great achievement, the result of the struggle of
generations and generations of workers. We in Latin America, are
still struggling to achieve part of that which you, in Europe, must
fight to protect against opportunistic initiatives to reduce rights
that arose with the economic crisis.
Working people, the middle class and
immigrants cannot be held responsible for the crisis caused by the
irresponsibility of the financial system. Banks were too heavily
leveraged, with huge speculative investments, rather than responsible
and productive ones. It cannot be left to the most vulnerable
segments of our society –the immigrants, the retirees, the
workers, and the countries of southern Europe – to pay the bills
for the greed of few.
The brutal adjustments imposed on the
majority of European countries – which has been justly called
“austericide” – has delayed the resolution of the crisis
without reason. The continent will need to have vigorous growth to
recover the dramatic losses of the last six years. Some countries in
the region appear to be emerging from the recession, but the recovery
will be much slower and much more painful if the current
contractionist policies are continued. More than imposing sacrifices
on the European population, these policies are prejudicial even for
those economies that managed creatively to resist the crash of 2008,
such as the United States, the BRICS and a large share of the
developing countries.
WE NEED A NEW UTOPIA
In order to overcome this crisis, we
needed in 2008, and still need today, more political than purely
economic decisions. It is essential to understand and explain to the
peoples the origins of the current crisis. Politics, still analog in
a digital world, must be renewed to engage in a dialogue with society
to identify the problems and to create new solutions. Political
decisions cannot simply be outsourced, shifted to technical
commissions, multilateral organizations or third or fourth level
bureaucrats. The roles of leaders and political parties cannot be
replaced in a democracy. If progressive forces are not capable of
presenting new ideas and representing workers and young people,
offering advances and hope, we will see, sadly, an increase in the
voices that promote fear, intolerance, and xenophobia.
In March, I had the opportunity to talk
in Rome with the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. His
courage and skill trying to solve ancient impasses in Italian society
was rewarded by the population with heavy voting in favor of the
Democratic Party. It is a clear demonstration that it is possible to
overcome the scepticism with politics.
We need to create a new historical
horizon. Not a new theory, but a new utopia capable of motivating the
population and serving as a horizon for progressive forces in Europe.
RETHINKING OUR SOCIAL STRUCTURE
The world has changed in the last 30
years. But instead of lowering the standards of European worker’s
rights against the competition of workers from emerging countries,
what is needed is to raise their standards of living to levels
similar to those of the Europeans. We need a broader and more
generous vision of Europe, facing the fact that it’s possible to
achieve the goal of a world without poverty.
30 years ago, when most of South
America lived in sombre times with dictatorships spread throughout
the continent, the solidarity and support of the European Union and
progressive parties were of great help in strengthening the forces of
the left and achieving a return to democracy in our region.
Today after great popular and political
efforts, our continent is a peaceful and democratic region, with
significant advances in economic development and the struggle against
poverty made in the last decade.
In South America it was the inclusion
of the poorest levels of society that helped propel the economy
forward, increasing the income and consumption, creating strong
internal markets, that allowed a progressive agenda with the
advancement of social and worker rights.
In Brazil, the numbers that best
translate the success of that strategy of investing in the poor are
the more than 20 million jobs created in the formal sector in the
last 11 years, the 36 million people that emerged from extreme
poverty and the 42 million people that moved into the middle class.
SEEING THE POOR AS A SOLUTION
I am convinced that the solution for
the economic crisis worldwide lies in the fight against poverty on a
global scale. Social funding should not be seen as simply spending,
but rather as an investment in people. We must stop viewing the poor
of the world as a problem and start viewing them as a solution, both
within countries, and on a broader scale around the world.
Investments in social programs,
agricultural production and in financing infrastructure in developing
countries, especially in Africa, can create new jobs and a new
consumer market. Despite the worldwide economic crisis, African GDP
grew consistently at rates of 5% and 6%, making space for the demand
for more sophisticated goods and services produced in the wealthy
countries and contributing to a sustainable recovery of the economies
of Europe and the rest of the world.
The Europe that managed to be reborn
after the devastation of the wars of the first half of the 20th
century is a proof that it is possible, through politics and
democracy, to improve the standard of living of the population.
In South America, a generation of
leaders like Dilma Rousseff, Cristina Kirchner, Michelle Bachelet,
Pepe Mujica, Rafael Correa and Evo Morales, among others, succeeded,
against all kind of conservative, and even reactionary opposition, to
reach power by democratic means and promote great social and
political advances in their countries.
The contribution of the progressive
political forces is crucial to our continents. Therefore, a more
direct political dialogue and closer ties are needed between South
American and European lefts. It is important not only for our
regions, but for the whole world.
ABOUT
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was
President of Brazil (2003-2010), and is a founding member and
Honorary president of Partido dos Trabalhadores (Workers’ Party).
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