HOW TO ELIMINATE VIOLENCE IN BRAZIL

Fernando Alcoforado*

This article aims to present the solutions that would make it possible to eliminate violence in Brazil. Increasingly, the media make it clear that Brazil is increasingly vulnerable to violence, forcing us to note that it has invaded all areas of life and social relations of Brazilian citizens. Violence represents everything that injures, destroys, attacks or hurts people - actions that harm both individual and collective well-being. We live in a country that has as one of its main characteristics the violence practiced by man against his fellow men. Violence in Brazil has become a constitutive part of our society. The history of Brazil is a history of violence. In addition to political crimes in which violence is present, we also have crimes committed in the name of religious intolerance, especially against African-based religions, against gays, against women and blacks, in addition to lynchings on social media and violence of the Brazilian State against the citizen. Brazil, therefore, is a country where violence has crossed its entire history. From this perspective, disrespect for others and the rules of social interaction are a common practice in all layers of our society.

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), Brazil is the country with the highest rate of firearm-related deaths per inhabitant. Brazil has above-average levels of violent crime, with particularly high levels of gun violence and homicide. In 2007, 41,547 deaths were recorded as a result of crimes of intentional homicide, robbery followed by death and injuries followed by death. In 2008, there were 19.3 intentional homicides (with intent to kill) per 100,000 inhabitants. In 2017, Brazil reached the historic mark of 63,880 homicides. This equates to a rate of 31.6 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, one of the highest intentional homicide rates in the world. In 2020, the country had 43,892 homicides and a homicide rate of 19.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, having fallen since 2017, the year with the highest number of homicides on record. The limit considered as tolerable by the World Health Organization (WHO) is 10 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants.

Thus, the proliferation of violence does not represent a mere consequence of criminality, but outlines, above all, the constitutive structure of Brazilian society. This framework has enabled, throughout our history, the consolidation of a culture that uses violence as a way of resolving conflicts and maintaining power relations. We live in Brazil and in a world that is marked by the violence practiced by man against his fellow men. The perception of many people is that violence represents the predominance of animal instinct in human beings over the values of civilization. This would explain the escalation of crime at all times around the world and particularly in Brazil. One of the most important issues for understanding the human being and its various dimensions is to understand its nature. Is human nature good or bad? a thesis defended today by some psychologists, philosophers and religious people is that man would be viscerally evil, intrinsically perverse and, by nature, corrupt, while for others they are based on the conviction of man's natural goodness.

Psychologist Freud emphasizes in his work that man is hostile not only to society but also to his closest companions [1]. Psychologist Carl Rogers presents a view opposite to Freud's, as he believes that it is precisely the coercive environment, where the individual cannot expand, or rather, actualize his potential, that makes him hostile or antisocial [1]. The philosopher Hobbes has the central thesis that man is man's own wolf [2]. The philosopher Raymond Aron defends the thesis that aggression is influenced, in many ways, by the social context and that frustration is a psychic experience, revealed by consciousness. All individuals experience frustrations from childhood. Frustration is above all the experience of a deprivation, that is, a good desired and not achieved, an oppression painfully felt. The chain of causality that leads to emotions or acts of aggression always originates in an external phenomenon. There is no physiological proof that there is a spontaneous incitement to fight, originating in the individual's own organism. Physical aggression and the will to destroy are not the only possible reaction to frustration [3]. The central idea in the thought of the philosopher Rousseau is based on the conviction of the natural goodness of man and that the mishaps of socialization have driven man away from himself, throwing him against his fellow man [4]. Philosopher Henry Bergson, in turn, states that the origin of violence and war is the existence of property, individual or collective, and as humanity is predestined to property, by its structure, violence and war would be natural [5] ]. The philosopher Karl Marx states that social conflicts result from the division of society into classes with the emergence of private property to replace the collective ownership of the means of production prevailing in primitive societies [6].

Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Eastern Religions and Spiritism also address the issue of human nature. Christianity defends the thesis that we are endowed by God with free will and that the first impulse of our freedom is directed towards evil and sin, that is, towards the transgression of divine laws that we are weak, sinful beings, divided between good (obedience to God) and evil (submission to demonic temptation) [7]. Judaism teaches that Humanity is in a state of inclination to do evil and inability to choose Good over Evil. According to Judaism, Man is responsible for sin because he is endowed with a free will, however, he has a weak nature and a tendency towards Evil, for Man's heart is evil from his youth [8]. Islam believes that there will be a day of resurrection and judgment of good and evil. On this great day, all the deeds of man, whether good or bad, will be placed in the balance. Muslims who have acquired sufficient righteous and personal merits in favor of Allah will go to heaven; all others will go to hell [9].

Eastern religions defend the thesis that, in general, human nature is originally good and that it has degenerated because of ignorance, desires or a clouded mind, which makes severe discipline necessary to recover the original goodness. This is the main reason why in Eastern ethics it advocates a severe discipline in order to recover the original virtue of Man. Therein lies the eastern explanation of the appearance of evil, which would be entirely man's creation. Virtually all Indian religious systems, including Buddhism, and Taoism in China, attribute the emergence of evil to Man's ignorance, which gives rise to false knowledge and pernicious desires. Eastern Philosophy considers that, as Man produces evil, he can also destroy it [10]. Spiritism asks: how is it possible that man, created in the image and likeness of God, is viscerally evil? How can the Supreme Architect of the Universe have produced intrinsically imperfect and defective works? For spiritists, man is an unfinished work. The problem of evil, according to Spiritism, is solved through the enormous work of man's education, aiming to transform darkness into light, vice into virtue, madness into common sense, weakness into force. For the doctrine of the spirits, evil is man's own creation and has no existence but temporary, transitory, because in the larger arrangement of Life, the permanence of evil has no meaning. Alan Kardec points out in Posthumous Works that “God did not create evil; it was man who produced it by the abuse he made of the gifts of God, by virtue of his free will”[11].

From the above, it appears that Freud, Hobbes, Christianity, Judaism and Islam converge in their thoughts when considering that the human being has an inclination towards Evil which are opposed to those of Carl Rogers, Rousseau, Bergson, Marx, oriental religions and Spiritism that defend the thesis that society degenerates them by launching them against their fellow human beings. Holland and Sweden prove that the theses of Carl Rogers, Rousseau, Bergson, Marx, oriental religions and Spiritism that man is a product of the social environment in which he lives are true. Why are the Netherlands and Sweden closing prisons, while Brazil is increasing the number of prisoners? Why does Norway have a low rate of recidivism, while rates are high in Brazil? The reason these countries show a decrease in the number of prisoners is the fact that the reduction in crime is a consequence of adopted social welfare policies that provide social justice and access for the entire population to quality education. In addition, the number of prisoners decreases in these countries because there is a more comprehensive approach to drugs, the application of more alternative sentences, including for petty theft, theft and non-serious injuries, etc. It can be said that the education of human beings and the existence of social justice, the antithesis of the inhuman savage capitalist system in force in Brazil, are the weapons that can make man have a constructive behavior and be able to change the world at his own pace. around and, in doing so, change himself. The fight against violence in Brazil should not be restricted to the reinforcement of police action, the creation of laws to punish crimes and the construction of penitentiaries. Social justice and education are the real solutions to combat violence in Brazil. The practice of social justice with the adoption of social welfare policies will decisively contribute to the reduction of violence in Brazil.

To make human beings not practice violence, have constructive behavior and be able to change the world around them, it is necessary to educate them. Kant, the philosopher, understands education in this way: to develop in the individual all the perfection to which he is susceptible. Such is the end of education. Pestalozzi, the consummate pedagogue, says: to educate is to progressively develop man's spiritual faculties. John Locke, a great preceptor, expresses himself in this way on the subject: to educate is to make spirits upright, willing, at all times, not to practice anything that is not in accordance with the dignity and excellence of a sensible creature. Lessing, no less illustrious authority, compares the work of education to the work of revelation, and says: education determines and accelerates the progress and improvement of man. The fight against violence in Brazil will only be successful with the education of all human beings throughout the country so that, through this, they acquire awareness of the world in which they live and organize themselves to carry out political, economic and social changes necessary to eliminate social inequalities and obstacles to political, economic, social and environmental development in Brazil.

It can be concluded from the above that violence can be eliminated in Brazil by adopting the measures described below:

? Implement the Welfare State to meet the economic and social needs of the whole society, especially the poor.

? Create a non-coercive social environment in Brazil to make sociable individuals who do not experience frustration from childhood, do not experience deprivation of a desired and unachieved good and do not suffer oppression.

? Promote governmental social assistance to families in order to make their children sociable from childhood and youth.

? Eliminate unemployment with the abandonment of the neoliberal model, the promotion of national developmentalism and with the adoption of the social and solidarity economy policy in Brazil.

? Fight poverty with the implementation of income transfer and popular housing programs with the necessary infrastructure.

? Make the dispossessed of private property get it with housing programs with the necessary infrastructure with the government promoting investments in affordable housing and offering long-term housing finance for the population as a whole..

? Overcoming human ignorance through the enormous work of education aimed at transforming darkness into light, vice into virtue, folly into common sense, weakness into force with the execution of effective educational programs at all levels of education.

? Fight organized crime and restrict the use of firearms among the population.

? Offer all necessary support to victims of violence.

These are, therefore, the necessary measures to eliminate violence in Brazil. They should serve as a reference for the Brazilian people to choose their candidates for the various elective positions in the next elections. It is recommended to elect candidates who assume the commitment to defend the adoption of the measures proposed here.

REFERENCES

1.????GUSM?O. Sonia Maria Lima. A natureza humana segundo Freud e Rogers. Available on the website <https://www.rogeriana.com/sonia/natureza.htm>.

2.????TRIGG, Roger. A Natureza Humana em Hobbes. Available on the website <https://qualia-esob.blogspot.com.br/2008/03/natureza-humana-em-hobbes.html>.

3.????Aron, Raymond. Paz e Guerra entre as na??es. S?o Paulo: Editora Martins Fontes, 2018.

4.????FULGERI,?Dalva de Fatima.?Conceito de natureza em Rousseau. Available on the website <https://www.paradigmas.com.br/parad12/p12.6.htm>.

5.????BERGSON, Henry. Les Deux Sources de la Morale et de la Religion. French & European Pubns, 1976.

6.????VIANA, Nildo. A Renova??o da Psicanálise por Erich Fromm. Available on the website ?<https://br.monografias.com/trabalhos914/renovacao-psicanalise-fromm/renovacao-psicanalise-fromm.shtml>.

7.????LUCANO, Breno. Cristianismo: O Problema Moral. Available on the website ?<https://portalveritas.blogspot.com.br/2009/10/cristianismo-o-problema-moral.html>.

8.????SINGER, Isidore. The Jewish Encyclopedia. Camp Road, United Kingdom: Wentworth Press, 2019.

9.?????SILVA. Daniel Neves. ?Islamismo.?Available on the website ?<https://www.historiadomundo.com.br/religioes/islamismo.htm#:~:text=O%20islamismo%20surgiu%20no%20s%C3%A9culo,segunda%20maior%20religi%C3%A3o%20do%20planeta.&text=O%20islamismo%20%C3%A9%20uma%20das,do%20Norte%20e%20na%20Europa>.

10.?ORIENTIKA.BLOGSPOT. Características da Filosofia Chinesa e Indiana. Available on the website ?<https://orientika.blogspot.com.br/2008/04/caractersticas-da-filosofia-chinesa-e.html>.

11.?SOUZA, Abel Sidney. A transitória maldade humana.?Available on the website ?<https://www.espirito.org.br/portal/artigos/diversos/comportamento/a-transitoria-maldade-humana.html>.

* Fernando Alcoforado, 82, awarded the medal of Engineering Merit of the CONFEA / CREA System, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, and of the SBPC- Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development from the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning, urban planning and energy systems, was Advisor to the Vice President of Engineering and Technology at LIGHT S.A. Electric power distribution company from Rio de Janeiro, Strategic Planning Coordinator of CEPED- Bahia Research and Development Center, Undersecretary of Energy of the State of Bahia, Secretary of Planning of Salvador, is author of the books Globaliza??o (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 1997), De Collor a FHC- O Brasil e a Nova (Des)ordem Mundial (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 1998), Um Projeto para o Brasil (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 2000), Os condicionantes do desenvolvimento do Estado da Bahia (Tese de doutorado. Universidade de Barcelona,https://www.tesisenred.net/handle/10803/1944, 2003), Globaliza??o e Desenvolvimento (Editora Nobel, S?o Paulo, 2006), Bahia- Desenvolvimento do Século XVI ao Século XX e Objetivos Estratégicos na Era Contemporanea (EGBA, Salvador, 2008), The Necessary Conditions of the Economic and Social Development- The Case of the State of Bahia (VDM Verlag Dr. Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co. KG, Saarbrücken, Germany, 2010), Aquecimento Global e Catástrofe Planetária (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, S?o Paulo, 2010), Amaz?nia Sustentável- Para o progresso do Brasil e combate ao aquecimento global (Viena- Editora e Gráfica, Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo, S?o Paulo, 2011), Os Fatores Condicionantes do Desenvolvimento Econ?mico e Social (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2012), Energia no Mundo e no Brasil- Energia e Mudan?a Climática Catastrófica no Século XXI (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2015), As Grandes Revolu??es Científicas, Econ?micas e Sociais que Mudaram o Mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2016), A Inven??o de um novo Brasil (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2017),?Esquerda x Direita e a sua convergência (Associa??o Baiana de Imprensa, Salvador, 2018), Como inventar o futuro para mudar o mundo (Editora CRV, Curitiba, 2019) and A humanidade amea?ada e as estratégias para sua sobrevivência (Editora Dialética, S?o Paulo, 2021) .