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By Mirna Wabi-Sabi and photos by Fabio Teixeira. Published at Abeautifulresistance.org . It can be said that producing less garbage helps to extend human life on the planet, because, among other things, it preserves natural resources on which we depend to survive. Organic waste, in particular, is responsible for the production of methane, considerably increasing humanity's greenhouse gas emissions. But it is possible that the separation of organic waste can save lives in a more immediate way: by preventing cases of leptospirosis . It is not news that food waste in the garbage attracts animals such as rats, and that the urine of these animals can cause leptospirosis in humans. According to the photojournalist Fabio Teixeira, author of the photographic series “Surviving Between Shadow and Light”, anonymous workers, who work in the outskirts of communities in Rio de Janeiro, are victims of racism, police violence, and suffer from diseases caused by the trash. “These unemployed people recycle garbage to find copper, iron, aluminum, and toys to repair and donate. According to information from the recyclers, two deaths were caused by contamination with leptospirosis in November and December of 2022.” 04/03/2023 – Fabio Teixeira – Manguinhos Favela This observation by Teixeira is supported by public health research, although the numbers are likely to be underreported . The community of workers in the recycling and garbage collection industry is described as being at constant risk in the 2017 article called 'Perception of Quality of Life of Collectors of Recyclable Materials ', from the nursing journal of the Federal University of Pernambuco. The authors explain that “because this type of work requires permanent contact with agents that are harmful to health”, the “activity that handles garbage” is “unhealthy to the highest degree”. Such statements may sound obvious, but the issue of waste has the potential to affect the entire urban population, not just professionals who handle waste. The Radioagência Nacional , of the Brazilian public communications company, released an alert in March of this year about the increase in “cases and deaths” caused by leptospirosis. Heavy rains and floods exacerbate the problem, and expose a large contingent of the population, leading to 24 cases and 3 deaths recorded by the Rio de Janeiro Health Department in the first two months of 2023. Proposals to mitigate this danger so far have been: preventing children from playing in places with “ accumulated water ” or taking out the garbage at most one hour before the garbage truck comes by . But these solutions do not protect the population as a whole, since garbage is still taken to places where people come in contact with it and expose themselves to risks. Moreover, the recurrent potential for floods in urban areas makes it impossible to avoid accumulated water. Conscious consumption and disposal of waste is the most effective tool in the hands of individuals and requires a simple reconfiguration of home dynamics. "Don't Throw Your Conscience in the Trash" What constitutes conscious consumption are the practices that begin with the purchase of products. Better than recycling is to produce less garbage. For this, it is pertinent to give preference to products without packaging, such as vegetables and fruits. If there is packaging, opt for compostable packaging, such as paper, or reusable packaging, such as glass jars. When disposing of plastic, tetra pak and fabric, ensure that they are clean, with no food leftovers or smells. It is important that this garbage is free of residues or odors of organic matter because they serve as food for and attract rodents. Separating all food scraps from the garbage prevents the emission of methane into the atmosphere and prevents rats from being attracted by this residue. The question is what to do with this leftover food. Composting is the best way to turn these organic wastes into composted land without producing methane or attracting rodents. But not everyone is able to compost at home. Community gardens such as A Amiga da Planta , in the oceanic region of Niterói, receive and collect organic matter from neighboring residents to use in composting and provide guidance on how to separate these materials – e.g., avoid adding meat, and separate citrus peels in their own containers. The reconfiguration of the culture of consumption and waste disposal at home requires little time and space, but requires interest and awareness. 09/03/2023 – Fabio Teixeira – Manguinhos Favela Consider that someone will handle the garbage and the welfare of those people is of immense importance, as well as consider that this garbage exists for decades or centuries after we throw it away. It is beneficial for all of us that this waste can be separated, reused or recycled in a sustainable and healthy way, without polluting the land or oceans, and without causing deaths . The work of collecting and separating garbage is essential for the sustainability of consumption practices, for environmental protection, and for the preservation of natural resources such as clean water and fertile land. 2022 – Fabio Teixeira – RIO DE JANEIRO Dealing with Public Policy Failure Which actions and programs should be developed by the State to guarantee the well-being of the population? Leptospirosis is a disease caused by the failure of basic sanitation services, the overcrowding of municipalities in favor of the real estate market, and by inhuman levels of social inequality. “The improper disposal of solid waste is involved in determining the appearance of infectious diseases” ( 2017 ), and adequacy means not only an appropriate destination, but also adequate equipment and decent living conditions for workers. An intersectional analysis between labor rights, access to health and education, basic sanitation, sustainability and environmentalism allows for the development of a holistic solution to this problem. According to research by the nursing journal of the Federal University of Pernambuco, “the degradation of the natural environment and the generation of waste cause physical health impairments, psychological and psychiatric disorders, and social disintegration.” The well-being of the population depends on actions that consider the physical, psychological, and social spheres. Therefore, solutions such as waiting to take out the garbage or avoiding coming into contact with accumulated water do not fully address the public health problem of leptospirosis. This totality includes family consumption up to its disposal method, various public policy failures, sustainable community practices and an environmentalist perspective. The History of Leptospirosis Leptospirosis was brought to the Americas with the rodents present on European ships during colonization, and it is possible that it caused a massacre of indigenous populations. The article “ New Hypothesis for Cause of Epidemic Among Native Americans, New England, 1616–1619 ” proposes that consideration should be given to “customs that may have been instrumental to the near annihilation of Native Americans, which facilitated successful colonization of the Massachusetts Bay area”. And that these “local customs continually exposed this population to hyperendemic leptospiral infection”. The academic journal ‘PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases’, dedicated to "infectious diseases that promote poverty", published an article on the " Global Burden of Leptospirosis " in 2015. In it, the researchers estimate that leptospirosis is a serious problem for resource-poor tropical countries, including countries in Africa, "due to diagnostic problems and lack of data." Data from Tanzania and the Amazon reveal that fever is a common symptom and malaria is over-diagnosed as a cause. This leads to substantial numbers of leptospirosis 'burden estimates ' being misallocated to other infectious diseases such as malaria. Source for graph: SINAN-03/03/2023 According to data published by the Brazilian ‘Notifiable Diseases Information System’ (Sinan) on March 3, 2023 , there was an increase in cases of leptospirosis in the country in 2022, or a more drastic than usual underreporting during the COVID-19 pandemic. A few days earlier, on March 1st, the Radioagência Nacional reported 3 deaths in 2023 that are not included in Sinan's figures. It is evident that the magnitude of the impact of leptospirosis in Brazil is not being precisely quantified. Sources of graphs: SINAN-01/03/2023 and SINAN- DOI Due to the population density in the regions of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, their numbers stand out, alongside Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. Although Rio has a “ prevalence rate lower than the national rate ” per 100,000 inhabitants, outbreaks of leptospirosis in the city coincide with summer storms since the 1960s, and “areas with occurrence of floods have more cases”. These areas tend to be, as expected, of poor sanitary conditions , with low-income communities . In 2020, Mário Martins and Mary Spink published an article called “ Human leptospirosis as a doubly neglected disease in Brazil ”, where the following statement is made: "Our analysis shows [...] the arbitrariness of criteria for assigning health priorities, [and] the invisibility of the population profile of human leptospirosis in official data. [...] We conclude that [this is] related to the fact that human leptospirosis affects a population which the State has no interest in keeping alive.” Leptospirosis killed more Brazilians than dengue fever every year between 2000 and 2016 – 3 times more – but received nine times less medical investment. There are more cases of dengue fever, so the questioning is far from being a criticism of funding for its treatment and prevention. But academics have for years been pointing out the severe neglect with which leptospirosis is tackled institutionally, and the parallel with dengue fever highlights this. “ Quantifying the magnitude of health loss ” due to leptospirosis is difficult because of issues discussed in several academic articles, but there is no doubt that cases are underreported, misdiagnosed, and resources are not sufficiently allocated for research and prevention. Since the arrival of this disease on “ slave ships ”, it is still a racialized and impoverished population that is forced to live in unhealthy conditions, without appropriate resources and access to decent public policies. At the very least, this should encourage us to take action in our homes and communities to help prevent cases and deaths from this disease – actions such as refraining from adding organic matter to the garbage just as we refrain from pouring grease down the drain. Human beings and the environment can only benefit from the awareness of the population and public institutions of the causes and solutions to the problem of garbage as a risk to human and environmental health. _____ By Mirna Wabi-Sabi and photos by Fabio Teixeira.

Read it in English HERE, at Sul Books. Fotos e vídeos de Fabio Teixeira, 31 de outubro de 2025, no Rio de Janeiro. Dia 28 de outubro de 2025, o Rio de Janeiro se transformou numa zona de guerra . Uma megaoperação das forças de segurança do estado do Rio, envolvendo cerca de 2.500 policiais, foi deflagrada contra a facção criminosa Comando Vermelho . Pelo menos 132 pessoas  foram mortas, tornando a operação policial a mais letal da história da cidade. Na madrugada do dia 29, mais de cinquenta corpos foram carregados por moradores e dispostos em uma praça pública no Complexo da Penha, para que os familiares pudessem tentar identificá-los – sem qualquer apoio do Estado. Muitos dos mortos chegaram apenas de cueca, anônimos. O protesto No dia 31 de outubro, um protesto pela paz reuniu moradores das favelas, jovens, familiares das vítimas, ativistas e defensores dos direitos humanos. A energia era urgente e intensa – faixas pedindo o fim do massacre, a identificação das vítimas e justiça para as favelas tremulavam ao vento. Mães e pais se sentavam nas calçadas, chorando, em silêncio, com a cabeça baixa. O trauma coletivo era palpável. As pessoas no Rio e nas comunidades vizinhas falam de choque e luto, mas também de raiva e determinação. O protesto foi uma declaração de que o governo não sairá impune dessa brutalidade. Exigiremos nomes, identificação e apoio jurídico para as famílias. Porque sem isso, não há justiça, apenas apagamento. O massacre expôs a forma como o Estado trata os corpos (e as vidas) de homens, em sua maioria jovens, negros e de baixa renda, moradores das favelas. Após a operação, autoridades governamentais a declararam um sucesso, mas os moradores percebem que essa estratégia assassina de operações policiais, que já dura décadas e que claramente só aumenta o número de vítimas, ainda não apresentou resultados. E nunca apresentará resultados no combate ao crime organizado, porque não aborda a raiz do problema: a subjugação sistêmica dos moradores das favelas e o racismo institucionalizado. Tudo o que faz é satisfazer uma ideologia supremacista e sanguinária de limpeza étnica e extermínio de um contingente da população que não é útil para a manutenção do sistema capitalista. Essas pessoas mortas são seres humanos e merecem dignidade, humanidade e direitos. De acordo com direitos humanos internacionais, o Estado tem o dever de identificar as vítimas, notificar as famílias, fornecer apoio jurídico e psicossocial e, o mais importante, conduzir uma investigação independente. Essas obrigações não são opcionais e ainda não foram cumpridas. A ausência dessa resposta, a falha em identificar adequadamente os mortos e o tratamento vergonhoso da situação como "bandido bom é bandido morto" sinalizam violência institucional em níveis sem precedentes. Sejamos claros: mesmo que todas as pessoas mortas nesta operação fossem membros de gangues (o que ainda não foi comprovado), isso não isenta o Estado de sua responsabilidade. São jovens, em sua grande maioria negros e moradores de favelas. Foram atacados, encurralados, baleados, esfaqueados, decapitados, sem julgamento ou devido processo jurídico. Quando um segmento da população (definido por raça e classe) é tratado como um inimigo a ser exterminado, estamos entrando no âmbito do genocídio. A narrativa oferecida pelo Estado, de que 'um morador de favela merece morrer porque faz parte de um Estado paralelo inimigo,' espelha outras narrativas genocidas em todo o mundo. Diz-se que os palestinos merecem morrer por causa do Hamas; os moradores de favelas merecem morrer por causa do crime organizado e de gangues como o Comando Vermelho. Até mesmo as armas usadas no Rio incluem fuzis de fabricação israelense (como o IWI Arad fornecido à Polícia Militar do Rio). Em ambos os casos, as pessoas são desumanizadas, privadas de direitos, excluídas da ordem simbólica. Essa é a lógica do genocídio, quando a violência é normalizada contra um outro indesejado. O que Lula disse O presidente Lula gerou controvérsia ao afirmar que os traficantes de drogas também são vítimas dos usuários; há pessoas que vendem drogas porque há pessoas que compram, e pessoas que compram porque há pessoas que vendem. A oposição disse que isso equivalia a banalizar o crime de tráfico. No entanto, a declaração aponta para algo mais profundo: o reconhecimento de que aqueles que são forçados a entrar na economia das drogas são, eles próprios, vítimas de um sistema de subjugação, desigualdade e consumo por parte dos privilegiados. No contexto deste massacre mais recente, a implicação é clara. Jovens reduzidos a bucha de canhão, lutando uma guerra sobre a qual tiveram pouca escolha, parte de economias informais geradas pela falta de oportunidades, enquanto os consumidores da classe média e da elite permanecem protegidos do escrutínio e consequência. As palavras do presidente deveriam nos levar a enxergar além do rótulo de "criminoso" ou "bandido" e perguntar: Por que tantas vidas são consideradas descartáveis nas favelas? Por que essa operação fracassa A lógica da megaoperação é cruelmente simples: usar força esmagadora, apreender armas e declarar vitória. Mas décadas de operações semelhantes no Rio e no Brasil mostram que isso não quebra o ciclo de crimes violentos. Pesquisas demonstram que a polícia do Rio mata mais pessoas em operações a cada ano do que a polícia dos Estados Unidos inteiro. O trauma dessa violência se espalha, famílias são destruídas, crianças ficam órfãs, comunidades aterrorizadas e desconfiadas. O protesto pela paz no Rio não se resume a essa única operação; é um grito contra décadas de policiamento militarizado, violência racial e negligência estrutural. Um apelo por justiça e humanidade Após os acontecimentos de 28 e 29 de outubro, as exigências são claras: Todas as vítimas devem ser identificadas; as famílias informadas; e deve ser fornecido apoio jurídico, financeiro e psicossocial. Uma investigação completa e transparente sobre como e por que as pessoas foram mortas. O fim das declarações que criminalizam comunidades inteiras em vez de abordar as causas profundas da desigualdade, do racismo, da falta de oportunidades, da marginalização, do consumo de drogas por parte dos privilegiados e da corrupção em instituições governamentais que encobrem má conduta e uso excessivo da força. O policiamento deve ser substituído por investimento social e pela reconstrução do contrato social para desmantelar suas estruturas de racismo institucional. Se esperamos que o mundo condene a violência em outros lugares, que defenda os chamados países 'civilizados' que respeitam os direitos humanos, devemos primeiro olhar para nós mesmos. A supremacia branca e a violência patrocinada pelo Estado continuam sua lógica genocida no Brasil, em Gaza, em todos os lugares. Para aqueles de nós que não foram diretamente afetados, a luta não acabou. Devemos fazer tudo o que estiver ao nosso alcance para apoiar as comunidades afetadas, exigir justiça e desafiar as narrativas de extermínio. Esta não é apenas uma crise no Rio; é um espelho que reflete o globo. Veja mais fotos aqui. _____ Mirna Wabi-Sabi é escritora, editora da Sul Books e fundadora da Plataforma9 . Ela é autora do livro Anarco-transcriação  e produtora de diversos outros títulos pela editora P9 .

"According to international human rights standards, to which Brazil is legally bound, every death occurring in security operations must be registered, investigated, and accompanied by complete identification of the victims." On October 28th, 2025, at least 119 people were killed in Rio de Janeiro in the deadliest police operation in the state's history. The gang retaliated with drones, explosives, and barricades. The number of deaths, the environment of densely populated favelas, and the fact that many of the dead are still unidentified raise questions about how, who, and under what circumstances they died. The bodies of the deceased were denied the presence of family members and forensic examination, tied with nautical ropes and transported in pickup trucks to the Getúlio Vargas hospital, and from there to the Forensic Medical Institute. The fact that only the police officers are named highlights an inequality of visibility and legal protection among those killed in the operation, influences the media narrative, and raises serious questions about human rights, justice, and journalistic ethics. By being officially named, the deceased police officers are immediately recognized as victims by the State, which guarantees their families quick access to pensions, compensation, and legal assistance — benefits that are denied to the families of the unidentified dead. The ethical, legal, and political problems of calling unidentified deceased individuals 'thugs' The presumption of guilt without trial When a person is called a thug after an operation, it is an attribution of guilt without due process. But in a state of law, no one should be considered guilty until proven otherwise. In many of these operations, deaths occur without arrests, investigations, or trials — therefore, it is impossible to determine who the deceased actually were. The erasure of the humanity of the dead Reducing dozens of people to mere criminals is a form of dehumanization. The dead cease to be recognized as citizens, parents, children, siblings, or residents of communities, and become an abstract and disposable category. This facilitates the social acceptance of police violence and the silence surrounding summary executions. The reinforcement of social and racial inequalities In practice, the term "thug" ( bandido ) is usually applied to Black and poor people from the outskirts of cities. This generalization legitimizes the selective killing of certain social groups. In other words, the word is not neutral; it is part of a power structure that naturalizes state violence against specific territories. Transparency and accountability are compromised While authorities label the deceased as "criminals," independent investigations are rarely conducted. This obstructs the pursuit of police accountability, prevents the identification of victims, and violates international human rights laws. Public opinion shaped Language shapes social perception. When the press or the state uses the term "thugs" to describe only one side of those involved in urban violence, the public tends to accept massacres as legitimate operations, even without evidence or context. This creates a narrative of war, in which certain citizens are treated as enemies of the people. According to international human rights standards, to which Brazil is legally bound, every death occurring in security operations must be registered, investigated, and accompanied by complete identification of the victims. This obligation is stipulated in the UN Minnesota Protocol (2016), the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force (1990), and the American Convention on Human Rights (OAS). These documents determine that, in any state operation, it is illegal to classify deceased persons as "unidentified" without a formal investigation and without notification to the families. Under international law, it is the State's responsibility to guarantee transparency. As of the closing of this note, the operation in Rio does not comply with these requirements. There is no public list of victims by name, nor an official report on the circumstances of their deaths, which could qualify as a breach of signed treaties and possible instances of extrajudicial executions if there is no independent investigation. ____ Bodies in the Square October 29, 2025 Residents of the Penha Complex rescued at least 50 bodies from the Serra da Misericórdia (Compassion Mountain Range, ironically) in the early hours of October 29th and placed them in São Lucas Square. There, family members tried to identify their loved ones before the Forensic Medical Institute collected them. When residents are forced to recover bodies on their own, pile them in a public square, and improvise a kind of collective identification before the arrival of the State, it is evident that the State produces death to maintain domination. It has no commitment to the lives of the population it considers marginal and enemy, acting with brutality to 'reconquer territory.' The State seeks to 'reconquer territory' and deny rights to those who live on the margins not because these territories are a threat to society, but because they represent a threat to their model of power and control over society. War as a Method of Social Discipline Each operation fulfills a strategic function of: – Preventing collective mobilization, repressing community leaders and criminalizing any autonomous organization; – Fragmenting networks of solidarity, producing distrust and sabotaging collective initiatives; – Instilling trauma and fear, using terror as a method to paralyze political action; – And legitimizing permanent police occupation, transforming marginalized areas into zones of exception where rights are suspended and military presence is normalized. This mechanism keeps poor and racialized territories under surveillance and subjugation, making social resistance impossible and ensuring the continuity of the economic and political interests that depend on this structure of oppression. Government institutions create conditions for the economic extraction and political control of these populations, by neutralizing class conflicts and protecting the circulation of capital. What happened in the Penha Complex this morning goes beyond a humanitarian tragedy. It is a declaration of the true interest of government institutions, which act not to protect lives, but to manage death and profit by denying rights to those who live on the margins. ____ Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Photographed by Fabio Teixeira ____ [Editorial note: Number of casualties updated.]

"Here in the Western Hemisphere, we are committed to maintaining our independence from the encroachment of expansionist foreign powers. It has been the formal policy of our country since President Monroe that we reject the interference of foreign nations in this hemisphere and in our own affairs." ( Remarks by President Trump in 2018 ) Demonstration against Trump's tariffs, August 1st, 2025. In front of the US Consulate, Rio de Janeiro downtown area. The early relationship between Brazil and the United States was shaped by a mixture of diplomatic opportunism, ideological alignment, and economic interest. A key instrument of that relationship was the Monroe Doctrine, announced in 1823 , which declared that the Americas were no longer open to European colonization or intervention. While this policy meant to deter European monarchies from interfering in the newly independent republics of Latin America, it had a longer-term strategy of gradual replacement of European influence in Latin America with the United States'. In Brazil’s case, even though its independence from Portugal took the form of a constitutional monarchy rather than a republican revolution, the U.S. was the first country to recognize Brazilian independence in 1824, signaling a desire to include Brazil in its sphere of influence. In the 19th century, Brazil remained economically tied to the British Empire, which financed infrastructure like railroads and dominated trade in commodities like coffee and sugar. The U.S., meanwhile, was a rising power looking to expand its commercial reach. The Monroe Doctrine provided a rhetorical and ideological framework for that expansion, positioning the U.S. as the guardian of freedom and independence in the Western Hemisphere. Yet in practice, it meant paving the way for U.S. economic influence. Over time, Brazil and the U.S. began aligning more closely, not only politically (as seen during WWII, when Brazil sent troops to fight alongside the Allies ), but also economically. U.S. corporations entered Brazil’s energy, agriculture, and resource extraction sectors in increasing numbers by the mid-20th century. While the Monroe Doctrine initially functioned as a warning to Europe, it evolved into a justification for U.S. regional dominance. Especially during the Cold War, the doctrine underwrote coups, economic policy enforcement, and military assistance designed to keep Latin American countries within the U.S. orbit. Brazil’s 1964 military coup had U.S. support and led to decades of dictatorship under a regime that welcomed U.S. capital and trade , especially in energy and mining sectors. This period saw the consolidation of a U.S.-dependent economic model, centered on exports of primary goods, low-cost labor, and foreign direct investment (FDI) , often at the cost of economic sovereignty. Merging Markets and Resource Integration From the 1990s onward, under neoliberal globalization, Brazil’s economy became increasingly integrated with that of the United States. This was reinforced through policies encouraging privatization, deregulation, and trade liberalization. Brazilian agribusiness boomed with U.S. investment and exports, while major multinationals expanded their footprint, especially in oil (like Chevron ), energy, and consumer goods. U.S. influence had effectively replaced European dominance in Brazil’s external relations, in line with the Monroe Doctrine’s long arc. The result was a structural dependency – Brazil remained a commodity-exporting economy dependent on volatile international prices and external capital, particularly from the U.S. and China. With limited control over technological development or industrial policy, Brazil sees itself in a paradigm of neocolonialism through economics rather than armies. Pro-Bolsonaro Demonstration, August 3rd, 2025. Copacabana Beach, south zone of Rio de Janeiro. Is the Trump Era Reaffirming or Reversing the Monroe Doctrine? With the election(s) of Donald Trump, a shift has occurred. His administration, under the banner of “America First,” began to retreat from some of the key principles of U.S. foreign economic policy. Trump imposed tariffs on Brazilian steel and aluminum , citing national sovereignty and job protection. He also reduced support for multilateral trade agreements, withdrew from global environmental commitments, and promoted economic nationalism that implicitly contradicted the free-market globalization pushed by previous U.S. administrations. This marked a partial reversal of the Monroe Doctrine's economic logic. Instead of expanding U.S. markets abroad and integrating the Americas under U.S. leadership, Trump sought to protect U.S. industries from competition, even from allied countries like Brazil. It was an effort to reduce American dependency on foreign resources – a stark contrast to the century-long strategy of extracting them through Latin American trade. In part, this reversal was driven by domestic political pressures. Deindustrialization in the U.S. , especially in the Rust Belt, led to resentment toward free trade. Trump's base sees economic globalization as having harmed U.S. workers while enriching elites and foreign powers. Cutting ties with traditional trade partners, even at the cost of international goodwill, was framed as a path to restoring U.S. American strength. On one hand, Trump's tariffs and retreat from free trade weakened Brazil’s export channels, especially for industrial products. The agricultural sector also faced new vulnerabilities, although China absorbed some of the trade. On the other hand, Trump's policies are forcing Brazil to reconsider its structural dependency on the U.S. This could be an opportunity for Brazil to develop more autonomy and to invest in self-sufficiency. Breaking free from dependency is difficult, especially while China becomes a new dominant force in Brazil’s trade relations, especially in soy, iron ore, and oil . The question becomes not whether Brazil depends on the U.S., but whether it is simply switching from one hegemon to another. Many pro-U.S. Brazilians, particularly those on the right or in business circles, paradoxically supported Trump despite his protectionist measures. This support is often ideological, coming from admiration for Trump's strongman style, anti-China stance, or conservative social values. There is also a belief among some elites that aligning with the U.S., regardless of policy inconsistency, provides geopolitical and economic stability. They may see Trump as a model for breaking ‘globalist’ constraints or strengthening national identity – even if that means accepting economic damage in the short term. In contrast, anti-U.S. Brazilians, often on the left, oppose Trump's policies not because they sever Brazil’s dependency, but because they do so on U.S. terms, unilaterally and without offering Brazil alternatives. These critics fear that economic nationalism in the U.S. will destabilize Brazil’s export sectors, undermine the fragile capitalist balance, and weaken any remaining leverage Brazil has in global markets. Ironically, this opposition can lead to a defense of globalized trade frameworks, which also reproduce Brazil’s dependent position. While the Monroe Doctrine was born as a rhetorical shield against European colonialism, it became a tool for American expansion. Brazil, as a relatively autonomous imperial power in the 19th century, was eventually folded into the broader U.S.-led economic order. Over two centuries, U.S. policy shaped Brazil's role in the global economy as a supplier of resources and a site of investment, often at the expense of national development. Trump’s economic nationalism disrupted this trajectory – not by empowering Brazil, but by withdrawing the American hand. For Brazil, this creates both risk and opportunity. The collapse of old patterns may open space for greater sovereignty, but only if Brazilians have the vision and coordination to act on it. Without that, the vacuum left by the U.S. may simply be filled by another power, repeating the same cycle under a different flag. Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Writer and editor. Author of the books “Anarcho-Transcreation” and “Seeds and Tales.” Photographed by Fabio Teixeira Photojournalist winner of the King of Spain Award for International Journalism.

You can read this article in english here. “É privilégio dos Deuses não querer nada, e dos homens endeusados quererem pouco” (Diógenes) Anarco-transcriação , meu primeiro livro, é sobre como criar quando você não é ou não deseja ser um Deus, ou um homem endeusado. As fontes nele contidas vêm do contexto de publicação de um projeto de tradução, que é minha área profissional, mas os princípios podem ser aplicados a qualquer projeto que você precise (ou queira) realizar com mais pessoas do que apenas você mesma. Nenhum ser humano é invencível – muita coisa está fora do nosso controle e não há escudo contra a repreensão. Mas na busca pela invencibilidade, uma de duas ferramentas é geralmente empregada – controle forçado/coercitivo de outros, ou auto-isenção de responsabilidade e iniciativa. A primeira, sobre exercer controle, com a qual estamos bem familiarizados no discurso político global, orbita percepções de Autoridade, Autoritarismo e Hierarquia. A tentativa de se tornar invencível através do uso da força é a base para a criação de Estados-nação e das suas forças armadas. A segunda me interessa mais porque é pouco reconhecida. É quando nos esquivamos de responsabilidade, delegando responsabilidades a outras pessoas. O medo do fracasso ou do escrutínio não só é um obstáculo maior à autogestão do que 'as Autoridades', mas é também o método através do qual entregamos Poder às forças autoritárias. Dessa forma, nenhuma das nossas criações é vencível, porque nenhuma dessas criações são realmente nossas. O medo da autogestão é o que leva alguns de nós a pensar que votar em representantes é a forma mais importante de atuação política, com queixas ocasionais quando, inevitável e repetidamente, os testemunhamos sendo incompetentes. Vemos os políticos falharem, isso nos frustra, no entanto, nos sentimos seguros por não ter que assumir, por conta própria, certas responsabilidades, e arriscar falhar também. Na minha experiência como editora, tem sido fácil identificar quando uma escritora tem medo de fazer sua própria declaração, se escondendo atrás de citações após citações de outros escritores, nem mesmo assumindo autoria sobre sua curadoria. Essa é a diferença entre dizer “Esta é a declaração da minha tese, e estas são as fontes que utilizo para sustentar esta afirmação”, versus, “Esta tese é sobre o que estes pensadores afirmaram”. Quando se trata de gestão (de uma comunidade, organização ou projeto grande), executar por conta própria (autogestão) significa assumir responsabilidades e tomar decisões com outros, em vez de delegar a responsabilidade de uma decisão a uma figura de autoridade. Isso não significa nos transformar em uma Autoridade, mas assumir a responsabilidade por certas decisões e ações em projetos específicos. Eu chamo isso de Autoria. Nas estruturas sociais aspirantes ao Anarquismo, há uma aversão ideológica à Autoridade, mas isso não significa que a dinâmica hierárquica não se forme insidiosamente. Pessoas que desejam o poder e pessoas que o temem talvez se unam facilmente, mas o conflito também pode surgir aqui. Isso acontece porque as pessoas que temem a autogestão não têm necessariamente medo de criticar aqueles que governam ativamente. Existem lutas pelo poder entre pessoas que querem governar todos, e ciclos intermináveis ​​onde nada acontece entre aqueles que temem assumir responsabilidades. Todas as configurações estão sujeitas a confusão. A autoria é uma prática anarquista, porque exige e é um exercício de autogestão. By Alice Hsieh Quando escrevi: “se você precisar de ajuda com seu projeto, ele não é mais só seu” estava pensando na autoria literal de um livro, ao mesmo tempo que colaboramos com designers, gráficas e todas as outras facetas de uma publicação. No capitalismo, precisar de ajuda para um projeto não significa compartilhar a autoria pelo simples fato de que o dinheiro pode comprar os frutos do trabalho; como tal, tudo o que eu compro, torna-se meu. O homem acumulando riqueza é o homem se tornando semelhante a um Deus e querendo pouco. Ainda não se sabe onde o sistema capitalista funciona. No contexto das publicações anarquistas impressas, a negociação da autoria é uma prática contínua inevitavelmente atravessada pela questão do dinheiro. Normalmente, quem tem o dinheiro é quem tem a Autoridade. Mas existem inúmeras oportunidades para encorajar o exercício da autogestão em grandes projetos com orçamentos limitados. Como eu disse antes no livro, não há garantias. Não existe um caminho estabelecido por um ancião anarquista a quem delegamos a responsabilidade de decidir o que precisa ser feito, a quem delegamos a responsabilidade de definir o que é a coisa “correta” a fazer. O exercício da autogestão exige coragem individual, talvez hercúlea. A coragem necessária para se 'autogovernar' não tem a ver com a adoção da revolução armada ou de qualquer outro método de força. Acredito que se os grupos revolucionários tivessem o apoio total da população, as instituições autoritárias que devem ser minadas poderiam simplesmente ser feitas obsoletas. E que se não tiverem o apoio total da população e optarem por assumir o poder à força, é apenas uma questão de tempo até que esses grupos também sejam sujeitos a resistência de movimentos revolucionários. Uma revolução da narrativa, para mim, é uma forma de alcançar um consentimento mútuo duradouro entre uma população, e isso exige que a população seja politicamente alfabetizada em autogestão. Alguns dizem que isso é inalcançável, mas considerando a quantidade escandalosa de riqueza, recursos e tecnologias que as potências ocidentais acumularam ao longo do último século, me parece que essa impossibilidade reside mais na falta de disposição do que na falta de opções. Se, neste ponto do texto, você continua esperando que eu te diga quais são essas opções e como as praticar, o conceito de autogestão ainda não está claro para você. Uma das críticas mais comuns ao Anarquismo como ideologia é que ele não define claramente como será uma sociedade anarquista – quais instituições farão o que, e serão dirigidas por quem, como... Alguns anarquistas se envolveram nisso, o que apenas frustra ainda mais as pessoas que desejam orientações claras. Isso se deve a uma razão simples: a autogestão não pode depender da intervenção de uma autoridade externa. Em outras palavras, se você precisa ser dito o que escrever, você não tem a autoria. Aqui, não estamos discutindo a criatividade. Muitas pessoas criativas têm dificuldade em criar projetos ou em abster-se de delegar responsabilidades a figuras de autoridade. Estamos falando de um estado de espírito em que escolhemos buscar possibilidades. Normalmente, isso acontece quando se testemunham eventos revoltantes liderados por forças autoritárias; assim, somos motivados a pensar em alternativas, estratégias de resistência. Idealmente, o horror e o desastre não deveriam ser uma necessidade nesse processo, mas a situação é ainda mais terrível. A tragédia constante não tem sido um motivador suficiente. Então, o que será suficiente? ______ Mirna Wabi Sabi é escritora brasileira, editora do site Gods and Radicals e fundadora da Plataforma9. É autora do livro Anarco-transcriação e produtora de diversos outros títulos da editora P9.

By Alice Hsieh Last week, the “US Supreme Court [shot] down cases on social media liability” ( Al Jazeera ). It unanimously ruled that social media platforms (Twitter and Google) cannot be held responsible for content posted on their websites. Meanwhile, Brazil witnesses a heated debate over a law project that seeks to combat fake news by holding tech companies accountable for misinformation on their platforms. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act was used to argue that the companies are not publishers of content and therefore are not responsible for the speech posted on their platforms. On the other hand, platforms have the right to remove content that they believe is objectionable for any reason. Can this type of freedom of content moderation by social media companies, guaranteed by Section 230, be remedied by an anti-Fake News Bill such as the one proposed in Brazil? How would the moderation process ensure the removal of harmful content and not content about harmful practices? For example, how will we remove terrorist content but not content about terrorism? How will we remove racist content but not content about racism? In the scope which these companies operate, answering these questions is far from simple. There is still no legal consensus on how to address this issue in the global digital field; therefore, it is worth analyzing why so many people gravitate towards online content that is radically harmful to society. What are the values that we practice and share in our communities, and how do we fight for them in our day-to-day lives? The Brazilian anti-Fake News Law Project is a polarizing subject. Misinformation permeates the digital universe, and opinions tend to be in favor of the law on the left, or against it on the right. To go beyond binary politics and at the same time avoid ending up in the 'center', we can easily say that fake news is a serious problem, and we can question the extent to which this law is effective, practicable, and durable. Does the law really solve the problem of disinformation online? It is worth remembering that the law is often deliberately vague so that its interpretation can be flexible. This puts a lot of power in the hands of lawyers and their argumentative skills. Therefore, people who do not have access to legal professionals with extensive experience, knowledge and time are at a disadvantage. Because of this, questioning an anti-Fake News Law such as this one is not about protecting tech companies or whoever uses these tech tools to commit atrocities. It’s about finding solutions that don’t rely on a judicial system which proves time and time again that it cannot be relied upon. Issues the anti-Fake News Bill addresses vaguely — How to identify inauthentic accounts “without prejudice to the guarantee of privacy” and without collecting even more user data? What criteria are used to identify whether an account was “created or used for the purpose of spreading misinformation”? Defining purpose can be extremely arbitrary, and requires detailed investigation and motive to provoke that investigation. An activist who uses a pseudonym may be impossible to distinguish from a Bolsonarist troll without judging only the nature of the opinion that each one shares on the networks. Distinguishing opinion from misinformation requires critical analysis from everyone, not just legal professionals or employees of tech companies. — Which tools will be used to guarantee that there will be no “restriction to the free development of the individual personality, artistic, intellectual, satirical, religious, fictional, literary or any other form of cultural expression”? If there were a list of things that distinguished an 'inauthentic' account from a satirical account, or blatant dissemination of disinformation from 'intellectual development', the inauthentic and blatant would have a handbook on how to operate legally, while 'satirists' and 'intellectuals' would migrate to other information dissemination platforms. Maybe that's why a law rarely manages to be specific enough to be effective, and vague enough to be interpreted in different contexts. — What are the methods of “checks from independent fact-checkers with an emphasis on facts”? How is “critical fact-checking” carried out and how will legal entities be selected with the task of fact-checking? Excessive use of the word fact does not bring you closer to it, possibly even pushes you further away. In science, it is understood that a fact exists in a context, and it can and should be questioned at any time. A fact probably boils down to evidence that finds a certain level of consensus, a consensus that can be revoked at any time, because how we contextualize and interpret evidence is subject to human error. There is no group of legal entities that can exercise the function of defining facts in the internet universe. What we can do is have a sense for critical analysis, in order to identify manipulation tools, lack of sources, speculation, conflicts of interest, etc. — What constitutes a use of platforms incompatible with human use? Is any post scheduling tool considered an 'artificial disseminator'? Artificial disseminators can facilitate the work of communication and media professionals. One of the tricks of entrepreneurship is “find what works and automate it”. If you, for example, entered a virtual store, put something in the cart and left without buying it, an automatic message from the store may appear in your inbox reminding you of the product you left there. Automated emails and posts are the norm in the virtual industry, and it's existential to ask what is the number that draws the line between human and inhuman automation. The cost for “application providers” According to this law proposal, Brazilians will not be able to participate in WhatsApp or Telegram groups with more than 256 people or forward a message to more than 5 people. During elections, forwarding is limited to one person or group. That's because WhatsApp and Telegram have more than 2 million users in Brazil. In response, Telegram sent a bilingual message to its users last week accusing the Bill of censorship, among other things. The next day, they communicated that they received “an order from the [Brazilian] Supreme Court that obliges Telegram to remove [the] previous message about PL 2630/2020 and to send a new message to users” saying that it “characterized FLAGRANT AND ILLICIT DISINFORMATION”. When analyzing the first Telegram statement, I see nothing more than a company trying to protect itself financially, despite not mentioning this directly. The court also does not mention the financial scope of this debate, even though it is clear that the main motivation of these companies is profit – the political-electoral debate only becomes a priority when it affects this primordial economic motivation. There's no way this law won't cost these “application providers” a lot of money, in terms of programming and monitoring humanpower, and potential loss of users. The reality is that whoever leaves these social media platforms because they cannot widely disseminate questionable content will find another vehicle – any other vehicle, as we have seen happen throughout the history of mainstream media. The Telegram statement is not disinformation, it is an interpretation of the law from the perspective of an agent with an obvious conflict of interest. It is a very serious thing that we fail to distinguish between differing opinions, misinformation, and fake news. Not all misinformation is fake news, and not all opinions from people and institutions that spread certain narratives out of self-interest are equal to misinformation. If the government starts using the terms ‘disinformation’ or fake news to describe everything that opposes it, we're likely to find something akin to totalitarianism. What we need is not a government or set of legal professionals with the power to decide what is truth and fact. What we need is a population with access to health and education resources to develop critical thinking skills. Does this law really stimulate the population's critical analysis abilities, or does it just seek to claim part of the power over the population that tech companies have conquered? Or worse, is it nothing more than the politics of a government wanting to demonstrate great efforts with no intention of enacting structural changes? Whenever we come across online content, we have the opportunity to analyze this content, ask questions and reflect. This process requires stimulation, training and access to diverse knowledge, which go beyond posts in particular, such as fake news. Knowledge about how information sources are accessed, how communication strategies are developed, and even how websites work, can make all the difference for a person to develop a critical sense about what is seen online. A law cannot fill the chasm caused by the millennial inequality between the minority that controls the narrative, and the majority that consumes it. The democratization of narrative control will be achieved through a complete restructuring of the distribution of resources in society, and not through a dispute between agents that already wield monumental powers. ____ Mirna Wabi-Sabi is a Brazilian writer, site editor at Gods and Radicals and founder of Plataforma9 . She is the author of the book Anarcho-transcreation and producer of several other titles under the P9 press.

"It’s hard to accept that we are trying to make a living within a global market that’s a Casino. Instead, it’s easy to subscribe to business gurus and generic finance tips that don’t address the fundamental question of how to achieve an authentic and fulfilling existence in this world." By Mirna Wabi-Sabi Companies are constantly trying to be at the vanguard of digital marketing and, every day, a new business strategy is launched. The endurance of Capitalism relies on our belief that our financial endeavors will be successful if we put in the hours and learn to utilize all these digital tools, which are constantly changing and multiplying. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been the darling tool of digital marketing for the past few years, until it was, since 2019, proverbially replaced by BERT, a Google language model which relies less on keywords and terms by interpreting more context. But by the time a tool is democratized (meaning, made widely accessible), it in essence ceases to be effective. The capitalist market, just like google searches, needs the competition for limited top spots. Continue reading this piece, in english, at: A Beautiful Resistance By Alice Hsieh Empresas sempre procuram estar na vanguarda do marketing digital e, a cada dia, uma nova estratégia de negócio é lançada. A sobrevivência do capitalismo depende da crença de que os nossos empreendimentos serão bem-sucedidos se dedicarmos muitas horas e aprendermos a utilizar todas essas ferramentas digitais, que estão em constante mudança e multiplicação. O Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tem sido a ferramenta queridinha do marketing digital nos últimos anos, até ser, desde 2019, proverbialmente substituído pelo BERT, um modelo de linguagem do Google que depende menos de palavras-chave e termos, interpretando mais o contexto. Mas quando uma ferramenta é democratizada (ou seja, tornada amplamente acessível), ela, em essência, deixa de ser eficaz. O mercado capitalista, assim como as pesquisas no Google, precisa da competição por lugares limitados no topo. Essa corrida para aparecer no topo da 1ª página de uma busca no google é interessante, pois ou você precisa se inserir em uma tendência pesquisável, ou fabricar uma. De qualquer forma, não é um processo científico fiável onde os contributos garantem o resultado, embora o mito da meritocracia capitalista se baseie na crença de que seja. Na realidade, o sucesso de um empreendimento comercial é uma aposta que requer muito investimento inicial, antes de haver (e se houver) algum retorno. No pôquer, a pessoa jogadora precisa começar colocando dinheiro no jogo. Depois disso, há um cálculo cuidadoso das probabilidades de vitória e como lidar com essas probabilidades dependendo do adversário e da equidade do jogador. Só porque existe cálculo de probabilidade não significa que não seja uma aposta, e o mesmo vale para o marketing digital e o sucesso de um empreendimento capitalista. Quanto mais dinheiro o empreendimento tiver para entrar no jogo, maior será a probabilidade de os cálculos eventualmente darem lucro e também da sorte acontecer. É difícil aceitar que nos esforçamos para ‘ganhar a vida’ num mercado global que é um Casino. Em vez disso, é fácil abraçar ideias de gurus de negócios e dicas financeiras genéricas que não abordam a questão fundamental de como alcançar uma existência autêntica e gratificante nesse mundo. Quando acreditamos que existe uma fórmula e que o sucesso é todo mérito pessoal, é mais provável que continuemos tentando reproduzir o que vimos funcionar para os outros, e isso está dentro da categoria de seguir tendências . Pesquise no Google como ser relevante no Google (Language Models) O modelo BERT é aquele que prevê o final da sua frase no Gmail . Se você digitar “Como vo”, a tecla ‘tab’ adicionará “cê está?”, e “Espero”, ‘tab’, “que sim”, etc. Os resultados dessa função de preenchimento automático de texto não são apenas previsíveis e pouco originais, mas também nem sempre são factuais. As pesquisas do Google, que utilizam esse modelo, interpretam o contexto e também prevêem e geram conteúdo com base em enormes conjuntos de dados. Para ter uma classificação elevada em uma pesquisa com esse método, precisamos ser um acompanhamento previsível de um termo chave ou pergunta feita no Google. O que acabamos obtendo é uma grande quantidade de conteúdo e empreendimentos comerciais que aproveitam uma onda de pesquisas populares – todos eles competindo por um lugar de destaque. Aqui você encontrará muito clickbait e, em geral, produtos e conteúdos pouco originais, que seguem uma fórmula de marketing digital para assuntos que já provaram ser populares. Um exemplo disso pode ser visto na dica da “Amazing Money Marketer” Sherri Norris, sobre como ganhar 90 mil vendendo cadernos através do Amazon KDP . Nesse reel , Sherri mostra como um caderno preto vendeu 6 mil unidades por cerca de 15 dólares, e, com uma “matemática simples”, podemos ver que a pessoa faturou (6000x15) 90k. Em seguida, ela explica como criar um PDF no Canva, carregá-lo no Amazon KDP e acumular riqueza. Seu cálculo não leva em conta a parcela considerável dos lucros que vai para a Amazon, para impressão, envio e manuseio. Acima de tudo, não leva em conta o fato de que, sem um investimento inicial considerável em marketing, você simplesmente não venderá um único exemplar, enterrado sob um mercado hipersaturado de cadernos na Amazon. Isso foi apontado por pessoas nos comentários, que tentaram e falharam, e a solução apresentada a eles foi “você tem que alterar sua estratégia de SEO”, ou “Faça uma pesquisa na internet sobre como comercializar livros de baixo conteúdo do KDP”. Para empreendimentos de acompanhamento de tendências que seguem essa lógica, isso significa que não existe uma ciência exata para se destacar na multidão ou permanecer relevante no longo prazo. Mais importante ainda, essa lógica não aborda a realidade de que, para ganhar dinheiro, precisamos já de ter tempo e  dinheiro. Nas próprias palavras de Sherri Norris, em seu aviso de isenção de responsabilidade em letras miúdas em seu “site”: “Conforme estipulado por lei, não podemos e não oferecemos nenhuma garantia sobre sua capacidade de obter resultados ou ganhar dinheiro com nossos cursos, eventos, programa de afiliados ou treinamentos em vídeo gratuitos. A pessoa comum que compra qualquer informação sobre “como fazer” [“how to”] obtém pouco ou nenhum resultado.” (ênfase adicionada.) Existem várias contas que se descrevem como “ajudando pessoas comuns a ganhar dinheiro online” ou “em casa”, muitas com o mesmo texto de isenção de responsabilidade. Esses gurus da renda passiva estão espalhados pela Internet, apenas os de maior destaque enfrentam consequências jurídicas . By Alice Hsieh A tendência Stanley Quencher Tumbler No Brasil, a Croácia só é pesquisada no Google no contexto de jogos de futebol . Otimizar as pesquisas de uma publicação sobre um terremoto naquela região implicaria reestruturá-la como clickbait – ou, de alguma forma, fabricar demanda para o tema de terremotos nos Balcãs. Quando se trata de produto, ser o único do gênero só é uma vantagem quando um número suficiente de pessoas o conhece e o procura. Não há maneira mais segura de estar no topo de uma pesquisa no Google do que ter milhares de pessoas pesquisando algo que só você fornece. A questão é como levar as pessoas a fazer isso. A mania do Stanley Quencher Tumbler é um exemplo extremo de como fabricar demanda por um produto que apenas uma empresa oferece. Embora o conceito de garrafa térmica não seja exclusivo da Stanley, eles conseguiram aumentar o desejo do público por uma versão que só eles fornecem. O resultado é uma explosão de tendência do tópico  “Quencher” no Google (ou um aumento impressionante nas pesquisas de termos relacionados como “Stanley” e “Tumbler”) de novembro de 2023 até hoje, para um produto que foi lançado em 2016 . Alguns atribuem esse fenômeno a uma colaboração com o site The Buy Guide  (TBG), que, segundo suas fundadoras, foi criado em oposição à tendência de influenciadores do Instagram. As três mães do lar brancas transformaram seu hobby de comprar presentes online em um empreendimento de sucesso, porque estavam “ cansadas de ver pessoas perfeitas e fotogênicas vendendo produtos de uso diário no Instagram ”. Essas mulheres meio que lideraram esse estilo particular de influência, que rejeita as personalidades ultra curadas das influenciadoras nas mídias sociais, em favor de postagens elegantes e bem pesquisadas centradas em produtos. A colaboração da TBG com a Stanley desencadeou uma tendência que alguns dizem ter saído do controle. Há violência e crime nas lojas quando novas cores são lançadas nos EUA, as redes sociais estão inundadas de colecionadores ávidos e os copos da Stanley já estão surgindo nas praias e bares brasileiros. Nem a Stanley nem a TBG seguiram um guia de marketing “como fazer” (“ how to ”) para alcançar vendas como essas. Ambos foram inovadores nos seus respectivos campos de produtos e serviços, mas isso por si só não explica o seu sucesso. Eles também estavam na vanguarda de uma nova estratégia de marketing. A Stanley se autodenomina a inventora da garrafa de aço térmica a vácuo em 1913, mas o conceito da garrafa térmica a vácuo foi desenvolvido por James Dewar na Escócia algumas décadas antes. Só em 2020 é que o novo presidente da Stanley, Terence Reilly, implementou claramente a estratégia de marketing do seu tempo na Crocs – utilizando “criadores de gosto” (“ tastemakers” ) para aumentar a demanda por uma estética de marca única. Hoje em dia, tastemakers  podem ser encontrados no TikTok, e é por isso que ele deu um carro novo para uma TikToker . Essa cultura empresarial é descrita por uma funcionária como “ oportunismo visionário ”, onde uma oportunidade de tendência é encontrada em territórios ainda não explorados. O oportunismo visionário requer dinheiro. Um empreendedor já precisa ter dinheiro para investir em testes de estratégias de marketing que ninguém experimentou antes. Para pessoas sem dinheiro para esse investimento inicial, “ how to’s ” e SEO, nas palavras da Amazing Money Marketer, “obtêm pouco ou nenhum resultado”. Essas ferramentas são uma espécie de folclore que transmite os costumes capitalistas à próxima geração. Mas, como vimos nas tentativas fúteis de criminalizar a negociação com informações privilegiadas  ( insider trading ), o mercado global não é apenas mais uma aposta do que uma ciência, é uma aposta fraudulenta. Será que esses contos e costumes deveriam continuar a ser preservados? O sucesso de um negócio, tal como a estabilidade do mercado global, não se baseia na fiabilidade dos modelos linguísticos e na previsibilidade da demanda do consumidor. Baseia-se no capital inicial, cálculos de aposta e muita sorte. O fato de que o capitalismo ainda é descrito como o único sistema que funciona, onde o sucesso financeiro se baseia apenas no mérito, parece uma tentativa desesperada de enxergar ordem no completo caos e incerteza do nosso mundo moderno.   ____ Mirna Wabi-Sabi é fundadora e editora-chefe da Plataforma9 , autora dos livros Anarco-Transcriação e Finge Que Isso é um Celular .

Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Originally published at the CyberOrient journal. By Alice Hsieh Abstract During the COVID-19 pandemic, a “privacy nutrition label” was introduced to the Apple applications store. Its aim was to simplify access that consumers have to the content of terms and conditions, specifically to its implications on individual privacy. Nevertheless, undocumented migrants in the United States and Europe were and still are subject to invasive digital monitoring, begging the question of how to handle unhinged uses of technological advances by government institutions. Artificial intelligence has been used to predict the geographical movements of migrants, and phone applications have been used as an alternative to incarceration and ankle bracelets. It seems that technological advances do not move parallel to improvements in the human condition, which is why keeping up with these advances is a challenge to those who are struggling to improve their living conditions. In the following article, Artificial Intelligence and Integration Contracts of asylum requests are discussed within the framework of immigration rights and modern tools of governmental abuse of power. Key Words: Artificial Intelligence, Integration Contracts, asylum seekers, privacy, human mobility. To sign off on; phrasal verb meaning “give one’s approval to something.” We all sign things nowadays, but not all of us get to sign off on things. The use of a signature as a way to grant approval is not the same as the more commonplace practice of signing things like “terms and conditions.” This distinction ought to be made because in identifying when a signature is not empowering or representative of consent, we can look for alternative tools of resistance against the established order—one which uses signatures to control and subjugate disenfranchised segments of the population. Signatures earn significance through institutions of power by governments that establish order and have the resources to enforce this order. In any hierarchical structure, signing off on something is indicative of a status difference, as is the ability to make someone sign an unfavorable agreement. A good example of this is our routine practice of downloading apps into our smartphones. Apple, for instance, signs off on the apps it allows on its app store, but the terms and conditions we agree to when we download them are certainly unfavorable to us as consumers. In an attempt to mitigate this issue, a “privacy nutrition label” was introduced to apps in the store during the covid pandemic, supposedly simplifying access consumers have to the content of these conditions. The labels are probably a result of the GDPR, which Apple cites in its page detailing Privacy Policies (Apple Store 2022) and requires not only transparency over these policies but also for this information to be presented in a way people can easily understand. Unfortunately, these “nutrition labels” are neither effective nor accurate (Fowler 2021), exacerbating the issue of unfavorable agreements we consent to through digital signatures. Earlier in 2022, in the wake of abortion bans in the United States, women encouraged each other to remove period-tracking apps from their phones for fear of potential privacy breaches and legal backlash. This is a way of not signing, not consenting, to personal data sharing. It is also a form of a general strike, provoking a sharp turn in the industry. To be able to delete something from your smartphone is thus a privileged position to be in. Nearly a quarter of a million immigrants in the United States are tracked by ICE with the use of an app that officials describe as more “humane” (del Rio 2022) than ankle bracelets or incarceration. Unsurprisingly, many do not agree with this description, which is why there is an ongoing court case against the Department of Homeland Security, claiming a violation of the Freedom of Information Act and concern over the “drastic increase in the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP)” (US District Court Northern District Of California 2022). This program embodies how, nowadays, privacy policies of applications can quite literally become virtual prisons. In Europe, due to the 2015 “refugee crisis,” data monitoring was considered by government institutions as a tool for predicting the “movements of migrants into Europe.” The European Space Agency pitched several EU organizations, including Frontex, on “commercially viable ‘disruptive smart technologies’” (Black 2020). In a report from 2019 on this subject, the ethical and practical limitations of this program were considered, but no guarantee is given that this tool has not been or is not being used. Even though the report acknowledges this technology can be and has been used for racial profiling—which they describe as an “overfocus on African countries” (IOM 2019)—and that machine-learning reliant on unpredictable data produces unreliable results, the conclusion describes this method as a “nascent workstream.” In other words, if this deeply flawed and unethical method of handling humanitarian crises is not yet widespread, it surely is about to become so. Agreeing to dangerous terms and conditions of applications which track movement and seek to predict future movements of people like you infringes upon freedoms of whole segments of the world population. Considering that today it’s nearly impossible to not produce data (from the day we are born, documents and data are collected and stored about us), what can we do to disrupt data processing strategies, ensure a certain level of privacy, and allow for freedom of movement? Integration Contracts Asylum requests in Europe are signed off on by government officials, and seekers are made to sign several forms—including “integration contracts.” The criteria used by those with the power to sign off on asylum requests are kept from the segment of the public with the most stake in these immigration policies: asylum seekers. It could be said that it is in the interest of EU countries to maintain asylum seekers oblivious to the inner workings of its institutions and the decision-making processes. These government branches may not want asylum seekers to have information which can help them present their case more effectively. This is exemplified in the 2014 court case YS and others (Wabi-Sabi 2022), where incoherent legal justifications were used to deny migrants the right to access their personal data, a right protected by European privacy laws. In some instances, it was claimed that the right to privacy of government staff and their line of reasoning trumps the plaintiffs’ rights, and that the applications did not contain the personal data of migrants. There is no doubt, however, that immigration request files contain the personal data of the applicant, and so does the written analysis of government staff about these applications. Meanwhile, when an asylum request is approved, the migrant is required to sign contracts which, among other things, subject them to compulsory “civic training” (Ministère de l’intérieur 2020). The French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) calls this the “Republican Integration Contract (CIR)” (République Française 2020), where “newly arrived foreigners” (Ministère de l’intérieur 2022) are taught “the principles [and] values [...] of the Republic, the rights and duties associated with life in France and the organization of French Society.” The granting of the immigration request comes attached to the requirement to resign certain aspects of your cultural identity. Namely, robust integration efforts are not only about inserting immigrants into the workforce, but also a “shield against radicalization” (Rush 2018)—an umbrella term for extreme cultural differences. The Netherlands has a similar program, where “knowledge of the Dutch society” (European Commission 2021) is mixed in with Dutch language skills. They go even further in requiring “voluntary” work in businesses and demanding health insurance from companies which refuse to provide information in any language other than Dutch. I have gone through this process—twice or three times a week when I “volunteered” to vacuum a video store. Here I learned about “black pete” (but not about the country’s colonial history) and had to sign up and pay for health services I could not use, because workers refused to give me information in English over the phone. In Brazil, a parallel can be made with the integration efforts of Venezuelan refugees. In official reports there is no mention of civic training and values; instead, there is mention of opportunities for certification and work (The UN Refugee Agency 2021). The UN Refugee Agency report from 2021 describes Venezuelan refugees in Brazil to be more likely to have completed stages of education but they earn less and work more hours than their Brazilian counterparts. There is no compulsory integration program, therefore, this practice is not intrinsic to immigration policies everywhere. A new “action plan” (European Commission 2020a) for the integration of migrants in Europe, released in 2020 and aiming to pan out between 2021 and 2027, lays out a clear connection between “inclusion” and “monitoring.” This monitoring is essentially digital surveillance, though it is described rosily as a follow-up on integration projects the European Union funds, to ensure its integrity and effectiveness, as well as an “anti-discrimination” initiative (European Commission 2020b). Researchers have quickly voiced their concerns over how these follow-ups on integration policies, paired with a new European Digital Agenda, can easily become “a mass surveillance framework” (Regina and Capitani 2022) and an infringement on the values of a democratic society. The digitalization of public services goes much beyond the immigration sector, but the specific push towards the integration of migrants now involves digital training. Improving the digital skills of any segment of the population is, in theory, a good thing. But this can also hand over an immense amount of power to the State, both of what information to share and how. Anyone nowadays sees new technologies marketed as helpful for the performance of a certain task, while crucial information about how your data are collected and shared is omitted. We are all susceptible to it, especially immigrants. Artificial Intelligence and Action A response analysis of a “public consultation” on the topic of migrant integration, done with mostly EU citizens, shows that nearly a quarter of those interviewed “reported adopting the local culture and customs [...] as factors for successful integration.” In this digital era, these integration efforts pose worrying questions about what Artificial Intelligence can do to track, predict, and manipulate people’s behavior. The more integrated people are, the easier it is for machine learning to spot abnormal behaviors within infinite pools of data. If we can not come back from that, we ought to move forward knowing what these technologies can do, and how to have control over them—as opposed to being controlled by them. First, let us learn from people and groups which do not have a stake in promoting these integration policies and technologies. To trust tech companies and the government to teach us about their own tech innovations is like trusting McDonald’s to teach us about how their meat is produced; of course, they will describe themselves with unreal amounts of flattery. Though impartiality is nearly impossible to achieve, as are conflicts of interest difficult to completely eradicate, a democratic society has a duty to provide plurality of sources and diversity in access to information. Second, let’s promote the embracing of cultural differences over integration efforts. Social integration is marketed by government immigration offices in Europe as “anti-racist,” generous and empowering. It is none of those things. As part of my “integration” classes, I “volunteered” at a video store where I had to vacuum a closed section dedicated to porn. For a Muslim immigrant, which in 2015 made up the majority of people in my class, this would be mortifying. At the time, the secularism the Dutch always promoted as progressive turned into blatant bigotry (Bahceli 2015), and “integration” meant the hostile pressure to learn the local language quickly and hide any non-Christian markers. It is no wonder that scholars (Regina and Capitani 2022) have pointed out the dangers of AI technology becoming a new tool to enact old fascistic European behaviors (Hayes 2018). Certain counter-terrorism tactics which are considered acceptable in the United States are, in theory, not acceptable in Europe, at least anymore. As Paola Regina and Emilio de Capitani point out in a study published in March of this year (Regina and Capitani 2022), artificial intelligence is pushing, or needs to push Europeans to “re-evaluate” their antifascist efforts around government surveillance and the right to privacy. Technology has expanded the scope of data access (Bigo et al. 2013) by government institutions, and the terrorist attacks of 9/11 have for two decades served as a “recourse to insecurity, real or imagined” (Hayes 2018). This fuels a desire for “the securitization of international migration.” The differences in ethical and historical perspectives between the US, UK, and EU have proven to not withstand this geopolitical paradigm and the lightspeed of technological advances. Studies on this issue tend to mention the Snowden revelations of 2013 with a sense of concern (Bigo et al. 2013) in the face of such massive pools of data paired with some of the most secretive government institutions. A Public Intelligence study (Bigo et al. 2013) goes further to question the extent to which this practice “can be tolerated in and between democracies” in particular. That is, as if the issue arose when Europeans became targets of mass surveillance, not when Arabs were targets of it, or peoples anywhere else in the world. “In and in between democracies” excludes anti-democratic attitudes “by” democracies towards everyone else. Migration flow into Europe, due to propitious geography and Western-induced unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, led to disorganized digital profiling, or “mass surveillance activities carried out without clear objectives” (Bigo et al. 2013). It seems as if the second decade of the 2000s is marked by discoveries of how these digital technologies seeped into every little crack of our lives. And it is only now, in the third decade, that we are coming closer to defining, and labeling, what has been happening. How can we get better at tracking and predicting the technological movements of Powerful institutions? Preventing these technologies from being developed is virtually impossible, assuming democracy and freedom are the values supposedly being defended by those who are engaged in this debate. What is within our reach is understanding how these technologies work, how they have been used, and as a result, gain clarity as to how they might come to be used in the near future. For that, we need independent networks of digital training. Many of us already know what Photoshop can do with images, so we are now learning what face-editing effects can do to videos. It’s clear that this type of AI technology is already being used to track and racially profile people, and that it’s not only immoral but also unreliable. It would be safe to assume that the direction the established order is going is one where much more effort is being put towards solving the issue of unreliability, than of immorality. Deleting period-tracking apps only handles the issues of the past, when we thought we could still shy away from problematic digital hotspots. In a landscape where there are assumed to be no bad apples, there is just a very large rotten one upon which more than half the world’s population feasts (Chaffey 2022). Sometimes I think increasing data input, and so decreasing its predictability would be useful. Machine learning and algorithms cannot be effective in predicting human behavior, especially when we as humans resist the efforts being put towards turning us into machines. Encouraging difference and uniqueness can be a radical thing because the pressure to “integrate” is more than a de-radicalization tool, it is an effort to predict and control our behaviors, even our most intimate ones. References Apple Store. 2022. “App privacy details on the App Store.” Developer . Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://developer.apple.com/app-store/app-privacy-details/. Bahceli, Yoruk. 2015. “Wilders tells Dutch parliament refugee crisis is ‘Islamic invasion.’” Reuters , September 10. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-migrants-netherlands-idUSKCN0RA0WY20150910. Bigo, Didier, Sergio Carrera, Nicholas Hernanz, Julien Jeandesboz, Joanna Parkin, Francesco Ragazzi, Amandine Scherrer. 2013. “National Programmes For Mass Surveillance Of Personal Data In Eu Member States And Their Compatibility With Eu Law.” Public Intelligence , October. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://info.publicintelligence.net/EU-MassSurveillance.pdf. Black, Crofton. 2020. “EU agencies tested monitoring data on refugees.” EU Observer , April 28. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://euobserver.com/health-and-society/148185. Chaffey, Dave. 2022. “Global social media statistics research summary 2022.” Smart Insights, August 22. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://www.smartinsights.com/social-media-marketing/social-media-strategy/new-global-social-media-research/. del Rio, Giulia McDonnell Nieto. 2022. “Meet SmartLINK, the App Tracking Nearly a Quarter Million Immigrants.” The Markup , June 27. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://themarkup.org/the-breakdown/2022/06/27/meet-smartlink-the-app-tracking-nearly-a-quarter-million-immigrants. European Commission. 2020a. “Watch: The EU Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027) explained.” European Website on Integration . December 17. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/watch-eu-action-plan-integration-and-inclusion-2021-2027-explained_en. European Commission. 2020b. “The EC reveals its new EU Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion (2021-2027).” European Website on Integration . November 24. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/news/ec-reveals-its-new-eu-action-plan-integration-and-inclusion-2021-2027_en. European Commission. 2021. “Governance of migrant integration in the Netherlands.” European Website on Integration . Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/country-governance/governance-migrant-integration-netherlands_en. Fowler, Geoffrey A. 2021. “I checked Apple’s new privacy ‘nutrition labels.’ Many were false.” The Washington Post , January 29. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/01/29/apple-privacy-nutrition-label/. Hayes, Ben. 2018. “Migration and data protection: Doing no harm in an age of mass displacement, mass surveillance and ‘big data.’” International Review . Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://international-review.icrc.org/sites/default/files/irrc_99_12.pdf. IOM (International Organization for Migration). 2019. “Workshop Report on Forecasting Human Mobility in Contexts of Crises.” ALNAP , October 22–24. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://www.alnap.org/system/files/content/resource/files/main/17022020%20FFO-IOM%20Workshop%20on%20Forecasting%20Human%20Mobility%20in%20Contexts%20of%20Crises.pdf. Ministère de l’intérieur . 2020. “Guide for asylum seekers in France.” September. Ministère de l’intérieur . 2022. “The Republican Integration Program.” January. Regina, Paola, and Emilio de Capitani. 2022. “Digital Innovation and Migrants’ Integration: Notes on EU Institutional and Legal Perspectives and Criticalities.” Mdpi , March 23. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/4/144. République Française. 2020. “Republican Integration Contract (CIR).” OFII , July. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://www.ofii.fr/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/cir_contrat_en.pdf. Rush, Nayla. 2018. “France: Integration of Migrants Begins with Shared Values.” Center for Immigration Studies , June 6. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://cis.org/Rush/France-Integration-Migrants-Begins-Shared-Values. The UN Refugee Agency. 2021. “Integration of Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Brazil.” ACNUR , March. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://www.acnur.org/portugues/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/5-pages-Integration-of-Venezuelan-Refugees-and-Migrants-in-Brazil-en.pdf. United States District Court Northern District Of California. 2022. “Complaint For Declaratory And Injunctive Relief For Violation Of The Freedom Of Information Act.” Just Futures Law, Community Justice Exchange, Just Futures Law, Mijente Support Committee v. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Department Of Homeland Security, April 14. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62c3198c117dd661bd99eb3a/t/635c0fe7ed5eab36eb46c47c/1666977767513/CJE+et+al+v+ICE+et+al.pdf. Wabi-Sabi, Mirna. 2022. “The Rule of Law and its Built-in Marginalizing Features.” A Beautiful Resistance , June 30. Accessed [November 27, 2022]. https://abeautifulresistance.org/site/2022/6/29/the-eu-court-of-justice-case-ys-and-others-and-built-in-marginalizing-features-of-the-rule-of-law.

By Mirna Wabi-Sabi Photo by Alice Hsieh, in Yazd, Iran. In light of Ramadan, there are some considerations any non-Muslim can greatly benefit from. I have had very little experience with Muslims growing up in Brazil, the U.S. and the Netherlands. Learning about Islam has shined a light on several behaviors of mine I never realized were Christian. In the west, including places which are heavily colonized and aspire to westernize, like Brazil, Christianity is subtly omnipresent. We often take for granted how religious all our institutions and norms are, from the way we dress to the calendars and alphabets we use (pg. 418-421). Acknowledging the religious roots of these norms is helpful for anyone who wants to improve the social conditions in their own communities in westernizing, non-Muslim countries, because these Christian norms often are as oppressive as Islamic norms are perceived to be. “As oppressive as” is tricky. Oppression takes many forms, and there is little use in ranking them. But it is possible that something we see every day looks less oppressive than something we almost never see in real life. There is oppression that becomes normalized, and we mistake that for it being “less oppressive”. The hijab, for instance. In Brazil it is a rarity. Most Brazilians don’t know the difference between a hijab and a burka, and they see all of it as a symbol of female oppression. This is true for people across the right-left political spectrum. It’s hard to imagine these views being held by people who coexist in real life with happy, well-adjusted, hijab-wearing women in Brazil. Yes, it is possible, these women exist. And upon minimal further inspection, one would realize that feelings of unhappiness or lack of adjustment stem mostly from economic insecurity, which often stems from racist reactions to their hijabs — not from the religion or the hijab itself. Mariam Chami , a Muslim Brazilian woman, which gained well over half a million followers on Instagram by fighting Islamophobia with humor. Either way, aren’t all women sometimes unhappy and ill-adjusted? At one point or another, we deal with difficult relationships with others, with our spirituality, with work or with our sense of independence. We have much more in common with eastern women than we realize, and much to learn from each other. The discussion around women’s head coverings and modesty can resonate with any woman, anywhere. As a woman in a westernized context, it’s impossible to avoid considering the level of modesty of our clothing every single time we dress. We do it so much, we do it automatically, without realizing. There is careful consideration about where we will be, how we will get there, and how much skin is “appropriate” for each step of the way. And by appropriate, I mean, how much to cover and in which context, literally due to fear for our safety (or as statements of defiance). In the West, women are, at one point or another, on a spectrum between getting too much attention of the sexual nature, and not feeling desirable enough. So much of a woman’s value in the west is based on how sexually desirable she is, because our worth happens to often be proportionate to that of the men we are associated with. This is an oppressive paradigm we aren’t conscious of, or at least not as conscious as we are of hijabs and other head coverings when we see them. It may very well be us who are the toxic influence, as the west’s oppressive obsessions with objectifying women’s bodies, hyper sexualization of girls and luxurious plastic surgery are seeping into the Muslim world . When I think of the values and practices of worship of Muslim people in general, I think of the unscrupulous behavior of so-called Christian men I encounter every day, and how hypocritical it is for western women to judge one more harshly than the other. Once I noticed an Uber driver staring at my cleavage then starting to ask me questions to see how drunk I was. People’s response to this story, including my own, was to never get in an Uber alone, drunk, with too much skin showing. We do this because it’s easier to control our own behavior than the behavior of strange men (when taking no control isn’t an option). It’s not just the clothes, it’s also the obsession with alcohol. So many social interactions somehow revolve around having alcoholic drinks. And involve being exposed to music that can be less than pleasant, if not outright offensive. Brazilian Carnaval is the ultimate indulgence in indecency, alcohol and provocative music. In religious theory, Carnaval is a pre-lent celebration, which is meant to be followed by an observance of how Jesus fasted in the desert and resisted all sorts of temptation. We celebrate that by dialing all temptations up to eleven. The word Carnaval even comes from the Latin Carnis levare , meaning to “turn away from the flesh”. Clearly, we take that and do the exact opposite. The last Globeleza , name given to the “mascot” of broadcasted Carnaval. The tradition did not survive the pandemic due to accusations of sexism and racism upon its attempted return this year. There is something special to refraining from music and alcohol, and beginning to dress modestly. It imposes a shift in paradigm and may force us to look at things that are perhaps more authentic in ourselves. How are we really feeling? Do we want to be in this place, with these people? What do we want in life, and what are our values? There is power in music, drugs and clothing — Spiritual power. There is a reason for prayer and chants. There is a reason for religious dietary restrictions and sacred hallucinogenic substances. There is significance in religious garments. These may not hold meaning for everyone equally, but they have endured as practices for millennia in pretty much all human-occupied corners of the planet. If we take a moment through fasting and prayer, or abstaining from music, drugs and alcohol, this moment may connect us to something a bit truer about ourselves — what do we worship? We all worship something, whether we are conscious of its divine nature or not. To broadly state Islam is oppressive implies there is no room for Muslims in a world envisioned as equitable. This rhetoric implicitly aims to legitimize the extermination of a major, non-western segment of the world population, in a literal or epistemological sense. And ethnic or religious extermination is sort of an integral part of fascism. Muslims are as diverse as Christians and have as much the right to practice their faith as we have the right to crack down on vile abuses of power which permeate all segments of society, everywhere in the world. Perhaps we ought to be asking ourselves how we can make room for Muslims in an equitable society. How to make room for all epistemological traditions to flourish into new eras. _____

By Mirna Wabi-Sabi [1] Photo by Alice Hsieh During the isolation of the pandemic, I had more time to observe my garden, its movements, growths and beings. This led me to start an experiment with developing mini ponds without pumps or filters to accommodate frogs, dragonflies, etc. In the process, I not only learned a lot about the lives and behaviors of different beings, but also about the existence of different living beings, including plants, and their functions for a balanced ecosystem. The city, today, is not a balanced ecosystem. Just as our knowledge about the animals and plants around us, or which are no longer around us because of urban imbalance, is insufficient. Can mini ponds not only remedy our lack of knowledge by exposing us to certain aspects of nature in an accessible and daily way, but can they also influence the urban habitat to mitigate the greenhouse effect and the damage caused by global warming? Cities and Weizi Settlements A recent study, from July 2022, called 'Impacts of Water Bodies on Microclimates and External Thermal Comfort ' describes how small artificial ponds relate to sustainable environmental revitalization in a human settlement. Using as reference a Chinese village of Weizi tradition (or Wei zi) called Xufan, an analysis is made on the influence that urban characteristics, such as asphalt and tall buildings, have on microclimates, in contrast with the characteristics of human habitats that use aquatic resources. A Weizi village "is a typical model of traditional Chinese human settlement that combines human habitat with farmland and water conservancy." It adapts, transforms, and utilizes an aquatic environment through the intersection of climatic conditions, local natural resources, rural culture and Fengshui — where ancestral and environmental science merge. Xufan, in the Guanweizi village, in the municipality of Guangshan in Henan (China), was listed as one of these traditional settlements in 2017. There, it was possible to analyze how water bodies affect the temperature and humidity of the environment, and influence human coexistence and production. The study reveals that bodies of water absorb heat during the day and release heat at night, maintaining the stability of their microclimates. They also affect humidity, which through winds and breezes connects with microclimates of other bodies of water in certain radiuses of distance. This densifies the region's vegetation, regulates the climate and sustains local agriculture. These effects are interrupted when approaching the urban center. In cities, buildings shield wind and breezes, interrupting the flow of humidity between different bodies of water and its cooling effect on the local temperature. It may be instinctive to understand asphalt and car engines as things that heat up an environment, and buildings that in turn shield the microclimate created in their streets. The main function of asphalt is waterproofing, and the engine operates on the basis of small explosions burning fuel. The rising of temperature and decreasing of humidity are microclimates in themselves — urban ones. Images: “Research on the Forms and Changes of Jianghuai Shuiwei Settlements — Take the Western Jianghuai Area as an Example". What are Microclimates? Water not only satisfies needs of agroecosystems, but also regulates thermal comfort, which is a specific effect of microclimates. The PET (Physiological Equivalent Temperature) “is an index based on the thermal balance of the body ”, and represents the thermal comfort or discomfort in urban or non-urban microclimates. As such, microclimates are nothing more than the atmospheric conditions of a certain environment, resulting from certain elements of that environment. Vegetation, bodies of water, asphalt and buildings are examples of geomorphological elements that influence microclimates. The urban microclimate is sometimes referred to as a “heat island” as a result of what I would call exogenic relief agents. City infrastructures are, in a way, exogenic geomorphological elements that significantly alter the Earth's surface, among other things. With the undeniable damage that the industrial revolution caused to the planet and to the levels of pollution in urban centers from the mid-19th century onwards, many damage mitigation strategies were developed, with perhaps mediocre results. Combating urban pollution The coal industry, which has been responsible for much of the industrial pollution since the mid-19th century and also for decreasing human life expectancy , is in decline in the US, as are deaths associated with coal mining . On the other hand, in China, coal production is on the rise . Another strategy to combat pollution in cities has been to make cars more efficient. Electronic injection, for example, is effective in reducing pollution by mixing air and fuel more economically than manual regulation. The catalytic converter neutralizes the harmful gases that enter the atmosphere as they leave through the exhaust system, with effect on up to 98% of them. The Driver Training Manual (Brazilian Edition 2022) states that Brazil “started to produce one of the best fuels in the world from an environmental point of view”. By adding ethanol to gasoline, emissions of carbon monoxide (CO) and other harmful gases are reduced. It is said that, compared to 1986, the average CO emissions per vehicle today is half a percent of what they used to be (from 54g/km to 0.3g/km). That all sounds good, but on closer inspection, one-off issues seem to be partially resolved while others come up simultaneously. CO is just one of the harmful gases emitted by cars, many of which have not declined on such a scale. The numbers differ depending on the source because they vary with the car's year of manufacture, region and regulations. Regulations are not properly enforced. And even if the laws were imposed and followed, the adaptation of the legislation aims to protect the environment when it is also in the interest of the “development of the automobile industry” ( Art. 2: I—Vetoed ). So, to say that pollution in cities has improved compared to 100 years ago through technology is not saying much. A holistic view of how to deal with the environmental harmfulness of urbanization would overcome the limitations of national laws and the car industry, as the ozone layer and the greenhouse effect do not operate according to financial and legal logics. The financial and legal logics, in fact, operate according to the population's set of beliefs, even if they are often manufactured by the financial and legal sectors themselves. Do city dwellers want to live in places like São Paulo, where traffic and money never stop pulsing? Images: “Vernacular Ecological Architecture — Weizi Folk Houses in the Southeast Henan". Is the heat island inescapable? The city's microclimates alienate animals and plants. But with a reconfiguration of belief systems about what city life can or should be, creating urban microclimates that invite animals and plants to thrive is feasible. Green terraces reduce the effects of urban heat islands, and vegetation is concentrated around water bodies naturally. Therefore, bodies of water can and should be introduced in urban gardens, community gardens and terraces where there is already vested interest in landscaping. To take advantage of the cooling effect of plants and ponds in urban contexts, a self-sufficient structure that minimizes the use of resources such as public water and electricity is not only affordable and accessible, but also ancient. As Weizi villages are described, “the water-adaptive space presents ancestors’ wisdom to adapt to and moderately transform the water environment and utilize water resources in a low-technology, low-cost, low-maintenance, and sustainable way.” Wei, in addition to having been an illustrious territory in ancient China, also means housing that uses water trenches to satisfy a variety of community needs such as irrigation, drainage, washing, thermal comfort and protection. Buildings facilitate the passage of breezes, trenches serve as defense walls, water and animals nourish the agriculture and, as such, vernacular architecture and urbanism express valuable ancestral and scientific knowledge. In the modern urban context, adapting to water can mean collecting rainwater, which in turn encourages awareness of rainfall frequency and air quality (which influences rainwater quality), as well as minimizes the use of city water supply. The increase in humidity of microclimates, with the presence of a breeze between each body of water, can help regulate the frequency of rainfall (since we know that humidity and rain are mutually favorable). To control mosquito proliferation, small fish can be introduced into the water body. A well-planted pond, with an adequate amount and type of fish, does not need a pump or filter. A partial water change is sufficient, and the nutrient-rich pond water can be used for watering plants. Animals such as lizards, beetles, dragonflies, ants, and birds contribute to the maintenance of these natural elements and minimize the need for human maintenance. By inviting these beings, we observe and understand them better. Part of understanding them better means understanding that the prosperity of these beings means our prosperity, the human future. Knowledge about nature teaches us to appreciate, respect and, in turn, protect. And it teaches us about urban microclimatic contexts, whose affronts to human existence we often fail to identify, denounce, and modify. The researchers of the article 'Impacts of Water Bodies ' state that the impact of different formats of water bodies will be the focus of their next research. This indicates a lack of data regarding the diversity of possibilities to mitigate the negative impacts of “man-made underlying surfaces” using bodies of water. Therefore, there is still much to be explored. The execution of this proposal presents a sharp learning curve and adaptation of the population's sets of beliefs, apart from a reconfiguration of what private or individual spaces mean in the context of the relationship between urban microclimates and the future of the planet. Gradually, awareness of how each individual deals with their private space, and acts in relation to nature in cohesion, has the power to reconfigure the status quo of urbanization. Who knows, the micro in a cascading effect becomes macro, and the heat island is little by little re-signified by oases. [1] Founding member and director of Plataforma9 , author of Anarco-transcriação .

Read it in English at Sul Books, here . Texto por Mirna Wabi-Sabi, fotos por Fabio Teixeira Tartarugas são criaturas majestosas. Por diversos motivos, elas se tornaram ícones da longevidade. Primeiramente, elas sobreviveram o evento que causou a extinção em massa dos dinossauros. Hoje, elas podem viver por mais de um século. Podem viver, não – deveriam poder viver. A civilização humana está essencialmente por trás de tudo que as ameaça. Poluição de diversos tipos, empreendimentos imobiliários, tráfego marítimo, pesca industrial, elevação do nível do mar e eventos climáticos extremos causados pelo aquecimento global, perda de habitat, erosão de solos praianos e o dano inimaginável dos vazamentos de petróleo nos oceanos parecem ser mais avassaladores do que um cometa ou asteroide gigantesco atirado contra a Terra. Durante milhares de anos, civilizações humanas em todos os continentes têm adorado a figura da tartaruga. Mais de 35 mil anos  atrás ela já era venerada no cerne da Ásia Ocidental (o Levante), sendo considerada o símbolo religioso mais antigo em uma das sociedades mais antigas da nossa história. E até mero meio século atrás, a América do Norte era conhecida como a Ilha da Tartaruga  por povos indígenas locais. A deterioração da mitologia, lenda e folclore centrados em entidades da natureza é recente, mas perdem espaço ferozmente para os que centram as grandes indústrias e empreendimentos globais. O paradigma cultural que surge com a industrialização não parece se preocupar com a longevidade humana ou mais-que-humana, e isso não pode permanecer realidade. Na praia de Itaipu, em Niterói–RJ, o projeto Aruanã há 15 anos monitora tartarugas marinhas no entorno da Baía de Guanabara. Para as biólogas, colaboradores, voluntários e apoiadores deste projeto, está claro que a prosperidade das tartarugas é inseparável da prosperidade humana. Esse animal exerce um papel amplo no equilíbrio do ecossistema natural desse planeta, do qual nós fazemos parte e dependemos para sobreviver. Ou seja, o declínio da tartaruga como espécie desencadeia uma sequência de danos nos ecossistemas marinhos, que por sua vez prejudicam a nossa subsistência. Diversas coisas podem ser feitas para proteger as tartarugas além de denunciar e demandar que grandes indústrias parem de poluir e destruir o habitat delas. Para indivíduos como nós, sem posições de total poder de decisão em multinacionais e corporações, é possível reduzir o consumo de plástico, e quando há consumo dele, reciclar, para garantir que esse resíduo não acabe nos oceanos. A sede do projeto Aruanã em Itaipu recebe embalagens descartáveis limpas de plástico reciclável e esponjas usadas para garantir que o destino desses resíduos não cause danos futuros nos oceanos. Uma iniciativa ainda mais simples e acessível para a população geral é o que o Aruanã chama de “Ciência Cidadã.” Ao observar uma tartaruga em algum lugar, viva ou morta, você pode tirar uma foto e enviar para eles  com local, data e horário. Com esses dados, a equipe da organização monitora o ciclo de vida dessas criaturas, assim identificando desafios e obstáculos que elas enfrentam para completar esse ciclo. Esse ano, o Aruanã renovou seu contrato de financiamento com o Programa Petrobras Socioambiental, e poderá dar início a um novo projeto – o de rastreamento de tartarugas marinhas por satélite (Telemetria Satelital). Com essa tecnologia, será possível acompanhar os padrões migratórios de diversas tartarugas com precisão e eficácia. Para as biólogas do projeto, é sempre emocionante quando uma tartaruga é encontrada novamente, anos depois, numa região distante de onde ela foi primeiramente registrada. Não só porque as chances são pequenas de as encontrar nos vastos oceanos, mas também porque é gratificante ver e registrar evidência de sua prosperidade. Hoje, a identificação de tartarugas pode ser feita pelo número em suas tags , ou pelo desenho das escamas em suas cabeças, que exercem a função de impressões digitais. Com Telemetria Satelital, dados preciosos podem ser coletados sobre locais e temperaturas preferidas  das tartarugas, e como essas regiões interagem com o comportamento humano. Para a tartaruga-verde, por exemplo, que conforme o Instituto Chico Mendes  de Conservação da Biodiversidade “é a única espécie que se reproduz nas ilhas oceânicas brasileiras,” evidências científicas irrefutáveis podem ser registradas sobre elas. Essas evidências podem, por sua vez, ser usadas para “ facilitar o estabelecimento de acordos  multinacionais para a conservação.” Sabemos que alcançar acordos, como os que serão discutidos na COP30 em Belém, e garantir que eles sejam cumpridos no nível institucional e global são desafios esmagadores, por isso cumprir acordos entre nós mesmos e nossas comunidades é um primeiro passo alcançável. Os oceanos não se submetem ao desejo das indústrias, ou das restrições de fronteiras estatais. O que acontece neles é responsabilidade de toda a humanidade. Como membros dessa humanidade, temos o poder ajudar a forjá-la. Enfrentar ameaças antropogênicas aos locais cruciais no ciclo de vida de animais como a tartaruga não só é salubre para a humanidade, é também fundamental para não desencadearmos nosso próprio evento de extinção em massa. O projeto Aruanã faz um trabalho detalhado de coleta e sistematização de dados, desenvolvimento de pesquisas acadêmicas na área de biologia marinha e sustentabilidade, e também de engajar a população local no que eles chamam de “preocupação ambiental relacionada ao ambiente marinho.” Se ‘preocupar’ nada mais é do que fomentar uma narrativa coletiva, comunitária, que visa estimular a prosperidade da flora e fauna no nosso canto do planeta, também porque somos parte dessa fauna. Os avanços tecnológicos e econômicos que testemunhamos nesse último século não precisam se tornar apenas uma fonte de aniquilação ambiental, onde o consumo e descarte só aumentam infinitamente, sem visão de impactos no longo termo. Se a tartaruga nos ensina algo, é que a longevidade é alcançada em pequenos passos decisivos. E todos os dias fazemos escolhas impactantes. Os “Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável” (ODS) da ONU, especialmente o ODS 14 – “Vida na Água” –, reforçam a urgência de conservarmos e engajarmos com os oceanos de forma sustentável ao longo termo. A proteção das tartarugas marinhas se insere nesse esforço global, nos lembrando que não há futuro possível para os humanos sem o bem-estar ecológico. Projetos como o Aruanã demonstram que, mesmo diante de desafios globais avassaladores, ações locais e cotidianas são fundamentais e eficazes. A tartaruga simboliza a necessidade de desacelerar o consumo, refletir e agir com responsabilidade, sem perder de vista que a mudança é feita, sobretudo, por aqueles que insistem em trilhar o caminho da preservação da natureza. Ao proteger as tartarugas, estamos, na verdade, defendendo a possibilidade de um futuro saudável para todos, onde a natureza possa existir em equilíbrio. Que a humanidade se inspire a seguir a mesma determinação silenciosa das tartarugas, rumo a um planeta mais saudável e digno. Fotos tiradas dia 20 de maio, 2025, na praia de Itaipu, Niterói-RJ, por Fabio Teixeira, do Projeto Aruanã . Fotos tiradas dia 15 de maio, 2025, na Praia da Ilha do Governador, por Fabio Teixeira, do grupo Orla Sem Lixo . Fotos tiradas dia 21 de abril, 2025, na Praia da Ilha do Governador, por Fabio Teixeira, da ecobarreira no canal do cunha .

The Armed Forces waging war against civilians. The Armed Forces War doesn’t happen the way it used to last century. It has evolved into hybrid forms , and it has found new ways to hush up misconduct and facts in general. We might not see the weapons or the soldiers, but every aspect of our lives is affected by the work these people do. Every time we travel, or buy imported food; actually, every time we identify ourselves as having a nationality, it’s because of them. Military defense institutions are the reason why States exist , why borders matter, why we speak a certain language, and why we can’t simply put up a tent at the beach. Still, military presence can become even more prominent in daily life, and during supposedly peaceful times. The possibility of a military regime in Brazil has been floating around in conversation since before Bolsonaro’s presidency. He has notoriously defended the military dictatorship of the 60s, and the man who was responsible for the torture of Dilma, Brazil’s first female president, during this regime. He was a military officer during the dictatorship, and said he wouldn’t accept the outcome of the Presidential election if he didn’t win – Recently admitting to having considered military intervention in 2022. In his 27 years in congress, Rio de Janeiro was a target of 36 Armed Forces operations . The first one in Rio, in 92, was also the first in the country. The cases when the AF are used to control the Brazilian population are called GLO’s, ‘Guarantee of Law and Order.’ Of the total directed at 'urban violence,' 43% happened in Rio. While most other states had 0, seven states had 1, and three had 2 – Rio had 10 (Not counting 1 operation that had 15 phases). Now that he has been president, the hyper militarization of Rio was expected to spread throughout Brazil. There are some predictable implications to military presence in civil scope in terms of public safety, and 'law and order.' The military are used as cops, the public perception of crime drastically changes, and the privatization of prisons makes it all highly profitable. Misogyny Women have been introduced into the AF only recently . There was particular pressure for this to happen during Dilma’s presidency, as there were no high-ranking women yet. When Dilma was impeached, in 2016, the wife of the man who took her place was praised for being “ beautiful, modest, and of the home .” These are passive-aggressive methods to keep women in the domestic realm (and in this case out of the absolute highest office in the country), but there are aggressive methods as well, visible in the consistently alarming figures of hate crimes against women and LGBTQ people . Introducing women into the AF might not be the solution to sexism, but it could bring quick and significant changes to the lives of marginalized women to whom interaction with the AF is inevitable, as well as to the culture within the institution. The demilitarization of humanitarian aid and health resources must follow. And to ensure the long-lasting effects of public health efforts, homelessness must effectively end, with stable housing and running water being provided to all. The first solution is only quicker because it has already been discussed for a few decades, and the change has still happened slowly. While the other solutions unfortunately haven't significantly entered the realm of consideration in public discourse. In 2011, a study was published on the insertion of women into the Navy. This is the opinion of an officer about how this change has been: “Sometimes we see that, because of the co-existence of men and women in the Navy, there are involvements between female officials and soldiers, and officials and female soldiers.  […] I’m referring to intimate extramarital relations, that the man should be looking for out there, and ends up looking for inside the Navy. [… T]he women [also] introduced another language. There are words that are in the Naval tradition, and a lot of things changed […].” – Story on page 90 of a 2011 paper called “ Public Policy of Gender: Inserting women in the Brazilian Navy as soldiers .” It was difficult to pick one quote to analyze; this paper is filled with uncomfortable sexist remarks veiled as not-sexist because they are delivered as compliments or as straight-forward facts. For instance, “it’s great to have women in the Navy because the work environment is much tidier and cleaner” (p. 91), as if one great thing women have to offer is their inclination toward domestic work. This attitude completely ignores the oppressive socio-political conjuncture that has caused women to perceive domestic duties as their (unpaid) responsibility, while the man goes out to do the real (paid) work. The environment is also much “gentler,” “studious,” there is less cursing, and males need to watch their “vulgar language.” Aside from the fact that they find the presence of women in bathing suits “embarrassing” during physical training. Women officials and soldiers are specified as female, while the male ones are omitted and implied. This highlights masculinism as traditional. Maleness is specified only when describing sex as something 'men' look for. As such, treating sex as something men do to women, symbolic of rape culture. “Extramarital” and “out there” are alarming terms that call for urgent and thorough research on how these men treat local women in the regions they settle in for work. If rape culture emanates from a language that is considered traditional, we cannot ignore how this language reveals an attitude that might be acted upon at any moment. Unfortunately, there are no figures or data regarding sexual misconduct by soldiers and officials, only endless stories of men cheating on their wives. Lack of Data There is lack of data regarding sexual assault, harassment, and other gender based moral attacks perpetrated by members of the Brazilian AF. In a report from a meeting of the  Gender Commission of the Ministry of Defense  ( GCMD ) in April 2015, a representative of the  Secretariat of Personnel and Education  states that there is no formal registry of assault cases because the “'system' tends to hush up facts that occurred.” Soon after, a male representative of the  Institutional Organization Secretariat  says that it’s important to establish the purpose of this sort of research, and to manage the expectation of results. He claims to have done the research, finding insignificant numbers of cases, some of which include men as the actual victims. Therefore, he expressed concern for the tendency towards hollow “denunciationism,” meanwhile ignoring more than one person’s affirmation that there are no figures on the topic (and no other clear explanation for why that is). This year, a female Naval lawyer explained to me that these figures don’t exist because they are considered personal information processed by the courts; inside the AF, only Intelligence personnel  has these reports. In other words, reports and figures exist, but in secrecy . On this topic, the public dialogue screams of masquerade, especially when it ends admitting that these meetings are a response to the pressure posed by International Relations to meet standards of gender equality. A Minister’s closing statement described Sweden denying diplomatic agreements with Saudi Arabia over the issue of Women’s Rights. Meaning, one must not damage diplomatic relationships with western countries for lagging in this matter, and Islamophobia is a convenient veil for machismo. The same meeting fostered a debate over the use of the word “equity,” since some worried that it might be taken too literally; as in the expectation of 50/50 participation of men and women in the AF. Would that be so bad? To them yes, because that would mean replacing meritocracy with some type of affirmative action – as if women have had the choice of entering the AF, and when so, have had the psychological will to be molded into a violently masculine environment where not even the facilities are  designed to accommodate  them. The GCMD still assures that female spaces are only granted within a system of meritocracy ( 2017 ). What this means is not so much that women can enter when they are qualified and valuable, but instead when they have effectively lived up to the existing (male) standards that were established by Military institutions 200 years ago. Meritocracy is nothing more than an excuse to marginalize, in this case, women. Their meeting records from 2014 already reveal subtle clashes between the ‘talking about’ women’s issues versus actual female participation in these talks. A colonel announced the workshop The Protection of Women in UN Peace Operations and Maintenance , which was about how to protect a local female population during “peace” missions. However, there were no more spots available for members of the GCMD, which lead a female Tenant, member of the Superior School of War , to immediately lay out the embarrassingly low percentage of women in the educational institution (18%). Usually these low percentages are blamed on the fact that women only sign up for the Army voluntarily, while for Brazilian men it’s compulsory. All long-term Army carriers are voluntary; men are under no obligation to serve more than a year, and the fact that these 9-12 months are compulsory for men only ensures the masculine predominance in the field. Colonialism “Ribeirinha women are easy, but opportunistic, and go after child’s pension. So, make sure not to impregnate them. Don’t even leave the condom laying around – flush it down.” A line officer from the Navy told me about this advice given to newcomers of the 9th, 6th and 4th Naval districts of Brazil – Advice about hushing up evidence of sexual misconduct while off duty. The line officer also told me that he’s seen co-workers spend over 20 thousand reais on a weekend “partying” with local women. Some live extravagant lives in impoverished areas and enjoy being sought after for their wealth. These districts include the most vulnerable population of the country, and also the highest number of indigenous peoples; it includes the Amazonian state, and where the Amazon River meets the ocean. There, river-side populations, called  Ribeirinhos , are considered Indigenous or Quilombola. Main headquarters and bases of the Brazilian Navy (Wiki-Commons Russia). The Navy, as an institution formed during an explicitly colonial period, to this day normalizes the sexual exploitation of women of color (Indigenous and of the African diaspora). Even if sexual assault happened and got reported, neither the perpetrator nor the authorities hearing the case would come close to interpreting it from a perspective any other than one plagued by toxic masculinity and colonialism. “It’s an advice that shows the normalization of sexual abuse often in power over the most vulnerable. The dehumanisation of these women in describing them as opportunistic disregards how their life-conditions have been deeply shaped by ongoing exploitation.” – Jördis Spengler, sociologist. The “Protection of Women in UN Peace Operations” workshop from 2014 seems to not have been fruitful up to now. Could it be because it was predominantly led by, and attended by, men? Have these meetings, groups, or sub-institutional acronyms made significant advances in Women’s welfare in this century, or do they exist as no more than an international relations facade displayed for the West? Prepotency The Maria da Penha Primer , a 40-page informative guide on a groundbreaking law aimed at addressing domestic violence in Brazil, highlights 'prepotency' as a significant trait of a perpetrator. AF members are often drawn to the position precisely because of the power and influence it provides, not just through access to intimidating heavy artillery, but also in terms of prestige, wealth, authority, and access to highly exclusive physical locations. In Brazil, the Armed Forces not only uphold the State's sovereignty but also play a role in civilian control. A large portion of the police force is already militarized, and the Military is also called upon for support in special situations, known as GLOs. Often, these operations involve land and resources, and are directed against populations in favelas, indigenous communities, quilombos, and during protests. The sovereignty of the favela and its population; The access of Indigenous and Quilombist communities to forests, mangroves, rivers, and other sources essential for their spiritual, cultural, and practical needs; Individuals expressing their views and frustrations by protesting in urban areas; All of these are deemed threats to the State and justify waging war on civilians. Article 331 of the penal code grants these armed authorities the power to criminalize contempt. Given that contempt is a vague concept, it allows officers and soldiers to detain individuals for any perceived antagonism. Disobeying their commands is considered an attack on the 'State function,' potentially leading to up to 2 years of imprisonment. If the act was politically motivated, it might be classified as terrorism. This demonstrates their enhanced power and influence, which characterizes prepotency. While this on its own doesn't establish any wrongdoing, it emphasizes the urgent requirement for gender education among members of defense institutions. It mirrors a culture within the AF and highlights the difficulty of transforming this culture within such a strict setting. The Center for Strategic Studies of Defense (CEED), an international and relatively autonomous initiative, started researching the role of women in the Latin American defense sector around 2015. As of now, the outcome remains uncertain, as does the Brazilian defense ministry's willingness to participate . It seems the research questions already called for significant action. Section 5  of the form , focused on Work Environment , inquires about the presence of an office for women's welfare, support for domestic violence, a registry of harassment cases, and sexual education programs. Among the officers I've encountered, none are aware of these programs, this research, or have participated in any related exchanges. Within the last 6 years , the CEED website ceased to exist. Homelessness What happens after a favela community is evicted? The area surrounding the Landless Community ( Sem Terra ) of Parque União in the Maré complex has been dealing with instability and evictions since the 1980s. Although the area was developed in the aim of providing affordable housing for vulnerable communities, vulnerability persists. What is the purpose of evictions and demolitions of irregular buildings? And what happens after families are evicted? The latest eviction in 2024 was justified by authorities, and echoed by the media, as being due to the buildings facilitating money laundering for drug trafficking. Although the structures were technically illegal, they were described as "luxurious." Essentially, the residents of these incomplete buildings were not considered vulnerable because they had access to amenities like a swimming pool; as such, they were seen as complicit with or participating in drug trafficking activities. This narrative is crafted to justify deploying the Brazilian Army against its own population, framing it as an attack on Organized Crime rather than on vulnerable Brazilian citizens who are entitled to basic rights like housing and health. Half a year later, many of the 40 homeless families still have nowhere to go, and live on the streets of the community they were evicted from. Sunk in indignity and obviously without access to the luxuries supposedly provided by Organized Crime, fights break out among themselves, weakening the potential for a cohesive resistance movement. It is impossible to organize against the narrative constructed by the authorities to rationalize marginalization when the extent of their marginalization is so severe that even basic survival is not assured. A few meters from the Landless Community, the S pecial Operations Support Center , a military base, was set up to support security operations, monitoring and combating drug trafficking in the region. The presence of the military base, with the promise of protection and order, ends up being yet another source of tension for the residents of the area. Police violence often escalates, with operations that result in indiscriminate actions and structural violence that perpetuates the marginalization of residents. The narrative of public safety, associated with the fight against drug trafficking, overlaps with the reality of a population that is simply seeking a decent way of life, far from criminalization and violence. The lack of effective public housing and health policies for the poorest population creates a vicious cycle, where eviction and violence become everyday life. And when people are forced to leave their homes, often without any kind of support, they find themselves in a constant struggle for survival. With the disintegration of communities and the lack of a support network, resistance becomes increasingly difficult. The State, instead of acting as a facilitator of social inclusion, positions itself as an agent of control and repression, intensifying the already existing inequality. The eviction of the Sem Terra Community of Parque União is not an isolated incident. It is part of a continuous cycle of forced removals that ultimately dismantle the foundations of solidarity, often the only means of resistance available to the residents. Rather than expanding, the resistance movement becomes fragmented in the social chaos brought about by the lack of effective public policies. In view of this, it is necessary for society to look at these issues with a critical eye, recognizing that true security and inclusion are not found in repression, but in concrete actions to provide access to decent housing and health. Only then will communities be able to reorganize themselves and fight for their rights effectively, without being constantly stripped of everything they have, including the integrity of their own bodies. Conclusion We cannot wait for everyone to agree that the Patriarchy and the State are problematic before starting to implement solutions. There has been, and will continue to be, significant resistance to change. Challenging dominant structures is frightening to those who cannot envision their lives or the world without them. This boils down to a complete lack of creativity and just enough privilege for a range of excuses to keep us on a destructive path. Questioning the belief in meritocracy can significantly contribute to changing the narrative so that the term “marginalized” doesn’t carry a negative meaning. Men losing the right to spout hateful language can go a long way toward empowering women to take up space . This shift could lead to meaningful changes in the Military's approach to women in vulnerable areas. As an anarchist, I anticipated reinforcing my opposition to the notion of anyone enlisting in the Armed Forces . Yet, do women truly require more voices dictating their choices? This might be akin to the issue of gay marriage; we first need to legalize it for gay individuals before we can begin to challenge the institution as a whole. Your rights to independence and freedom from harassment, degradation, violence, sexual assault, exploitation, catcalling, eviction, or any other indignity take precedence over their right to express offensiveness and 'traditional masculinity'. After that, we can begin to become everything we want to be. __________________ text: Mirna Wabi-Sabi Based on a research originally published in 2019 .