The republican politics.
Lima Barreto.
(Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto)
From Marginália, www.dominiopublico.gov.br.
Translation from Brazilian Portuguese language to English language by
Herculano de Lima Einloft Neto.
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil, 2014.

I do not like, nor treat of politics. There's no topic that repugnates me more than that which is called habitually politics. I see it, as all the people see it, that is, a gathering of pirates more or less diplomated who explore the disgrace and misery of the humble.

I would never want to treat of such a topic, but my obligation of writer leads me to say something about it, lest it should seem there is fear in giving, about the subject, any opinion.

In the Empire, despite everything, it had some greatness and beauty. The formulas were more or less respected; the men had moral elevation and even, in some, there was disinterest.

This is not a lie, and so much thus, that many who passed through the major positions died very poor and their descendency only has of fortune the name it received.

What existed in them, was not the ambition of money. It was, certainly, the one of glory and of name; and, because of that, little would they bother with the profits of the "political industry".

The Republic, however, bringing to surface of the public powers, the sediments of Brazil, transformed completely our administrative customs and all "arrivists"[1] made themselves politicians in order to get rich.

Already in the French Revolution the thing was the same. Fouché, who was a wretch, with no office nor benefit, going through all the vicissitudes of the Great Crisis, ended up dying a millionaire.

As him, many others which I do not quote here in order not to be fastidious.

Until this point I forgive all kind of revolutionaries and regime-overthrowers; but what I do not find reasonable is that they should want to model all the souls in the form of their own.

The Republic in Brazil is the regime of corruption. All opinions must, by this or that payment, be established by the powerful of the day. No one admits that it be diverged from them and, in order for there to be no divergencies, there is the "secret allocation"[2], the reserves of this or that Ministery and the little employments which the mediocre can't conquer by themselves and with independence.

Life, unfortunately, must be a fight; and the one who doesn't know how to fight, is not a man.

The people of Brazil, however, think that the existence of ours must be the submission to the Acacios and Pachecos, in order to obtain help of costs and sinecures.

Comes from this our mental sterility, our lack of intellectual originality, the poorness of our moral landscape and the disgrace which is noticed in the general of our population.

No one wants to discuss; no one wants to agitate ideas; no one wants to give the intimate emotion they have of life and things. Everyone wants to "eat".

The jurists "eat", the philosophers "eat", the physicians "eat", the lawyers "eat", the poets "eat", the novelists "eat", the engineers "eat", the journalists "eat": Brazil is a vast "eating"[3].

This aspect of our land for whoever analyses its present state, with all independence of spirit, was born to it after the Republic.

It was the new regime which gave it so disgusting semblant to its public men of all the colours.

It seemed that the Empire repressed so much sordidness in our souls.

It had the virtue of modesty and implanted in us that same virtue; but, proclaimed that was the Republic, there, in Campo de Santana, by three battalions, Brazil lost the shame and its sons became rugs, to suck the public safes, in this or that way.

Independence of thought or of spirit is no longer admitted. When it is not managed, by money, it is smothered.

It is the politics of corruption, when it is not the one of the stick.

Live the Republic!

A.B.C., 1918-10-19.

Tr. Notes:

[1] "arrivistas", "arrivistes".
[2] verba, fund, allocation, allowance.
[3] "comilança", stuffing, eating, overeating.