Times are tough in Brazil, and they have been. Renato says he feels like his country is an entire continent filled with cultural riches, but gets frustrated spending so much money on daily things. He compared buying basic necessities, things like toilet paper and toothpaste, and ball-parked a cost of maybe $18 in the US, whereas it would be R$100 here because you’d have to pay three types of taxes for the items. Renato casually refers to his politicians thieves, as most other Brazilians do, because the people don’t benefit from all those taxes.
My dad personally had to leave school in the 7th grade to work. He has great difficulty running his garage, but is definitely grateful to have some ability. The government does tell people they have to attend school, but so many people can’t afford to spend time out of work. Surprisingly, these are the effects of a capitalist society, under what is described as blatant corruption. Much of the rich economy does not reach its people, who have no education and no knowledge of what it takes to succeed and invest in themselves except with what they were taught in the small world of their communities. Because of this the streets became home to working and unemployed citizens and their children, who try to earn a living there. How is it home? I’d like to pay attention to that.
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