How much do Americans know about Brazil?

The assignment: Discover how much Americans (or at least those in the bubble of San Luis Obispo) know about Brazil.

The answer: Not very much.

A random, highly unscientific, survey in San Luis Obispo revealed a limited, but relatively accurate, knowledge of the geography, sports, and entertainment of Brazil.  On the other hand, those interviewed knew virtually nothing about the politics or history of the world’s fifth largest nation in both size and population.

The ten subjects interviewed ranged in age from 20 to 57.  Six women and four men participated.  Six were students at Cal Poly.  All had at least some college education.  The non-students all work and live locally.  Only one ever visited Brazil.

The respondents answered the following questions:

•          What continent is Brazil in?
•          What is the capital of Brazil?
•          What comes to mind when you think of Brazil?
•          What is the primary language spoken in Brazil?
•          Can you name an important historical event that happened in Brazil in:
•    the past century?
•    the past five years?
•    the past year?

 Some interviewees expounded on their responses and answered follow-up questions.

All ten respondents knew Brazil is in South America.  Two (correctly) identified it as the biggest country in the continent.  Most knew at least some bordering nations, but seemed vague about details.

Not one person correctly identified the capital of Brasilia.  The answers follow: Don’t know (4), Rio de Janeiro (3), Buenos Aires (2) and Sao Paulo (1).  Interestingly, Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil until 1960.  Because the respondents demonstrated limited knowledge of Brazilian history, it seems probable those that answered with Rio de Janeiro knew the name as a tourist attraction, rather than recognizing it as a former capital.  

Brazil's national soccer team lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of the 2010 World Cup

Six interviewees thought of soccer first when they contemplated Brazil. Many answered with more than one thought.  Responses included: Rio (the movie), the Amazon, produce, coffee, beauty, Carnival, parties, Rio de Janeiro, Olympics and World Cup.

No one mentioned anything about politics, government, religion or demographics. “I’d love to go there for the Olympics,” a 37-year-old salesperson suggested.  “Soccer! Parties!” enthused a 22-year-old Cal Poly kinesiology major.

Six correctly identified the language of Brazil as Portuguese.  The rest believed Spanish was the principal language.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton represented the U.S. when Brazil inaugurated Dilma Rousseff, its first female president

Interviewees knew virtually nothing of the history of Brazil – recent or past.  A 45-year-old non-profit executive suggested (tentatively, but correctly), “Didn’t they elect a woman president recently?”  Five people mentioned something to do with either poverty or political unrest, but could not expand.  While both occurred in Brazil’s past, a burgeoning middle class reduced poverty and the government stabilized in recent years.

In general, those interviewed expressed mild embarrassment or apprehension about their lack of knowledge.  Rather than answering questions definitively, respondents tended to answer a question with a question.  For example, more than one person said, “Is it Rio de Janeiro?” A couple of students pulled out their phones to look up answers. 

However, the results are not surprising.  This survey supports the stereotype that Americans rarely think globally, preferring to focus on local and national issues.  Most often, we learn about other nations either when we are involved in a conflict with them or when something extraordinary happens.  In a time of war or disaster, we pay attention.  The United States maintains friendly relations with Brazil, and few natural catastrophes occur there.  Therefore, American audiences remain detached.

Further, in peaceful times, Americans tend to immerse themselves in lighter issues – entertainment, sports and such.  Therefore, the fact that interviewees knew more about Brazilian sports, Carnival and Rio de Janeiro than history seems predictable. 

While technology now makes a vast array of information about other nations readily available, Americans may not be concerned enough or allow enough time to explore and process all the available material.  Likely, we will continue to focus largely on those matters that impact or engage us most directly. 

Twitter and News Site of the Week

Twitter Site: http://twitter.com/rede_globo

The Brazilian television network, Rede Globo (Portuguese for Globo Network), owned by media conglomerate Organizaҫões Globo, produces this site.

Rede Globo is the largest network in Latin America, and the fourth largest in the world (behind the major U.S. networks).  With approximately 120 owned and affiliate television stations, it also produces more soap operas than any other company in the world.  The parent company, founded in 1925, owns vast media holdings including newspapers, radio stations, magazines and internet sites.

The Twitter site is mostly all re-tweets and focuses primarily on entertainment, promoting shows appearing on the network.  It  also features limited news posts.  

  

# PEGN : Administration of condominium sales grow with the high real estate http://glo.bo/gYlAV3 5:47 PM Apr 16th via bitly  

This post links to an article about  condominium sales improving in an improving real estate market.

# Welfare : Vaccination in adults is the theme of this second program, 18 http://glo.bo/fu0mye about 4 hours ago via bitly
This links to information about a show discussing the importance of vaccinations for adults, and exploring some of the common misconceptions about them.

   News Site: Correio Brasiliense

This is the web site of an influential daily newspaper in Brazil. 

The newspaper, based in Brasilia, was founded in 1960 and has won many awards for design.  It is privately owned by Associated Newspapers, the sixth largest media conglomerate in Brazil. 

Completely redesigned in 2008, the website includes news, sports, blogs, advertising and features.  Local, national and international subjects are covered.  There are links to live traffic news, crime reports and economic news. When translated, some of the sections have interesting names: “Vrum” is about cars and “She World” features recipes and fashion articles. 

  

The article below discusses a Senator who refused to take a breathalyzer test when pulled over:

Aetius has driver's license seized in raid on Rio de Janeiro

Published: 17/04/2011 15:47 Update: 17/04/2011 15:52

Senator toucan said he was unaware that he had a driver's license expired Senator toucan said he was unaware that he had a driver's license expired

Senator Aecio Neves (PSDB-MG) had a driver's license seized in an operation Prohibition in the early hours of Sunday River (17). The opposition candidate had won the document and refused to take breathalyzer test to be addressed in Leblon, Zona Sul of Rio de Janeiro.

By refusing to do the breathalyzer test, considered a very serious offense, Aetius be fined R $ 957.70 and is expected to lose 7 points in the portfolio. Driving with expired CNH is also a very serious offense, but generates a lower fine of R $ 191.54. To return to driving, Senator will have to go to DMV to pay the fine, RJ and renew the license document. According to a spokesperson of the toucan, he did not know the validity of the document is finished.

At dawn on Friday and Saturday (16), 35 other drivers had CNH apprehended for driving under the influence of alcohol or for refusing to do the breathalyzer test.

This is part of another article reporting on tornadoes in the United States:

Tornadoes that hit the southern U.S. at least leave 44 dead

Published: 17/04/2011 16:22 Update: 17/04/2011 19:04

Workers seek what is left after a tornado destroyed a shop in Sanford, North Carolina

RALEIGH - Off roofs, felled trees, devastated entire neighborhoods, violent tornadoes hit Thursday from the southern United States, leaving at least 44 dead. More than 100 tornadoes occurred as a consequence of a strong storm that formed on Thursday and affected the states of Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina and Kansas.

The storm then headed east, toward a region called the "corridor tornadoes" by the frequency with which this type of phenomenon occurs. The decreased intensity of the storm on Sunday after reaching the Atlantic coast.

The tornadoes left in its path at least 44 deaths in six states, mostly in North Carolina, according to an assessment made on Sunday by AFP based on data released by the authorities.

The balance is 23 dead and 80 hospitalized in North Carolina was hit by tornadoes on Saturday, told AFP Patty McQuillan, spokeswoman for the emergency services of this state, where he was declared state of emergency.

"It's the worst storm since 1984 (...), over 84 thousand people were without electricity. Will certainly several days until we can restore power," he added.

The storm toppled trees, knocked down power poles, tore roofs from houses and spread tractors and cars on the roads of North Carolina. "It's like a bomb had exploded in the garden," he told ABC a resident of Raleigh, the state capital, which has more than 350 000 inhabitants.

 

Family and Government in Brazil

A Brazilian mother shows off her Bolsa Familia debit car

Throughout a tumultuous political history, the family remained the cornerstone and foundation of Brazil’s society.  Over time, the role and style of government both mirrored and impacted changes within families.

Brazil’s current government evolved since Portugal colonized the area in 1500.  Portugal’s monarchy reigned until the late 1800s, when a long era of turbulence began.   Various democratic and authoritarian governments alternated leadership until the late 1980s, when the nation established a stable federative republic with a democratically elected president. 

Throughout varied political regimes, the family unit provided Brazilians with their primary social structure and support.  In a nation with diverse ethnicities, socio-economic statuses and regional distinctions, the physical and psychological concepts of family create commonality.  In Brazil, the idea of family includes the traditional concept of a married couple with children; however, the extended family includes multiple generations and distant relatives and carries comparable importance.  Families tend to be large.  Parents strongly encourage children to remain close to the family and, in return, provide considerable resources, even when the children are grown.  Likewise, seniors stay with and depend on the family as they age. 

As Brazil’s government embraced democracy, the role of women changed. This shift reflected a global trend towards gender equality.  The family evolved from an authoritarian structure, with a dominant male figure, to a more democratic unit.  The Constitution ratified in 1988 granted and women equal rights and responsibilities.

Dessen and Torres stated, “The transition to democracy in the country, coupled with rapid urbanization and industrialization have resulted in changes in values, a redefinition of the social role of Brazilian women, particularly in terms of their greater involvement in the work place.  As a consequence, families have also changed….”  Today, more Brazilian women work, share household responsibility and head households.  The nation elected its first female president, Dilma Vana Rousseff, in 2010. 

In recent years, the government implemented new laws and social policies supporting families and their well-being.  A 2011 law provides specific visitation rights to grandparents of children when parents are divorced.  Implemented in 2003, the Bolsa Familia (family grant) program provides payments to impoverished families if the children attend school and receive medical care, and the mothers attend programs on nutrition and disease prevention.  Providing families the opportunity to own a home, the 2009 Minha Casa, Minha Vida (my home, my life) program pays up to 100 percent of the cost of a home for poor families. 

Concurrent societal and political change impacted the appearance of Brazilian families.  The government both reflected and supported this evolution.  Yet, the role of family remains a paramount source of identity, structure and support. 

A Brazilian family celebrates their new home