Category: The World We Live in

Just a few days after my post asking “where’s the revolution”, the documentary “The Edge of Democracy” premiered on Netflix. It’s a visual version of what I tried to say on that post. Except here you get to see, and specially listen to the actors involved.  Director Petra Costa already starts the film claiming her left-leaning views, yet, she did try to give room for all sides to speak. She is slightly younger than me, so our views coincide most of the time. I just didn’t have a family that needed to go into exile or involved in big businesses or politics. The film already made it into the NYT’s “Best Films of 2019 so far…” list

I wanted to see the first half before going to the gym, but after I started, I just couldn’t stop. And , mind you, I’m a person who followed all of that. Nothing in the documentary is new to me. But it could be very close to home for those of you in Poland, Italy, Hungary, Hong Kong, Turkey, Germany, UK, and yes, you, USA. I recommend this documentary to anyone living on planet Earth right now. The English title sums it all (I think it’s even better than the original in Portuguese). You can check more info on the trailer below and here.

It’s worth mentioning the brief, yet poignant speech by former congressman Jean Wyllys. He was elected for a 3rd mandate last year, but he resigned due to life threats (speacially for being openly homosexual) and now lives in exile in Berlin. He was replaced by fellow party member, David Miranda, also gay, who is also receiving barbaric life threats to him and his family. He’s married to none other than Glen Greenwald. In fact, you may remember David was detained at London Heathrow under vague accusations using the Terrorist Act 2000 at the height of the Snowden leak scandal. He later sued the British government and won.

Going back to Glen Greenwald for a second, too bad the film was finished in January. Just earlier this month, Glen and his team from The Intercept unveiled evidence of what everyone always suspected (and the documentary also leaves it almost clear): even the Judiciary and the Federal Prosecutors acted with a political agenda. The ones who were supposed to act without any ulterior motivations, but the law (let alone political ones), apparently, didn’t do so. You can read all the leaks in English here.

if you still have 20 minutes left to spare, I can only finish this post with a recent episode of “Last Week Tonight” about impeaching Trump. If you watch the documentary first, John Oliver’s show presents a creepily similar situation going on in the USA about halfway through the episode. The comparison with Watergate is undeniable, yet part of the press focus more on how the compromising messages were obtained rather than their republic shaking consequences. Anyway, I leave it all here for your appreciation.