A STORY ABOUT LOCAL POWER

My name is Joaquim Neto, and I am twenty-six years of age. I was a candidate for the town council in a Brazilian brushland municipality and I am going to speak about our campaign.
In the town of Itiúba, in the State of Bahia, we ran the first collaborative campaign in the history of the locality. We turned an ancient human aspiration into a reality, viz mobilising society to speak on public issues.
Around here they say, “Politics is not to be discussed”. That is a sign that representative democracy is in crisis!
We need to dismantle this. Putting an end to old ways of thinking so that something new and better for everyone will arise.
Everyone involved in the Campaign acted in a self-managing and voluntary manner. That is a tremendous change.
Awareness is needed to find collective means and to work on the interests of the individuals.
The difficulty is making the difference, while sharing spaces with those who do not believe in change.
But what are real changes?
In another town, the salary of a councillor of a collective candidature is given over to community benefits.
While in Itiúba, where I was a candidate, the councillors want a 50% increase in their salaries. This is not illegal, but it is immoral!
We ran a low costing campaign. It was almost nothing when compared to what the dinosaurs paid to get elected. We financed ourselves collectively and those who voted did so conscientiously.
We did not succeed in being elected, but that does not take away the learning we gained from the process.
Mujica, ex-president of Uruguay, says that in order to do things, what we spend is “a lifetime”. That is to live in moderation, in other words, to live on what is necessary, on what is just. Our struggle is for what is just.
It was this idea that we planted in the local way of doing politics. We represent this change. And I am a part of this. And you, what change are you representing?