This is an article I wrote tonight following me experiencing both the highs of the British cycling wins, and the lows of problems in Brazil. The article is therefore in the cycling section, as much of this article is about this and the impact on the popularity of the sport. Hope you find it interesting.

http://wp.me/p11Bag-rL

Have we been watching the same Olympics?
And you do realise that Beazil is a larger economy than the UK now and we’re looking to Brazil to invest in us?
I’d have thought that the real issue in Brazil is the enormous difference between the haves and those who are below thinking about than some sporting event.

Brazil is a messed up country that is ridiculously unequal and has scant regard for the environment. Suggest they have lots to say sorry for, though jogging and throwing things would not be top of my list.

Yes, absolutely Brazil is a messed up and phenomenally corrupt and violent country. This is a video made by one Brazilian and is aimed at those other Brazilians (and not the rest of the world) who criticise their own athletes for performances which are not good enough to win medals, without thinking about why Brazil is not dominating in sport.

Now that I have been living here for over 2 years, it is interesting for me to observe their collective attitudes, which despite the cliches of samba and football and carnival, can be phenomenally derogative, demonstrating a chronic lack of self-esteem in self and country.

Because of the corruption, and the lack of education not just in poor people but in people who do actually have money, it is phenomenally hard for those Brazilians who do want to make a difference to actually have an impact. That is why I wrote this article which is likely only to be read by this group of Brazilians, as they are the ones reading my blog.

To be honest France should be apologising as well, as the last gold medal in judo is IMO not earned in the slightest.

Just read the “about” information on the site. Are you related to David Brent?

Not related but absolutely he is my role model 🙂

Just read the “about” information on the site.

3rd person, too…

Ah but there’s no I in team!

But as one of my son’s replies, it is at the heart of “win”. To which he quickly adds that both are rather silly and meaningless cliches.

But Simon, what are you trying to get at here? I appreciate that you are new to Brazil but to conclude that the place is a mess is somewhat bizarre. Go back a few years and look at the economic mess and chaos that characterised Brazil. Then look at how a socialist, populist politician confounded most commentators and delivered renewed growth with part of Brazils biggest economic problems being how to manage the inflow of foreign investment into Brazil. Like any developing countries, it has problems associated with growth such as sustainability, inequality etc, but Bz is in a much better place than it was a decade or so ago.

Hi Teamhurtmore

Obviously I am more than aware of the problems Brazil had. My wife talks about her father having to buy food at the start of the month really quickly after being paid, and then putting it in 4 fridges, as a day later his salary would be worth a lot less.

This post is really about self esteem I feel, and is written with a Brazilian audience in mind. My blog has an international audience, but quite a few from Brazil of course, people who know us and follow us.

Most Brazilian friends tell me that if I think things here are bad now, then I can’t imagine how bad things were. But many people still suffer from a colonialist mindset, of being exploited, and also of living in fear, and this is what me and my friends now want to work on. My wife is going to be at a school on Monday running a lesson about self-esteem. Cool huh? A small start but I am also working with businesses as well on this aspect of consciousness.