Good Side of Militarism

In 1965, the military force of Rio de Janeiro took my grandpa to jail for seven days for no reason. My grandfather had a big fancy bar in a very nice place in downtown Rio de Janeiro. One night passed 10 pm, my grandfather had a drunken man annoying him and making noise in his bar. My grandfather was asking him to get out the bar, but the drunken man didn’t want to leave. While my grandfather was trying to kick the man out of the bar, an army truck was driving by, and they saw them arguing in the bar. And because the quarrel was at 10 pm, the military force stopped and beat them up. Then, they took my grandfather to jail for seven days. Yes! I’m talking about the militarism in Brazil, and what my family learned and gained from those years.

Good side of militarism: Safety. My grandfather thought that perhaps

the militarism could be a good thing for him and his family. People usually don’t like changes, and with this change for dictatorship it was the same. However not everyone didn’t like it. My grandfather had good thoughts about militarism. Militarism is directly connected to orders. Everything is well organized and standardized with respect if you follow the rules. Most of the time violence is the number one problem in Rio. My grandfather and grandmother had five little kids to raise. As most parents want to raise their children with good manners and principles, my grandfather thought that if the military is stipulating some rules, they would felt more safety and raise their five children learning to accept the rules and be respectful to them. Maybe that is the reason my father was so strict and rigid sometimes and raised my brother and me teaching us to be obedient and respectful.

Even though my grandfather and his family felt safe during this time, they were not able to speak freely or express their thoughts. One of my grandfather’s sons, my uncle, was a singer. He used to sing Brazilian Popular Music (MPB) with his guitar in bars around Rio. He met a lot of famous MPB singers and he told me that many of them were exiled to Argentina and Chile, so the military wouldn’t kill them. The reason is because musicians were trying to express their indignation through the songs. The militarism even limited the access to some channels that didn’t talk about the militarism. They chose the books people should read, and movies they should watch. My father was little in that time, but he saw all the challenges his parents went through, and today he is very glad to see my brother and me living in freedom. He raised us teaching us that we are free to talk with respect, we can choose what to follow, and we can express our own ideas and thoughts.

The militarism had a positive affect particularly on my family. After the dictatorship, my grandfather was able to give each of his five children a good amount of money, enough to buy a good house. My grandfather had bars, a big supermarket, and he was an investor in some companies and banks. The economy during those years (1967 – 1973) was perfect; historians called that period of time the Economic Miracle in Brazil. The reason was because the Gross National Product in Brazil had increased 12% a year. The unemployment was low because there were a lot of jobs. There was less corruption and less inflation, so investors made a lot of money. The other reason is because the interest on savings accounts was high, and lucky were the people that had extra money to leave in these accounts. These are the advantages my family experienced because later on, my parents got married. They didn’t have so many things in life yet, and with that money my parents could buy a very nice house to live and raise my brother and me.

Does it seems possible that people can receive good effects from military dictatorship? In fact, my family had some. Mainly our nice house and everything my parents learned with my grandparents and taught us. One day my father told me that when he was in college the teachers couldn’t say anything bad about the government. Many teachers, politicians, and people that talked too much disappeared, and until today their still families don’t know where their bodies are. I would say that militarism in Brazil was a good thing for my generation today because we have received the inheritance and have freedom to live. However I’m sure it was not easy for my grandparents and their generation. They suffered so much, but I admire my grandparents and I’m very thankful for everything they had done for all of us, mainly for my father.