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| Goya - O sono da Razão |
Can it be that what seems to be happening in Brazil and in much of the world – the so-called ‘crisis of representation’, the distrust of institutions – may be a sign that ‘the masses’ are feeling that within the political rationality of capitalism and the rules of representative democracy they do not have and will not find their opportunity?
In his study of religions Max Weber notes existence in societies of a cycle that revolves between two basic forms of religion: religions of salvation - which aim at a transcendental goal by means of prophecies and charismatic leaders - and religions of acceptance, which encourage man to adapt to the world by means of rules and rituals. The first type have the potential to cause revolution insofar as they aim at changing the world, or at least not accepting its reality and laws as supreme values.
According to Weber a similar pattern is found in terms of the Law: a progression from traditional societies ruled by the sacred to the law of lawyers which is rational and impersonal.
Equally, in economics the universal rules of the marketplace have come to take precedence over previous economic regulations based on custom or religion. We cannot say that the laws of the marketplace are unfair: the ‘injustices’ (acts of partiality or exclusion) that mark the differences between ‘classes’ arise out of rational rules (that are general and valid for all) and not from tradition such as the privileges of ‘castes’.
