the word

I have been asked several times over the last few days why I am writing in English. The answer is that I decided to take a look at Portuguese society through anglo-saxonic lenses.

Modern democracy was an invention of the British and I believe that, among most major modern languages, English is the only genuinely democratic language in the World. You cannot think and write in English without becoming a democrat, if you were not one before, and if you are a democrat, English is the appropriate language for you to think and speak.

Thinking in a different language is not only a matter of using different symbols and sounds. It is a different way of thinking, a different culture. Portuguese is a rich, emotional language which enables us to express a lot of feelings and emotions we would have trouble expressing in English. English, on the contrary, is the perfectly concise, democratic, rational language, mostly appropriate for business and science.

It is an interesting exercise to look at Portuguese society through English rationality. It looks disorderly, almost anarchical, often contradictory, at the same time authoritarian and free, seldom democratic, profoundly conservative, more appreciative of the rule of men than the rule of law, a society where words count often more than deeds, a very personal, even cozy society.

Do not try in Portugal to make people accountable - the word does not even have a Portuguese translation. They will avoid and evade accountability by all means. That is why they love fiscais so much. If they did something wrong it was not their fault, it was the fiscais´s fault not to have prevented it. Fiscais are made themselves unaccountable by being part of the government apparatus.

This is a country where the highest degree of unaccountability is enjoyed if you are a member of the public sector. You might campaign for the job of prime-minister promising a reduction in taxes and, once elected, increase taxes. Nothings happens to you. You might be the chief of the tax department and commit all sorts of abuses and crimes against taxpayers - crimes that in any country with a genuine democratic tradition would send you directly, first to resignation, then to prison. Here, you will be hailed as the hero of deficit reduction.

In a country that does not have a word for accountability, the most unaccountable people are obviously those in positions of power. That is why the Portuguese like power so much. They start early, often in their teens, forming political associations at universities - the juventudes partidárias, as they call them. Investing in a political career yields a high rate of return in this country. If you are successful, you can do as you wish with other people´s money . No questions will be asked, you will be most certainly obeyed, respected and feared. No court, much less a prison, will ever be waiting for you.