THE TRAGEDY OF BEING POST-LIBERAL WITHOUT EVER BEING LIBERAL:

 According to the latest poll, conducted by the polling institute DataFolha on October 27, it will be neck-and-neck. Lula is currently polling at 49%, with the incumbent, Bolsonaro, on 44%.

However, regardless of the outcome of Sunday's election, the poll shows that the population of Brazil does not consist solely of people who identify with the values and policies of this self-proclaimed patriot, despite his dominance of the news coverage.

In the first ballot on October 2, 51 million people (43%) voted for Bolsonaro, and 57 million (48%) for Lula. A Brazilian friend of mine sums up the current mood in many parts of the country as follows: "Lula is certainly not the gate to paradise, but he is the way out of hell."

Sad but true: For the past four years, many of my Brazilian friends have felt as if they were living in hell. Almost all of them have lost relatives in the COVID-19 pandemic. Their children have emigrated, because they cannot see a future for themselves in Brazil at the moment.

Many Brazilians are exhausted by the human tragedies, the political manipulation, the growing poverty. They want a return of hope and human empathy; they want the vilification and abuse of political opponents to cease, and the flood of fake news to subside.

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