Brazil and the zero-sum game

In a recent interview with the Roda Viva program, renowned engineer Ozires Silva, one of the founders and former president of Embraer, told about a dinner in Stockholm, attended by three members of the Nobel Prize committee. Unable to resist his curiosity, he decided to ask them an unusual question: “why hasn’t Brazil received any Nobel Prizes?” The answer did not come immediately, because it was embarrassing, and was that Brazil would be a “destroyer of heroes”. Unlike other countries, where whoever is nominated to compete for such an honor is celebrated and supported, here “stones are thrown” at the candidates, who, in turn, “find no support from the population”.

Although we must take the perception of that representative of the Nobel committee as extreme and perhaps exaggerated, there is no way to ignore that so-called “zero-sum games” are common in Brazil. The term, borrowed from Game Theory, describes circumstances in which, for an individual to win something, someone else must lose. Logic often transposed from economic theory to our daily lives, making everything a competition between winners and losers, such as “us against them”, “employees against bosses”, “organic agriculture against conventional agriculture”, among many other examples. In such games, extreme and sectarian views prevail, arguments that are poorly substantiated in numbers and concrete facts, as well as opportunism and manipulation.

Let's look at an example. Brazil was able to create a robust platform for agricultural research and innovation, dominated by public entities — such as universities, state institutes and Embrapa — organizations that helped the country achieve food security and become a major exporter. of food. Over the years, many state research entities have disintegrated or been closed, and several are experiencing great difficulties, including traditional organizations in important states. Still, demonstrations by leaders and the media in support of these institutions are rare. But, strangely, there are frequent manifestations and destructive actions by certain sectors in relation to public research institutions, which, despite all limitations, make enormous efforts to adjust and remain updated and relevant.

In the political struggle and the search for opportunities for power, in the skepticism and apathy of the forces of good, the success of the “zero-sum game” lies, fueled by the impetus to deconstruct, in the illusion that we will emerge from the ashes cured of the evils that have plagued us. afflict. There are those who focus on spreading negativity and almost always do so without discerning between what actually needs to be deconstructed and what needs to be preserved and strengthened. Serious organizations are buffeted with simplistic and superficial criticism and even sponsoring the transgression of their codes of ethics and conduct — attitudes simply characterized as “freedom of expression” and “friendly fire”, and often applauded by uninformed, angry and, worse, supporters. , often with malicious intentions.

With the severe crisis that Brazil is experiencing, the “zero-sum game” finds fertile ground in public management. Francisco Gaetani, president of the National School of Public Administration (Enap), warned, in a recent article published by the newspaper Valor Econômico, that “fear commands public administration today”. For him, the leaders who will soon be chosen by the population “will not find people in society and in the public service willing to take on the risks associated with carrying out executive activities”. He further argues that the fight against corruption has eclipsed all other debates, and the focus on administrative paralysis, without observing the distortions that excessive controls have generated, has become commonplace. According to data from a survey carried out by Enap, managers use their capabilities not to provide information and evidence about the policy in which they work, but to respond to control bodies and audit demands.

To the national misfortunes, which seem to have no end, are added harbingers of global catastrophes, constantly anticipated in all media: the growth of nationalism, xenophobia and the risk of economic chaos; the intensification of religious conflicts, terrorism and racial hatred; digital terrorism and trade wars; climate change bringing intolerable stress; the erosion of human-to-human connections and much, much more. To the impetus for self-flagellation, which dominates Brazil, is added the cry of the prophets of misfortune, who seem to dominate all visions of the future, spreading the feeling of insecurity and despair and drowning us in a sea of ​​apocalyptic scenarios. Anyone who seeks to emerge from pessimism, pointing out the advances achieved in all fields of human activity, ends up ridiculed and characterized as naive and simplistic.

Brazil needs to model itself on those at the other end of the curve. Pragmatically, many countries prefer "sum games greater than zero", in which someone wins without others necessarily losing. This type of game works when culture and tradition move people towards bigger and bolder goals, only achievable if cooperation prevails, without hindering competition, as long as it is at a high level. Brazil is fighting to get out of one of the worst crises in its history and desperately needs to put on the field a greater-than-zero sum game, with people and institutions mobilized to achieve higher objectives, with everyone winning together.