John Oliver and the Orloff Effect
It is said that one of the purposes of studying history is to avoid repeating past mistakes. A corollary of this would be the “Orloff effect”, an expression created in the 1980s, when it was believed that Argentina was a pioneer in the economic advances that would later be adopted by Brazil.
The origin of the expression came from an advertisement of the drink of the same name, where a man talked with his image in the mirror, “I am you tomorrow”. Today we see that this is good for both good and bad, so maybe it’s extremely useful to watch HBO’s “Last Week Tonight” show.
Argentina is no longer a parameter for us, and our “Orloff effect” now comes from the United States, with its ills and obscurantisms always tied to the thirst for money and power. The program is hosted by English journalist John Oliver, who has been based in the United States for years, and explores with an extremely critical view the politics, uses and customs of that country that is considered by many to be paradise on earth.
With an acid humor, intense research work, and a dynamic and impactful edition, John Oliver comes to sixth season with his weekly show of about thirty minutes per episode, where he always has a main subject, which is explored in more depth, and some flashes on current affairs. It is remarkable that Oliver was one of the few to warn about of the rotten of Donald Trump, long before the billionaire expressed his intention to run for presidency.
But, it’s not just Trump that deserves Oliver’s attention. Many other world leaders such as Putin, Kim Jong-un, Xi Jinping, Erdogan, and even Brazil’s president are often featured in “Last Week Tonight”.Oliver devoted a program to warn about Bolsonaro on the first day of the 2018 election, listing the negative facets of the Brazilian politician, and later mentioning the famous carnival tweet and his stance on environmental degradation.
But the champion of inconsistencies and absurdities seems to be the American nation itself. Who would have thought, for example, that the famous nuclear missiles throughout the country are archaic, with obsolete control systems, and that use eight-inch magnetic disks to function? Just to give you an idea, these age-old great-grandparents on the USB stick were huge, often oxidized, and stored a meager 140 kbytes in 1980! Imagine relying on it to defend against a nuclear attack …
Other strange facts are the power of the American police, which is practically immune to any charge, and whose acts weigh heavily on black and Latino populations. That is, that Moro’s claim to give some immunity to the policemen here, is already absolute and stony reality among his american colleagues.
The strangest thing for us is certainly their political system. Voting is not mandatory, as in Brazil, and voters must register to vote in each election. Add to this the fact that the electoral zones are modified at will for those in power, and then the equation is complete. Zones with the predominance of a population prone to vote in one party can be easily manipulated if power is in the other party’s hand. In addition, as there is hardly any other document than a driver’s license, you can prevent the poorest voters simply by requiring an ID with photo!
And of course, in these Trumpian times, immigrants life is becoming increasingly difficult. The chances of legal immigration are slim to none, and even those applying to emigrate as refugees have almost infinite deadlines. Whole families are arrested and separated, and even two-year-olds, who can barely speak, need to go to court alone, as the law does not require the state to provide a public defender!
But Oliver’s target is not just American nonsense. He is also a fierce critic of FIFA, which he denounces as one of the world’s most corrupt entities, and of sports organizations that hide or favor doping cases. From time to time he investigates the actions of Putin, who he considers to be one of the most skillful and malevolent leaders in the world.
Some things are almost unbelievable, such as citizen status of American possessions around the world. Puerto Rican residents, more populous than 21 other american states, do not vote for president, and have only one symbolic congressional representative. Even worse are the inhabitants of Guam, who one out of every eight have served in the military, but have explicitly inscribed on their passports that they are not US citizens.
But Oliver’s favorite subject is really President Trump, who, as he says, are two words that don’t match. He exploits the incessant mess of the American president, especially the “Stupid Watergate”, a scandal as serious as Watergate, but done as stupidly as possible.
And what does all this have to do with Brazil? Oliver has devoted at least one entire episode to the Brazilian elections (October 2015), and constantly mentions the country calling attention to some absurd fact happening here – which, let’s face it, has been plentiful lately.
But it is striking how many absurdities in the United States seem to reproduce in Brazilian lands, notably the rising tide of religious and moral intolerance, violence against minorities, and environmental degradation in the wake of economic interests.
I have recommended this show to friends and readers, whether on YouTube, streaming or download sites, to become aware that there is something rotten in the kingdoms of this world, and – who knows – forming a critical view of our own country and what we can do to save it before it’s too late.