No money for elaborate Carnival > Why there is little for Brazil to celebrate Elliot Chan Opinions Editor here were no flowery floats, high-tempo samba music, or scantily clad performers this year. For Brazilians, the cancelation of the world-famous, multi-day, nationwide street festival known as Carnival must have felt as though someone pulled the plug on Christmas. The announcement that many Brazilian cities would be putting a hold on the celebration, which typically ends on Ash Wednesday, must have been disappointing, but not completely surprising. It seems like an easy decision; after all, when you are sick and broke, the last thing you would want to do is invite everybody over for a party, right? Brazil is currently caught in one of the worst recessions in decades. With declining tax revenues and the Zika outbreak, over 40 towns and cities have decided to spend the money annually spent on the parade on resources such as new ambulances. Nobody can deny the value of medical services, but with approximately eight per cent of all employment in the country based around tourism and travel—nearly the same amount as unemployment— the absence of Carnival will undoubtedly take another big bite out of Brazil’s fast-shrinking gross domestic product. Around the world, Brazil has a particular image: party host. In the past few years, Brazil had won bids to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics. This led to liberal spending from the government, The grief of giving > Don’t lend if you don’t want to lose Elliot Chan Opinions Editor learned my lesson when I was young. I was old enough to know what was mine, but also had the teachings of generosity instilled in me. So, now and then, when someone expressed interest in something that I had, I would let them borrow it. Be it a book, a toy, a video, or a game, as long as they took care of it, I would lend it. The thing is, they wouldn't take care of it. They would forget about it. I never issued a return date, so if I never asked, it would never be heard of again. For a while, I thought such a lending process between friends and family is only flawed because my friends and family were irresponsible and inconsiderate. Turns out, the majority of the world is like this. And it makes sense. Since you yourself are not a library, you do not have the capacity to keep track of everything you've lent to people, or have any means of enforcing timely returns. Therefore, people do not fulfill their end of the deal. I learned this when I was young, and today, Iam hesitant to let anybody “borrow” anything that I wouldn't instinctively give as a gift. The lending between friends and family model is made more complicated in adulthood. Rather than borrowing toys, games, or other tangible crap, they are borrowing money. Which is fine, there is nothing better than treating your friends to a dinner or paying for their ticket to the movie—if it is a gift. However, when the exchange is referred to as “borrow” or “lending” it makes the lender wonder if they will see that money ever again. What’s a few bucks between friends, right? I agree. I would never let $100—or even $200— ruin my friendships. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be in dire need and would like to “borrow” a couple hundred bucks from them to sustain my extravagant lifestyle. For now, I'll just treat is as a gift. Enjoy. Nevertheless, if that’s how the wheels are turning, every once ina while, I'd expect it to roll the other way. You pay this time; I’ll pay the next. Unless you are my Turtle from Entourage, lam not going to pay for everything you do. After all, you haven’t returned what you have borrowed. We can bitch and moan about people not paying us back with the World Cup alone costing an estimated $14 billion. That’s a lot of ambulances. See, what ended up happening was that the country priced itself so high that only wealthy tourists can afford the luxury—and Brazil makes sure tourists are wealthy with their travel visa qualification process. Now, it’s not the World Cup or Olympics that are causing Brazil’s economic downfall. There are a number of reasons, or having a ridiculous friendship- debt, but I believe the onus always fall on the lender. If a bank keeps lending money to degenerates, it wouldn't be cool; it would be an unsuccessful bank. Photo by Christophe Simon via abcnews.com including corrupted political parties and energy companies, inflation in commodities, and the fact that the economy of China, one of their leading exporters, is also slowing down. What’s happening with Brazil is something every country can learn from—heck, it’s something every person can learn from. It seemed like yesterday Brazil was touted as one of the fastest growing economies in the world. So I say this: whatever you are paying for people, whatever you are lending to people, whatever extra step or measure you take for someone else, make sure it is either respected as a debt that must be paid, or asa gift Not only did its continent ride on its back, but the world as well. The spotlight was on Brazil, and at a time when any wise government would have taken a step back and assessed the whole situation, the Brazilian government did not. It turned to greed rather than insurance. Instead of solving problems close to home— poverty, crime, employment—it, like a drunken frat boy, took one drink after another until he needed a friend to call his parents to drive him home. The Brazilian power rose too high, they partied too hard, and they got too greedy. Now, they’ve had to forgo a traditional event that their own citizens cherish. It’s sad to see such a rapid fall from grace, but I guess that’s often how a hangover feels. One moment you are on top of the world, booming. The next, you are waking up with the realization that your economy is now a bust. There is a time to celebrate, and there is a time to pay it forward and invest within. There needs to be a balance. To keep partying, you'll need to stay healthy—and wealthy. | love Brazil, and I hope I get to celebrate there again soon. a a * — == = / > Ps Se that can be received gratefully. If you don’t want to lose something, don’t give it away. You are not the bank. You are not the store. You are not the library. You are a person. If it’s not a gift, don’t treat it as such.