Two Cheers for Brazil on Its Independence Day

Brazil may have just clawed its way out of recession, but many Brazilians are still hurting. Thirteen million are out of work, some 4.1 million have fallen back into poverty, and per capita income has retreated to 2009 levels. And just when the country's disgraced political class could seem to sink no lower, the federal police stumbled on a tainted former minister's $16 million alleged stash of purloined cash that took a small actuarial task force nearly four hours to count.

All of that would leave little to cheer about this week as Brazilians took a holiday break for national independence. But much like the euphoria of its booming 2000s, the current pall of despair clouding the country is overwrought. Even as the Cassandras tote up the costs of another lost decade, Brazilians can also take pride in its gains -- an unprecedented civic awakening that has shaken a scandal-numbed populace into action and set a new threshold for public ethics that aspiring politicians will ignore at their peril.