Public financial/tax policies for social inclusion and the world of work: a ride between post-modern values, factual realities and the constitutional universe

Abstract

In contrast to what many people think, the Brazilian State is not characterized as Social. The Republic Constitution defines clearly the economic system as capitalist by considering private property, free initiative, free market competition, and the preservation of the existence of different social classes extremely important; and by establishing a tax system in favors of those who own large incomes and/ or patrimony, mainly the large companies, which, contrasts significantly with the "social function" present throughout the constitutional body. This function allows the implementation of a fairer reality, given the formal impositions of being a "Republic", a “Cooperative federated” entity and a “Democratic State of Law," following the format stablished by the third article. In parallel with the constitutional body, it is noticed the existence of a State which is characterized for being privatized by a neoliberal ideology and for becoming, simultaneously, an autopoietic structure focused on the corporate interests of political and administrative classes that constitute its structure. Regarding the society, it is immersed in the postmodernity values, in selfishness, in individualism and in the pursuit of the type of happiness that is fundamentally based on volatile material goods and ephemeral personal relationships. Such State needs resources to fulfill its original obligations, which must be sought in the pockets of the people who constitute it, seeks its legitimacy based on the principle of solidarity when collecting, managing and applying its values. From these perceptions, it is evident that the Constitution provides sufficient means for the implementation of public policies to seek the effectiveness of social justice. It is also possible to notice that the real obstacles is the State privatization by the neoliberal ideology added to a structure that, aims itself rather than its target public, the Brazilian people, exalting corporatism over the common good. Those obstacles are allied to postmodern values that permeate the society, especially with regard to selfishness, to individualism and to the almost absolute prioritization of happiness pursuit through material goods and superficial personal relationships geared towards economic and financial interests. In order to carry out this article, historical, empirical and inductive methods were used, emphasizing a systemic view of the world of facts and the formal world of constitutional norms.