Brazilian poors are kept poor by design, it's a long standing project from Brazilian elites (agrobusiness, political dynasties) to keep the poor uneducated for better control and exploitation.

Cultural changes are hard to be enacted if there isn't political power for doing so, Brazil also produced some very well educated people who have attempted to change the status quo of basic education lacking civics/political thought, most notably Paulo Freire.

Still there is a concerted effort to keep the poor uneducated, voting is mandatory in Brazil and if you are a corrupt politician (as most are there) you really do not want the people to be able to figure out your schemes. You keep them out of civics, they are just cheap labour who cannot understand complexities of government, civics, and so on.

I believe you do not know Brazilian society at all, and are simply throwing some empty platitudes based on your misguided ideology. It's not about fucking handouts, those are simply necessary for a large percentage of Brazilians to survive due to the lack of opportunities and basic education which most of the population lives under.

> Nobody is "keeping them down" but themselves

You really are a true believer, personal responsibility can never overtake a system of oppression.