Meritocracy doesn’t work, especially in a country as unequal as Brazil. This is what Gilberto Nogueira, Gil do Vigor from Big Brother Brasil 21, believes, who shared his critical view on the term in an exclusive conversation with the InfoMoney Interview. The topic is intrinsically linked to his personal and academic trajectory and, according to Gil, the idea that success depends exclusively on individual effort is not sustainable in the face of the deep structural inequalities that mark Brazilian society.
When asked if his trajectory does not testify in favor of , Gil was emphatic: “No, it does not”. Now an economist and on the eve of completing a PhD at the University of California, Davis, Gil recalled the countless difficulties he faced, such as the fight for a job for which he was the most qualified, but which ended up being granted to someone else with better preparation conditions, such as English classes and access to higher quality schools.
This is one of the experiences that led him to reflect on how social inequality creates invisible but powerful barriers, which mean that many people need to try harder than others to achieve the same result.
“In a race, everyone is in the same starting line, right? In meritocracy, whoever runs faster, arrives. But what do we experience in inequality? Inequality takes you and puts you at the back. To win this race, you will have to run three times as fast as everyone else.”
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Despite recognizing his own overcoming, Gil is clear in stating that his story is an exception and that it should not be necessary to go through so many difficulties to achieve basic opportunities. He highlights the fundamental role of public policies, such as Bolsa Família, which were decisive in allowing him to continue studying and dreaming:
“I am a product of public policies that made the path not so much harder, but it was still a lot. And that is unfair.”
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Furthermore, Gil highlights the importance of ensuring equal opportunities so that individual effort can, in fact, be rewarded. He criticizes a system that demotivates qualified people, but who do not have access to the same preparation conditions and resources. “Opportunities need to be equal for everyone. Exceptions will exist, but it is not obligatory for people to have to spend their entire lives trying to achieve something while others can do it easily.”
Check out some of the most important excerpts from the interview below:
InfoMoney: Gil, the vast majority of the country knows you because of BBB, but not everyone knows why you joined the reality show. What was the reason?
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Gil do Vigor: Fame ended up happening, but it wasn’t what I wanted. I was applying for the PhD and I made it clear that I wasn’t going to get famous. My initial goal on Big Brother was to get money to study. One moment that changed my perspective was when my mother got Covid and we didn’t have health insurance. I was very weakened to see that, even though I was working, doing my doctorate, I couldn’t afford a plan for her. And during that Covid period, it was science that saved people. I was a little angry. I wanted to show that research saves lives and that people need to value science and education. So, my goals when I joined the program were money to study and talk about the importance of education and science.
InfoMoney: I wanted you to talk about your CV Lattes: what are your training and qualifications?
Gil do Vigor: I graduated in Economics from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE), I also got a master’s degree from UFPE and started a doctorate there, which I didn’t finish to do my PhD at the University of California in Davis. During my PhD, I was invited to do a research period at the University of Chicago. I have more than five articles, some of them award-winning, and I am a reviewer for the Journal of Development Economics, the largest journal in the field. I also have knowledge in programming.
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InfoMoney: What economic issues do you consider urgent to enter the popular debate?
Gil do Vigor: We need to debate the scarcity, not only of money, but of opportunities. Meritocracy does not work in Brazil because opportunities are not equal. Public inclusion policies are essential to ensure that the effort is rewarded. Social inequality discourages people, even qualified ones, because they do not have the same preparation conditions.
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InfoMoney: Gil, you experienced many financial difficulties in Jaboatão dos Guararapes, metropolitan region of Recife. And, after BBB, you built a high-end house in a condominium in the same city. What goes through your mind about this rise?
Gil do Vigor: There’s a lot going on, a movie. My mother and I went to visit the house where we lived before moving to the condominium and we cried together. Education saved me. There are people who say it was fame, but it was education. I’ve already begged for money on the street with my sister Janiele and today I have a house.
I came from a public school, studied a lot, even without resources, and managed to overcome many difficulties. And when I didn’t have a teacher, I looked for a library, I looked for mathematics books in the trash. Because it was something inside me that seemed to consume me, I needed to learn. I always had a hunger for knowledge and dreamed of being rich, even though my mother said it was a distant dream.
I never had money to pay for an English course. I studied at night, because I worked from 8 am until 5:30 pm. I left home at 6:30 am. But for you to leave the house at 6:30, you need to wake up at 5:40. But college classes ended at 10pm, so I got home at midnight and had to study until 2am. I had three, four hours of sleep every day. And at the weekend, when I wanted to sleep, I needed to study.
I managed to access the public university without a preparatory course for the entrance exam, and I passed very well. Then I managed to get into the master’s degree based on race. I managed to pass the TOEFL, which is a test of English proficiency, without having taken an English class.
So, I won. I was approved for one of the best PhD programs in the world before going to BBB. Doing a PhD with money would be easier. It got me out of a lot of trouble. But I’m sure I would have my PhD in the same way, with a job in the United States, earning what? About 200 thousand dollars a year – which, for anyone who has ever begged for money on the street, means winning in life.
InfoMoney: But don’t you think that your trajectory attests to the effectiveness of meritocracy for some people?
Gil do Vigor: No, no, no. I messed up a lot. There’s the job story I told. There are those who say that I got there because I deserved it. But this means that everyone who doesn’t have attacks like me will have to suffer, because I suffered a lot. And that is unfair.
In a race, everyone is in the same starting line, right? In meritocracy, whoever runs the fastest, finishes. But what do we experience in inequality? Inequality takes you and puts you back there. To win this race, you will have to run three times as fast as everyone else.
I’m an exception, and it’s not fair that people have to suffer so much to achieve something. I got the basis of a lot of crying, experiencing a lot of things that I didn’t need to have experienced, that inequality placed upon me. Imagine if I had gotten the job. I would have been able to pay for an English course and perhaps my entire path during the PhD would have been much easier. Because I learned English on YouTube, to take a test. I couldn’t communicate, I couldn’t ask questions in the room, out of embarrassment. So, to have the income I achieved, I had to have a lot of chest, you know?
And then there are those who say “Ah, but then anyone can do it”. You can’t. Because it’s not an obligation for people to have to work their entire lives to achieve something while other people can do it easily. Imagine if at some point in my life I had gotten tired, or if I didn’t have access to Bolsa Família, because we were starving. Opportunities need to be equal for everyone. Exceptions will exist throughout life. That’s why I say I’m an exception.
