Kiss Nightclub Fire a Product of Our Own Choices, Brazilian Sociologist Opines

On January 28, 2013, the Brazilian sociologist Sergio Abranches produced an opinion piece that addressed the tragedy in the nightclub in Santa Maria that killed 237 people.  In the article he wrote that we already knew such events were going to happen, and that we can only blame ourselves for the tragedy’s magnitude.  We already knew that people would come together in solidarity only after the tragedy, not before it.  Authorities had ample time and opportunity to make nightclubs safer, but bureaucracy and ineptitude would permit no one to accept responsibility for the fire.  He called on Brazilians to work to prevent tragedies before they happen in the future, lest they continue to repeat the mistakes of the past.  Read Article