If China is most representative of the current state of the “dollar” economy, Brazil is surely most representative of its worst case. The country’s economy has been like China in slowing down steadily over the past few years, but unlike China it has descended already into a nightmarish level of distress. In other words, Brazil already has a Great Recession on its hands, only without the silver lining of a quick, symmetric recovery. Instead, they have a recession that only goes in the one direction, and holding that way for two years now.

It is no wonder that its population is politically restive. For all the media attention to our own political discourse of late, Brazil is as its economic decay – amplified by that much more. The commonality of the unrest however manifested is poignant, as the people around the world are living in a world wholly different from what economists continue to describe, suggest and, for all of this, somehow still forecast.

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians made a noisy and impassioned call on Sunday for the removal of President Dilma Rousseff, whose leftist government is plagued by a sprawling corruption scandal and an economic meltdown that has humbled Latin America’s largest country.

In times of economic growth, apathy usually allows for scandal and corruption as that is just human nature. We tend to focus on what directly affects our own standing, which is why sensitivity to politics noticeably rises during periods of great (and lasting) economic turmoil. That is true even if “the people” aren’t quite able to determine exactly what is causing the fundamental discrepancy.

“She’s a horror,” said Paulo Rodriguez, a 53-year-old businessman who came with his wife and daughter. “The Workers party is a horror. They’re a criminal organisation that is robbing state resources. They are destroying our country.”

Rodriguez’s primary frustration was with the economy. Sales at his crepe business were down 30% to 40% compared to last year, he said. Even though he believed opposition politicians were as crooked as those in government, he felt a change was needed.

“If Dilma goes, the currency will get stronger and confidence will return and people will start spending again,” he said.