Building Common Sense

\'The Shape of Water\', directed by Guillermo del Toro, was tugging at my rope of contemplation over how difficult it is to find someone who is kind to the creatures of God in this era of Cold War civilizations.

KOMPAS/DIDIE SW

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I was getting goosebumps when I watched the movie The Shape of Water, which was nominated at the Oscar’s for Best Drama. The film, directed by Guillermo del Toro, was tugging at my rope of contemplation over how difficult it is to find someone who is kind to the creatures of God in this era of Cold War civilizations.

The film shows us that the Cold War paradigm, which was declared “over” by the United States, is essentially still ongoing and its essence remains valid up to the present. The declaration of the end of the Cold War signed by US and Russian presidents a few decades ago seems to be mere political rhetoric. The Shape of Water film, at the same time, punches the players and political adventurers in this republic, in an era said to be the "Reform Age", but in fact it is not separated from the link between the landlord (superpower) and its local servants in the Third World.

Making peace with the past

In the national political scene, the insights of the Cold War paradigm can be compared to software that is still running and practicing to date – all machinery and apparatuses, including New Order paradigm “cells” as the bearers and implementers of the Cold War paradigm, are still intact and solid, and function in all strata of our national life.

Different from Joshua Oppenheimer’s The Act of Killing, a film about the history of Indonesia, which, in 2014, also entered the ranks of Oscar nominations, The Shape of Water has more social content on humanity aspects. The film is played by a speech-impaired lady who has an attitude of tolerance, not only to fellow human beings, but also to other creatures of God. The moral messages in the film contain universal wisdom, teaching all of us to be humble, brave and partake in self-reflection, in order to reconcile and make peace with the past.

Films containing such high religiosity seem to remind us that it is not the time for Indonesians to argue about the truth and the faults of certain schools of thought or beliefs. However, in this century of history, the people of the world will only ask how much we add to the development of civilization. In this regard, we should acknowledge journalists, historians and culturalists who remain firm and dare to risk being "attacked" by certain political interests (status quo), but they continue to move, work in a steadfast way and consistently voice the truth, even though they frequently face the threat of mental persecution, which at some point could threaten their safety.

Some journalists and culturalists understand that the New Order, with its political stigma, which causes a number of people to be affected by paranoid and schizophrenic delusions, needs to be educated and awakened to their intelligence and maturation process. When this nation is in the madness of the world and materials, the temptations to weaken mentality develop arbitrarily. Those temptations want to keep the minds of people away from a realistic life, as if to make this nation lose its common sense. Look at the phenomenon of Dimas Kanjeng, Brajamusti and a series of con artists who disguise themselves as brainy people or saints by politicizing religion and using God as a legitimacy tool.

This reminds us of a generation (order) that featured a former KNIL general who was then called the "Father of Development". After isolating Sukarno as the Father of the Nation at Wisma Yaso, and withdrawing all his political rights, the New Order, which initiated power with a semantic game, then called Sukarno\'s leadership "the Old Order." This is just like the naming of "Old Banten", which was legitimated by the Atut Chosiyah dynasty, until it seemed to stop maintaining, rehabilitating and preserving historical monuments of the Islamic sultanate.

The semantic game continued with the emergence of a new order (the New Order), making the economy the commander by adopting the ways of government management in economically developed countries. The foundations and philosophies of the state pioneered and initiated by the Father of the Nation just became empty slogans without meaning. Pancasila with its Islamic values were transformed simply into a development project. In its journey, materialist and hedonistic economic practices occurred, a pattern of life that shows excessive love for the world and its accessories: wealth, rank, position and worldly popularity.

Education and teaching are built on the foundations and principles of worldly life, not on the basis of identity and philosophy of the nation. All orientation and educational processes ultimately result in a hedonistic lifestyle, which admires worldly success and popularity. The students become uneducated, until in later days, when intellectuals of the artisans are born.

This New Order heritage mentality must be honestly acknowledged by the Indonesian people who are easily tempted and take the fast track to achieve something. Do not be surprised if we see them become part of them, busy with the competition of worldly interests; the struggle for position and political seats, craze for wealth and greed. This is closely related to the hadith of the Prophet, which states that the love of the world is the root of all cosmic damage and imbalance.

Implicitly, Albert Einstein once stated that the difference between good people and bad guys was that, "There is a limit on the ambition of the good man. Because not everything that can be reached by the power of the brain may be done by humans as they like." This implies that human evil comes from ignorance, because foolish people do not always know the limits of reasonableness.

As an educator and caretaker in the Islamic boarding school environment, I tend to refer to Ayatollah Khomeini\'s statement about criteria of the fools. As Iran\'s spiritual leader, he was speaking to his people, saying that the fools could harm others without realizing the effects of their actions. Furthermore, the fools always make mistakes and do not want to find the root of the problem. Moreover, the fools can also be used and controlled by others for destruction.

With his authority as the leader of the revolution in the Republic of Iran, Khomeini realized that a mental revolution would not produce anything if society continued to sink in stupidity. So, full attention should be given to building a new awareness to achieve moral quality for the welfare of many.

Supporters and haters

Recently, at Al-Bayan Islamic Boarding School in Rangkasbitung, Banten, I attended the launch of the novel Mind of the Indonesian People, written by an alumnus who majored in philosophy at State Islamic University, Jakarta. The novel talks about the psycho-history of the Indonesian people post-1965. In his novel, he says that the most important thing to build is the mentality and morality of Indonesians, who will influence the attitudes of today and the future.

We await a more realistic movement on the part of the government; a political decision that can strengthen solidarity and social brotherhood for the purpose of rising together. Personally, I used to have strong hopes when I heard about the idea of a mental revolution because the mentality of our society since 1965 seems to be stuck in one place. The nation\'s psychology is split between the extreme pole of supporters and haters, or the third pole: spectators who ridicule the strongholds of worshipers and haters.

As an Indonesian nation, we all know that human hatred originates from stupidity, which is difficult to deal with. Those who lack perspective are easily exploited by politicians and rulers, through the hustle and bustle of competition and black campaigns among candidates, and neglect reason and common sense. Politicians tend to gain popularity by voicing hatred. They have very militant supporters. They can easily claim something in black and white, generalize everything, simplify conclusions, and so on. Meanwhile, a good government will certainly sacrifice to serve the people, trying as hard as possible to educate and develop them.

"For any leader, even if they have done things the right and just way, there will still be parties that oppose and are hostile toward them, much less cheat. For that reason, there is no choice but for the just leaders to act on the rails of truth and justice," the writer of the book Mind of the Indonesian People said at the launch ceremony.

Meanwhile, for the corrupt and unjust rulers, they will continue to strive to preserve their ignorance and hatred, as it is their political choice. By taking care of the stupid people and the haters, they will continue to enjoy popularity, as if the throne and power would last forever.

KH Chudori Sukra, Caretaker, Riyadlul Fikar Islamic Boarding School, Serang, Banten