Digging the Work Ethos of Pancasila

KOMPAS/DIDIE SW

.

"The Indonesian state that we have founded must be a gotong-royong (mutual cooperation) state! Gotong royong is dynamic understanding, more dynamic than brotherhood.... Gotong royong is shared hard work, to sweat over something together, to help each other in our struggles. Amal (deeds) are for the interest of all, shared sweat for the happiness of all. Holopis-kuntul-baris (to work together in a group) is for the common advantage. That is Gotong-royong! "

— From a speech by Sukarno, June 1, 1945

The above quote asserts that Sukarno had a special view that the work ethos of the Indonesian nation was gotong royong.

The nature of gotong royong is dynamic cooperation for the common interest. Sukarno meant more than just brotherhood, which was considered static. What Sukarno was talking about suggested a middle way over the long polemic of culture, which also included the work ethos of the nation. The cultural polemic developed in the 1930s between Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana (STA) and a number of other intellectuals.

STA offered that the work ethos of the Indonesian nation should be like the West. The starting point of the Western work ethos is individualism, not collectivism. The spirit of effort also departs from a dynamic individual ethos to win the competition. The flames of the Western nations were burning strongly on intellectualism, individualism, egoism and materialism. For STA, we had to take the Western soul and reject "the soul of nrimo (accepting fate)".

On the other hand, those who rejected STA’s idea emphasized the importance of collectivism, mutual cooperation and brotherhood as something that was believed to be the soul of the nation, and which had been firmly attached since the time of the ancestors. Among them there were those who even illustrated the greatness of the ancient kingdom of the archipelago. The philosophy of their ancestors was believed to be nobler than the Western nations, which were shackled to material possessions and their greed to colonize other nations.

Therefore, according to them, the West was not an example of a model that needed to be imitated. The fire or the soul of the nation had to be extracted from the roots of its own nation.

Although not directly involved in the polemic, Sukarno seemed very appreciative of the second idea, that Indonesian fire had to be extracted from the roots of its own nation. However, on the other hand, he tended not to deny the necessity for this nation to be dynamic. Here, Sukarno\'s view seemed to be the middle way, the concept of "gotong royong was a dynamic understanding". Collectivism, therefore, was more the basis of the dynamic movement of the nation. This collective dynamic was certainly different from the dynamism of individualism or egoism. Collective dynamism required togetherness, which Sukarno referred to as "shared hard work, to jointly sweat over something, to help each other in our struggles", "the deeds of all for the benefit of all" or "happiness for all".

Dynamic gotong royong

Is dynamic gotong royong not contradictory? Is not gotong royong that requires unity among different entities, in the logic of the liberal economy, more difficult than organizing individualism-based work?

In this connection we need to re-explore the nature of dynamic gotong royong, and then link its  relevance to our time. From the constitutional perspective, Sukarno\'s idea coincided with the idea of Mohammad Hatta, another founding father, who also clearly accommodated the principles of gotong royong and togetherness in the economy.

It is then reflected in Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution. In Paragraph 1 of the article it is affirmed, "The economy is constituted as a joint effort based on the principle of brotherhood". The subsequent paragraphs indicate their relevance to that paragraph.

Discussion about the Pancasila economy, which has recently spread again, certainly cannot be separated from the perspective of the constitution. Various views even emerge in the economic studies of Pancasila precisely when the essence of mutual cooperation in economy is interpreted and reinterpreted. There are those who rely on the spirit, there are others who focus on their business forms or institutions.

However, what is equally agreed upon is the fact that the Pancasila economy is an economic activity based on work ethos in the frame of the values contained in the five principles of Pancasila. Those values are the ones that are distinguished from the work ethos of capitalism or economic liberalism.

The work ethos of Pancasila is full of values, namely Belief in God, humanity, unity, deliberation and social justice. The work ethos of Pancasila, therefore, is not a work ethos without any direction or which has the potential to justify any means and ignore the noble values.

In the context of "dynamic gotong royong" as the work ethos of Pancasila, the synergy among state elements is absolute. Of course the synergy is not something that works automatically, except in a frame of togetherness and unity.

In this context, the diversity or pluralism of the nation becomes a strength, mutually supportive and complementary to each other. However, it will not be achieved when the human aspect and its institutional system is problematic, since the movement of gotong royong cannot be separated from  both of them.

State and community

The human aspect is clearly related to the Pancasila human context. Although it is quite abstract in describing how Pancasila people are, it is associated with the commitment of values and qualification of resources. Therefore, it is not excessive when it is associated with ascetic or spiritual discipline (mesu budi) that encourages humanitarian action, unity and brotherhood, deliberation for consensus or agreement, and the endeavor for the realization of social justice. Therefore, besides being virtuous, competence, excellence and ability are needed to respond to the challenges.

The institutional system aspect is no less complicated: how it has to accommodate, if not make the  integral part of the principles of mutual cooperation and togetherness in order to be operational. From here there is an opportunity to reconstruct -- even renew -- the institutional systems based on constitutional principles so as to be in harmony with the times.

The role of the state as a determinant of regulation is very important. The state makes regulations that are framed by the values of Pancasila, without having to shut down the dynamic aspects of business competition. The state arranges so that economic and business competition is balanced and fair, but does not let everything go freely (free fight liberalism). On the other hand, the community, including entrepreneurs, absolutely must have a work ethos and high level of cooperation, be honest and really work hard in a conducive business climate. This article can be further developed, but the point is how we can dig the nation\'s work ethos from Pancasila.

M Alfan Alfian, Political Science Post-Graduate Director at a National University and HIPIIS Central Executive Board