Emotional Connections

KOMPAS/ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI

Research by the Social Movement for Indonesia (Sofi) Institute explained the results of research related to Cirebon City youth and the issue of democracy at a cafe in Cirebon City, West Java, on Friday (12/4/2019). The research, among other things, shows that most local youth reject the politicization of religion.

Indeed, the political elite are still continuing squabble amid the Covid-19 health emergency, which actually needs greater empathy and protection. They continue to draft numerous bills amid their poor argumentative and deliberative capacities, even though the root of our chaotic democracy is not a legal problem, but a problem of the heart and mind. The development of our democracy is dwarfed by a blend of the feudalistic disposition that worships hierarchy and the capitalistic disposition that encourages egoism and greed.

In the dual grip of the forces of feudalism and capitalism, democratic reform is celebrated with euphoria over freedom (liberty) without the accompanying egalitarian and fraternal spirit. Freedom that is absent of equality and brotherhood causes a disconnect between selflessness and civic unity, while communalism escapes the national imagination.

Freedom without equality or brotherhood develops without cultivation only to the extent of natural liberty, which puts forth individual and group (oligarchical) interests while ignoring "the freedoms of the citizenry" (civil liberty), which upholds the good of all (common good).

Freedom without equality or brotherhood deprives democracy of its moral basis.

Freedom without equality or brotherhood encourages self-reliance that is unconnected with civic unity, communalism without ties to the national imagination. Freedom without equality or brotherhood produces legislation that only reinforce the establishment and the status quo; that neglect justice and public civility. Freedom without equality or brotherhood makes for direct elections that merely lay out a red carpet for the domination of the feudalistic and capitalistic oligarchy. Freedom without equality or brotherhood deprives democracy of its moral basis.

Under the divine precepts, all are equal before God; however, man is unequal before their fellow man. Under humanity as one of the five principles in the Pancasila state ideology, people exist among others on the basis of love as manifest in equity and civility. However, where is the rationale of equity and civility in a political community that is full of discrimination, exclusion and hostility?

Under the Pancasila principle of unity, the state protects the nation and all Indonesian citizens. However, where is the rationale of unity in a political community that stands above the interests of all individuals and groups and is unable to knit together their strengths for the benefit of all?

Under the principles of populism, democracy is to be realized under the rule of law, which upholds national unity and justice through a spirit of deliberation and wise policies. However, where is the rationale of national unity and the deliberative spirit in a political community dominated by large political parties that continue to impede the process of combining the aspirations of the other factions, and abandons inclusiveness and wisdom in the deliberative process?

Under the principle of social justice, humankind as both spiritual and physical beings need assistance that employs fairness in distributing wealth, opportunities and social standing. However, where is the rationale of social justice in a political community that pursues social inequality in access to education, health, employment, and capital, and maintains the political privileges of the hereditary oligarchy and investors?

In the end, freedom that lacks equality and brotherhood denies democratic freedoms their virtue.

The democratic development we are experiencing seems to embody the concerns of Alexis de Tocqueville about the market conditions that create a democracy wherein “the body is left free, but the soul is enslaved”. Under a feudalistic and capitalistic hegemony, the freedoms of a democracy have the potential to marginalize the public interest and civic participation in democracy.

KOMPAS/LASTI KURNIA

Dien (83) assisted by his son to insert ballots that were punched after using his voting rights in Joglo Village, Kembangan, Jakarta, Wednesday (17/4/2019). Citizens are enthusiastic about participating in the 2019 Election.

In this regard, Benjamin Barber highlighted that deepening and expanding market penetration in democracy can ‘privatize“ citizens so that "me" is elevated over "we". “Privatization” as an ideology gives weight to personal choice and not to the general will, and is limited to a collective mean of individual desires. All that is "civic" and "public" are marginalized. In other words, capitalism without a strong and inclusive civic culture can erode public virtue and democracy to their smallest unit, the individual. In the end, democratic society is colonized by market interests. Privatization uniforms lives and confiscates public space, while identity is supplanted by brands and logos.

They should be actively involved, moving and mingling with all diverse groups in public spaces.

Under such a trend, reviving Indonesia’s democracy cannot be accomplished merely by frequent changes to laws and procedures, and requires psychological healing. We need some kind of spiritual power to reconnect the broken civic ties. Politics must return to its most basic meaning as the virtuous art of managing the republic for the common good. The basis of politics is cultural citizenship (urban citizenship). The citizens of a city-state possess a sense of belonging and love for the city as a republic: they not merely people seeking a place to sleep and eat or for out for their own personal interests. They should be actively involved, moving and mingling with all diverse groups in public spaces.

The public participation requires strengthening civic ties based on freedom, equality and brotherhood to foster public emotion.

Civic bond is formed through shared beliefs, values, symbols and rituals, often referred to as civil religion. Whereas each citizen, apart from being an autonomous individual, must also be able to join the collective spirit of citizenship, under the guidance of civil religion, the nation can be led to the good and happiness of communal life.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Yudi Latif

In the spirit of Pancasila, public emotion cannot be cultivated through coercion and uniformity as it is under fascism, but through the path of esthetics and voluntarily by expanding meeting spaces, diversity festivals, games and cooperation that foster sympathy and love. This is what we should instill in our education.