Going Beyond the Year of Fear
Passions and the exploration of life have been put on halt, haunted by the spread of the novel coronavirus. The nation has been gripped by the spread of the "social pathology" virus.
This year our lives have shrouded by a cloud of fear.
Passions and the exploration of life have been put on halt, haunted by the spread of the novel coronavirus. The nation has been gripped by the spread of the "social pathology" virus.
The outbreak of social pathology is marked by the diminishing of mutual trust among citizens toward the nation, which is caused by various anxieties. Those who are culturally marginalized are worried about ethnic-cultural-religion-gender discrimination. Those who are politically marginalized are worried about inequality in access to resources to power and legal treatment. Those who are economically marginalized are worried about widening economic disparities and inequalities in access to capital, employment opportunities, and doing business. These various forms of anxiety have sparked tensions to mutually discredit in the public sphere, which has adds to the level of complexity and horror in facing the Covid-19 transmission.
A part of that fear does have a basis of objectivity that requires effective solutions. However, the rest is often just distorted reality as an exaggerated “ghost” of hyper-reality. Terrorism is a real threat that deserves to be feared. However, worrying about the victory of a particular pair as the victory of supporters of khilafah (caliphate), or the victory of another pair as the rise of "communism", is a ghost of fear that has been created by itself.
Democracy without "trust"
As reminded by Martha C Nussbaum in The Monarchy of Fear, the various symptoms of fear are often intertwined with the explosion of the emotion of anger, scapegoating and jealousy. Under the ghost of fear, people are arbitrarily categorized into parts of our group or theirs. Those who try to develop the rational-impartial path by looking at reality from multiple perspectives, as a bridge to constructive mediation, are torn down from both sides. Therefore, "the ghost of fear often blocks the spirit of rational deliberation, poisons hope, and hinders constructive cooperation for a better future."
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Under the ghost of fear, the difficulty of solving the source of the problem often tempts the political elite and camp to take short-cut solutions by creating scapegoats. Jews become the scapegoats for Nazism, immigrants are the scapegoats for populism. The ghost of fear can also lead to the politicization of the law by a mass pressure which is used as an excuse for political authority.
A mural with the theme of Covid-19 appears in West Jakarta, Monday (30/11/2020).
This could lead to selective or disproportionate legal treatment against someone who is considered a culprit. And the more the law is not treated proportionally, the more widespread the symptoms of fear, polarization, hatred and distrust in society, will be.
In contrast to the monarchical government system where power is based on absolute submission of the people, without the need for legitimacy of trust. In a democracy, both vertical (between leaders and people) and horizontal (fellow state administrators and fellow citizens) assume the existence of mutual trust.
Democracy without trust can turn towards anarchy that leads to tyranny. Various symptoms of fear that haunt public life diminish mutual trust in society. The main reason for the fading of mutual trust does not originate from the "demand-side" as often argued by politicians: low level of education of the people, voter pragmatism, and lack of political awareness.
On the contrary, it comes from the "supply-side"; from the inability of political actors to generate people\'s trust. Once there are political actors who can be trusted, the people’s optimism and trust in politics will be strengthened again.
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According to Donna Zajonc, in The Politics of Hope, in order to awaken a politics of hope, a nation must move out of the stages of anarchy, traditionalism and apathy towards the creation of conscious public leaders. The first stage, all political action is legitimized according to the logic of the fulfillment of self-interest, which destroys the sensibility of public service. The second stage, reaching a leader who dominates and marginalizes others. The third stage, the opportunities which are made possible by democracy do not empower the people, but instead make them apathetic.In the fourth stage, the political hope stage, leaders recognize the importance of caring for hope and optimism in crisis situations, by understanding the interdependence of reality and the willingness to serve the public interest by breaking through the old political boundaries. Power is used to motivate and inspire role models that allow others to establish greatness. Citizens realize the importance of being involved in politics and social activism to work together to realize the common good.
In fact, there have been a number of empirical experiences where political parties have provided opportunities for trusted capable figures to be promoted as political leaders, their leadership achievements have been encouraging and people\'s trust in politics has been restored.
The presence of public leaders who are aware in turn requires support for the transformation of political institutions. The design of political institutions that emphasizes the recruitment of power elites on allocative resources (financial power and social privileges) rather than authoritative resources (capacities of characters) narrows the opportunities for trusted people to play a political role. In fact, there have been a number of empirical experiences where political parties have provided opportunities for trusted capable figures to be promoted as political leaders, their leadership achievements have been encouraging and people\'s trust in politics has been restored.
(In this file photo taken on November 20, 2020 People take a self-administered coronavirus test at a Covid-19 testing site in a park in Los Angeles, California, a few days ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Restoring people\'s trust in politics requires more than just good leaders, but leaders with an eccentricity, which indicates the strength of character, greatness of soul, and wild visions of change. Leaders who do not care how they can be re-elected, but care about how the fact that they are elected is used as an entry point for the deconstruction and reconstruction of systemic governance.
All this requires an internal democratization process within political parties based on the principles of meritocracy in the spirit of independence, unity and justice. In this connection, we must learn from history by not repeating the same mistakes. A year before the pendulum of revolutionary history swung in 1965, Bung Karno felt as if a critical point was facing the nation. His state speech on Independence Day on August 17, 1964, titled The Year of Vivere Pericoloso, the year of being in danger. While reminding about the mine for revolution, he also emphasized the importance of courage in facing a crisis and self-reliance as the foundation of democracy.
Regarding the source of the threat of revolution, he pointed the finger at the reactionary forces and what he called the "satanic multiparty system". He did not hate political parties which, according to him, were even instrumental in preparing and carrying out revolution. "What I do not like," he said, "are the practices which ride on political parties to enrich themselves or to carry out individual ambitions in a lobatama (greedy) way."
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With regard to resilience to face crisis, he said, "The 1962 Paceklik (famine) and the 1963 Paceklik did not cause Indonesia to collapse economically, let alone 1964, where our harvests were successful everywhere, Indonesia would not collapse! ... Together with the Indonesian people, we would solve all the difficulties, together we would destroy all the difficulties. That\'s what the revolution is for! That is precisely the task of the Revolution: to solve difficulties, to eliminate all obstacles."
And for economic independence, Bung Karno was determined, "Since August 17, 1964, I hope that we will not make new contracts anymore to buy rice from abroad.
With regard to the foundation for the sustainability of democracy, he reminded that, "To build a democratic country, an independent economy must be built. Without an independent economy, it is impossible for us to achieve independence, it is impossible for us to establish a state, it is impossible for us to survive.” And for economic independence, Bung Karno was determined, "Since August 17, 1964, I hope that we will not make new contracts anymore to buy rice from abroad."
Responsive politics
The resonance of Bung Karno\'s message resonates with its relevance at the end of 2020, as a reincarnation of the year of vivere pericoloso. Why not, just as the Indonesian nation began to recover from the previous economic crisis and came out of the trap of the lower middle class, suddenly a new economic crisis emerged as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the series of regional elections that took place this year, in the aroma of a wasteful and narcissistic satanic multiparty system, with a climate of expensive political competition, could drive up political costs that could lead to an explosion of corruption and a costly economy.
In the contrast between political waste and economic famine, is it possible for democracy to be consolidated? This question is disturbing to the heart because David Morris Potter once said that democracy is best suited for countries that enjoy economic surpluses, and less suitable for countries with economic insufficiency. This statement is not an excuse to return to the path of authoritarianism, but rather serves as a warning to political elites that in economic crises a reverse flow of aspirations for authoritarianism frequently appears. And to secure the continuity of democracy, political elites are required to develop more responsible politics.
A man uses his phone under an artistic work in Caracas on July 22, 2019. - Venezuela is wracked by an economic crisis after five years of crippling recession in which its population has faced many hardships such as a shortage of basic necessities and failing public services.
Responsive politics always realizes that politics is not just a power struggle project through election routines. Responsive politics is politics that realizes the transformative role of power in realizing the vision and mission of the state by taking into account public rationality without arbitrarily taking policies; the adaptability of policies and political institutions to the situation; having the same fate in terms of profits and expenses; as well as people\'s approval over the government.
The realization of the state\'s vision and mission departs from the socio-historical reality of Indonesia as a postcolonial society with feudalistic, capitalistic, colonialistic, and imperialistic characteristics that are discriminatory, segregative and repressive. Therefore, the emancipation project and the scope of social transformation of the vision of the state are multicomplex, covering national, political, economic, social and cultural transformations towards a nation that is sovereign, independent, and with a personality through the realization of an inclusive socio-political order.
In short, to turn the politics of fear into the politics of hope, we need development politics that is capable of developing cultural inclusion, political inclusion and economic inclusion. To do that requires the development of a value system (mental-spiritual-character), governance (institutional-political), and welfare (material-technological). The development of all the three requires the reliability of three social agents: the education and knowledge regime, the politics-policy regime, the economy-production regime.
Singapore Prime Minister and Secretary-General of the People\'s Action Party Lee Hsien Loong, second left, wears a face mask while talking to food vendors at a local market at Yio Chu Kang while on the campaign trail in Singapore July 3, 2020. Singaporeans go to the polls on July 10 in Southeast Asia\'s first election since the coronavirus pandemic began, with the health crisis and an economic recession expected to bolster Prime Minister Lee\'s party and extend its unbroken rule.
The priority of the education and knowledge regime is to fix the mental-spiritual-character aspects by strengthening the inculcation of inclusive citizenship values in the framework of budi pekerti (character) education. Budi means "thoughts, feelings and volitions" (mental aspects); pekerti means "power" or "capacity" (external aspects). Character education seeks to unite human thoughts, feelings, and wills that encourage the power of energy that can give birth to creation and good, correct, and beautiful deeds. From here it is hoped that a new generation of Indonesians with noble and creative character will be born with an independent spirit.
Political practice is not allowed to be merely a struggle for power for the sake of power, but must carry out political substance in order to present various reliable policies to fulfill the vision and mission of the state.
The priority of the politics-policy regime is to restructure the democratic system and governance in the framework of strengthening national unity and social justice. Therefore, various designs of democratic institutions and governance must be reviewed. Political practice is not allowed to be merely a struggle for power for the sake of power, but must carry out political substance in order to present various reliable policies to fulfill the vision and mission of the state.
Political policies must respond to the challenges of improving cultural governance (mental-spiritual-character), governance of material and technological resources, and governance of democracy and government. Therefore, it is necessary to revitalize the state guideline as a directive for the basic policy of the state.
The priority of the economy-production regime is to develop a spirit of mutual help (cooperation) in the economy. Budget politics must be more oriented towards the general welfare. The ability of the state to control and manage collective wealth and important production branches and to control the lives of the people must be healthy. The production chain from upstream to downstream should not be concentrated in one hand. Prosperity and economic equity can be encouraged through entrepreneurial development equipped with mastery of technology, by prioritizing the development of technology based on the potential and characteristics of Indonesia.
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Yudi Latif
Rather than leaving the nation\'s life to be overshadowed by fear with a passion for mutual blaming, it is better to mobilize the national energy to address the roots of the nation\'s problems. No nation is exempted from the trials of life, every nation that survives can always find a positive side in all events even during the worst time.
YUDI LATIF, Member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences
