Destruction of Achievement

KOMPAS/SHARON PATRICIA

Yudi Latif

We arrive at a heartbreaking moment in history: Destroying again what has been painstakingly fought for. How quickly we recycle past mistakes. We fought for reform with a big mission to eradicate corruption, collusion and nepotism or KKN. Now, we have the heart to paralyze the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) through various modes and we’ve revived the the patrimonial state, with the tendency of intense collusion and nepotism, to the emergence of political arrogance that places the state in the hands of individuals who control and rule at will.

To whom do the people believe when politics ceases to be an advertisement. Promises were made but realization stalled. Leaders come with noble intentions but end up disappointing; they start driving by turning on the turn signal to the left, but at the intersection turning right. Rulers have taken turns, but the politics of this country has only one plan: treasonous plan. Any way is carried out as long as it can seize and maintain power. The political elite never want to learn. They may lie at times for a portion of the people, but not all the time for everyone. There will always be a backflow of the tide because not everyone wants to associate with evil.

There are many reasons why leaders betray. Government politics may be enslaved by superpowers so that the state is unable to make policies freely to manage its own affairs. The high cost of politics can also make elected leaders serve the interests of investors more at the expense of public interest. Emphasis on popularity, rather than quality, generates leaders who lack vision and competence. Problems are covered with image-building manipulation not with real answers. Difficulty, illiteracy on anything, and political weariness of the people have made democratic participation stop simply at transactions towards voting booths. After that the leaders are allowed to act at will without supervision.

Also read:

^ Intelligent Politics

^ Power Hunger

Democratic reform has been going for a long time on in our place, about us, but without us. The word democracy is a sacred mantra that continues to be promoted, but the common people as the demos continue to be marginalized. The recognition of Indonesia as the third largest democratic country continues to be echoed on the image-building stage, but counter-democratic values bend through the back door of democratic procedures, stabbing democracy from under the covers.

Weakening the eradication of corruption undermines democratic principles in the context of empowerment and public accountability, as well as clean governance for the sake of virtue and welfare of the public. "Blind" nepotism violates the equal rights of citizens who demand the principles of fair play and meritocracy in politics. That a person\'s position is not determined by the principle of heredity, but by his knowledge, experience, creativity, and achievement.

It is undeniable that someone born in a political dynasty gets the benefit from social and cultural capital in the form of an earlier familiarization process with "language" and political association. They also get benefit from better public exposure due to their association with well-known families. Such capitals make it easier for them to enter the world of politics. However, insofar as it is related to the principles of democracy, the fact of luck cannot at all negate the principles of fair play and meritocracy. Anyone, from any family, must jointly follow the caderization process and climb the ladder of political position according to achievement measures.

The current tidal wave of nepotism in the form of strengthening political dynasties in Indonesia is partly a reflection of the weak application of democratic principles. Others can be seen as "the tip of the iceberg" of the widening social inequality in society. The fact is that development of political democratization has not been followed by a democratization process in the economic sector.

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^ Urgency of Democratization - Pillar of Democracy

^ Political Corruption

Adam Bellow in In Praise of Nepotism: A Natural History (2003) showed that the symptom of nepotism decreases when there is an expansion of the middle class which shrinks social inequality as the byproduct of the policies of the welfare state regime. On the other hand, nepotism tends to strengthen when the middle class layer is thinning which widens the social gap as a byproduct of the policies of the neoliberalism regime. Strengthening nepotism in the situation of social inequality will be more severe in democratic practices with high political costs.

As a result, the tidal wave of nepotism must be read in the form of a symptomatic reading. In the "thin description", nepotism is an illustration that changes in the hardware (procedures) of democracy have not been followed by changes in the software (culture) of democracy. In a "thick description", nepotism is a sign that the democracy we are developing is only an image-building fashion rather than bringing about substantive fundamental changes. Nepotism is the naked appearance of our failure to develop political democracy and economic democracy.

Whatever the reason, democracy celebrated with blind corruption and nepotism is a misguided path to the state manqué, a country that has never found the right political form and is caught up in repeating the same mistakes. To get out of that heretical path, we need matters pertaining to honor traditional wisdom: "the king, who is just, is worshiped; the king, who is cruel, is refuted".

YUDI LATIF, National Alliance Expert

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.