The political unrest in the United States reminds us that no country has accomplished (its mission) and no authority is so powerful to be able to eliminate all possible resistance.
By
Yudi Latif
·5 minutes read
The political unrest in the United States reminds us that no country has accomplished (its mission) and no authority is so powerful to be able to eliminate all possible resistance. Humans live in a network of interactions that influence each other. Therefore, domination (injustice) by someone or a group over another often opens the door to reprisal or retribution in the form of unexpected injustice.
The American nationhood was formed as a plural society with the domination of white Anglo-Saxon people. American multiculturalism adopts a "cosmopolitan" model, which seeks to melt various group identities into a white identity-based melting pot, by emphasizing individual rights.
For a long time, this system has worked effectively due to at least two factors: demographically the white majority and the shared perception about a common external threat in dealing with world wars, international conflicts and cold wars.
Meanwhile, the US experienced a violent influx of immigrants, especially after World War II. Unlike the previous influx of immigrants which was more individual in nature, this new wave of immigrants was often in groups that then formed enclaves that were relatively successful in maintaining their original identity. Then came the enclaves of Hispanic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and the like that did not entirely blend into the white melting pot. This development changed the demographic structure of the United States of America, increasing the number of people of color while weakening white domination.
The rise of China as a new power was tried to be manipulated by demagogues who see it as a source of new threats.
With the end of the cold war, which was won by the US, the perceptions of common external threats faded so the diversity of identities could no longer be suppressed easily. The rise of China as a new power was tried to be manipulated by demagogues who see it as a source of new threats. However, it turned out this campaign was less quick than the escalation of social frictions in the US identity house.
Meanwhile, following the global economic crisis in the 1970s, a new school of economics emerged with the appearance of its spokesmen -- the "prophets" of the free market economy -- such as Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek. This school replaced the mixed economic policies with economic policies that slowly led to libertarianism (extreme individual freedom) which is better known as neoliberalism.
Politically, it gained momentum during the reigns of Ronald Reagan in the US and Margaret Thatcher in the UK in the 1980s. At that time, the popular slogan was reducing the role of government, such as through deregulation in industry, cutting taxes on the wealthy people and eliminating various social security.
At the same time, job opportunities in other “menial” sectors of employment have been taken up by new immigrants.
By making the state the servant of the market, neoliberalism gives too much of individual freedom, forgetting that predatory individualism can also carry its own sources of oppression and injustice. Neoliberalism with its free market doctrine also encourages capital flight along with the relocation of manufacturing industrial complexes to other more profitable countries. This gradually reduced job opportunities for the white working class in the manufacturing industry. At the same time, job opportunities in other “menial” sectors of employment have been taken up by new immigrants.
For the first time in United States history, the white working class felt as gloomy as the black people in the past. At the same time, an increasing number of colored people have a higher bargaining position. Rising political expectations can turn into frustrations when dealing with the latent discrimination in America\'s political structure and culture. Two groups are united by a sense of threat and mutual distrust, which, with the provocation of Trump-style populist demagogy or the propaganda of black lives matter, can become a rage.
The American unrest brought moral message. First, the survival of a country requires a commitment to justice, both domestically and internationally. Don\'t let the interests of individuals, groups and the state make you commit injustice because every expression of injustice will give birth to other injustice karma.
Second, power must be maintained as something reciprocal: not manifesting into a one-way relation of domination. The concentration of "financial capital", "political capital" and "cultural capital" in one hand must be avoided as it could destroy mutual trust and brotherhood. For this reason, every political system design within the framework of social transformation must strive for economic inclusion, political inclusion, and cultural inclusion.
Third, for a pluralistic society with multi-identities like Indonesia, it seems that the American model of cosmopolitan multiculturalism, which only focuses on the equality of individual rights, seems inadequate. The problem of multiculturalism can be explained by the fact that every citizen, even if viewed as a legal subject, is not an abstract individual who is uprooted from their social roots. Recognition of the cultural rights of groups, especially minorities, must first be opened as a precondition for the formation of individual citizens who can transcend their ethnic identities (post-ethnic condition).
Indonesian multiculturalism based on the concept of "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" (Unity in Diversity) is a right choice. On the one hand, Indonesia recognizes the "pluralist model" by recognizing the rights of various ethnic-cultural groups to maintain their respective identities. On the other hand, Indonesia also anticipates the "cosmopolitan model", by encouraging individuals from various identity groups to interact and participate in the public sphere by upholding the beliefs, values, symbols and consensus of citizenship.
YUDI LATIF,Expert in National Alliance
(This article was translated byKurniawan H. Siswoko)