Pancasila, the Vision Anchor

HERYUNANTO

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Indonesia is like a big ship that is trembling; caught in the vortex of a wave; without a strong anchor to the past, without a clear direction to the future.

To get the ship out of the trembling situation, a state needs a strategy to build a proportional relationship between goals (ends) and means, between aspirations and capabilities. John Lewis Gaddis in On Grand Strategy (2018) describes two types of leadership that often arises along crossings that connect the two points (goals and means): hedgehogs and foxes.

The first type acts straight by connecting everything with a central vision, which gives direction. The second type acts irregularly, following its sense of smell that can lead to various goals that are not interconnected, possibly even contradictory. The first type can give direction on where the nation must go but often cannot detect that along the crossing of the vision there are many mines, holes and swamps that must be avoided in order to get to the destination. Driven by intuitive impulse, this type can also be less realistic that aspirations are infinite, while the means and capabilities are always finite. Driven by situational rationality, this type is more interested in responding to ad hoc problems without being able to relate them to the goals.

An appropriate strategy must be able to reconcile the contradictions between these two types of leadership. We must be able to take the positive sides of both characters. We need the sustainability of the hedgehog\'s vision, which provides the principles and guidelines of long-term directions; without losing the flexibility of the fox, which can always respond to threats and ever-changing developments. On the other hand, in mobilizing facilities and capabilities to deal with temporary problems, we must not forget to move back to a more permanent path of vision.

Leadership crisis

The state leadership crisis today is not caused by a contradiction between the hedgehog and fox type, but because of losing (almost) the two of them. We do not have the sustainability of vision as a directive guideline, which at the same time seems to be losing the sense of crisis to be able to respond to immediate challenges. Political leaders are caught in the whirlpool of today\'s riots; continue to swing from one issue to another, without really tackling the problems that appear.

From the complexity of past experiences, leaders must be able to discover the main principles, with which, a journey into the future has an anchorage; a compass to move forward through darkness.

Why does this happen? Because we cannot learn from the good sides of the past. That the past is actually never fully bright and never fully dark. We must be able to maintain the light and get rid of the dark. However, in the shadow of the great current of the Indonesian nation, the past always displays painful memories that cannot be exceeded, at the risk of repeating them.

A nation that cannot see the bright sides of the past does not have an anchor to tie a vision of the future. It is true, no one can anticipate anything that might happen in the future. However, predicting the possibility that will happen in the future is better than not having any preparation at all. Knowledge of the past can help understand the future. Without realizing the past, the journey into the future is like entering a silent corridor of darkness. Amnesia is the misfortune of ignorance in silence. Past experience and the possibility of extrapolating it into the future is an endless exploration of complexity. Thus, leadership, as Sun Tzu reminded, must be able to see simplicity in complexity.

From the complexity of past experiences, leaders must be able to discover the main principles, with which, a journey into the future has an anchorage; a compass to move forward through darkness. In this connection, Sun Tzu gives an example: of the many possible musical melodies, principally it starts with five notes (pentatonic); of the many possible color mosaics, in principle it can be returned to the five basic colors; of the many possible tastes, in principle it can be drawn to the five basic tastes. Five is the basis of simplicity from the complexity of experience. The five principles can be used as a check list to anticipate the future.

Principles cannot be collected arbitrarily, but must be distilled from the experience of living together in the past. That is why, the principles and governance of the state cannot be simply copied and pasted from the experience of other nations. In the summer of 1990, about two dozen constitutional and legal experts and judges from the Western world gathered in Prague in order to help draft a new constitution for Eastern European countries by incorporating the values and governance prevailing in the Western world. However, without an understanding of the complexity of the social structure and social learning experiences of the related community, the installation of the new governance has proven to be ineffective.

A static family spirit tends to direct compassion (altruism) to fellow family members or one\'s own group.

Based on this experience, Clayton M. Christenson (2019) concluded: "The social institution reflects the values of the related community. Building strong institutions is not as simple as \'exporting\' what can work from one place to another." In other words, finding principles as an anchor of the vision in the future must be the essence of the culture of society. Culture in this sense is defined an MIT professor, Edgar Schein (1988): "How to work together towards shared goals that have been proven successful and followed repeatedly by the community, which makes many people do not even think of trying another way."

After going through cross-cultural and cross-age study and learning, the founders of the nation arrived at the conclusion that the basic principle, as an anchor of the vision of the Indonesian nation that emerged as a reflection of culture that had proven effective in experiencing the joint life, was crystallized in Pancasila. Basically, the principles of Pancasila themselves grow on the foundation of gotong royong (mutual cooperation) culture.

The mutual cooperation culture is used as an anchor of vision in the future as an effort to overcome the complexity of the problems in a pluralistic nation with various values and conflicts of interest. In Sukarno\'s view, "Mutual cooperation is a dynamic understanding, more dynamic than \'kinship\' ... Mutual cooperation is the joint hard work, the struggle to help each other. All charity is for the benefit of all, all of the sweat is for the happiness of all.” A static family spirit tends to direct compassion (altruism) to fellow family members or one\'s own group. Meanwhile, the dynamic spirit of mutual cooperation has the ability to direct altruism to fellow citizens even from different groups.

Mutual cooperation is the highest level of human adaptation process in navigating the challenges of natural selection of life, from individual creatures with the tendency of chimpanzees (which are selfish) to social creatures with the tendency of bees (which are groupish). The spirit of mutual cooperation is the spirit of cooperative, collaborative: mutual sharing; many hands make work lighter; not one gets profit, while the other is in losses.

The Pancasila values are directed to make a nation of with character based on the main values on the first, second and third principles.

Belief in God according to the nature of Pancasila should be developed with the spirit of mutual cooperation (the belief in God in a cultured way, which is roomy and tolerant); not belief in God by attacking and excluding each other. The universal humanity must have a mutual cooperation spirit  (with justice and civilization); not an association of humanity that is colonizing and exploitative. The national unity must have the spirit of mutual cooperation (seeking unity while respecting differences, "unity in diversity"); not nationality that negates differences or rejects unity. Democracy must have the mutual cooperation spirit (developing consensus agreement); not a democracy dictated by the majority or minority of the power elite-capitalist. The principle of justice must have a mutual cooperation spirit (developing participation and emancipation in the economic field with the spirit of helping each other/cooperative); not a welfare vision based on individualism-capitalism; nor do they curb individual freedom as in the etatism system.

With a mutual cooperation culture, the vision of Pancasila is directed at realizing the life of an independent, united, sovereign, just and prosperous nation. To realize that, Pancasila has anticipated the need to develop a proportional relationship between goals and facilities, between aspirations and capabilities. That vision cannot be achieved unless it applies the culturalization of Pancasila in the realm of "mental-spiritual" (value system), "institutional-political" (governance), and "material-technology" (prosperity).

The Pancasila values are directed to make a nation of with character based on the main values on the first, second and third principles. The will to unite and be in harmony in differences can be achieved when we are able to develop a compassionate relationship with the "Most Glorious", who exudes a spirit of the belief in God in a cultured, spacious and tolerant way; compassionate with fellow human beings, who radiate the spirit of humanity that is just and civilized; compassionate in human relations with the living space (homeland) and the association of life (nationality), which exudes a spirit of unity in the diversity of the nation. With the spirit of the belief in God, humanity, and unity, spiritual powers are developed in a humanitarian, egalitarian, independent, trustful (integrity) work ethic, positive and creative work ethic, and are able to establish unity with a spirit of service (sacrifice). The main agent of this value system is the community.

The Pancasila prosperity is directed to become an independent nation and general welfare with the main values based on the fifth principle.

The socio-political governance of the Pancasila is directed to become a sovereign nation with core values based on the fourth principle. That the socio-political order is to be built through democratic mechanism which is populist, with consultlative ideals, and wisdom in a design of democratic institutions that can strengthen unity (the united states) and social justice (the welfare state); manifested in the presence of a state government that protects the entire nation and all of Indonesia\'s lands, promotes public welfare, educates the nation\'s life, and participates in carrying out world order based on independence, peace and justice. The main agent of this governance is the state apparatus.

The Pancasila prosperity is directed to become an independent nation and general welfare with the main values based on the fifth principle. That the independence and general welfare be achieved by seeking an independent economy; based on the mutual cooperation effort (cooperative spirit), accompanied by state control over the "gift of shared wealth" (commonwealth) as well as over the important branches of production and controlling the livelihoods of many people; while adding value to the gifts being given with the input of knowledge and technology. The main agent of this prosperous governance is the business world.

Deficit in capabilities

The birth of the Reform Order gave a chance for departure to a new world. Unfortunately, with the arrival of the golden moment, what substantially emerges is not the leaders who could combine the vision of the hedgehog and the responsive capabilities of the fox. What appears are the many laron (small flying insects) that continue to move from one issue to another. Freedom as a negative right ("free from") of experiencing spring. However, freedom as a positive right ("free to") of experiencing famine. We experience a capability deficit in using that freedom to realize the republic\'s vision.

KOMPAS/RADITYA HELABUMI

Yudi Latif

Various forms of choices and public policies do not use sound principles of public reasoning. Political policies and choices with sound public reasoning must meet at least four main principles of a responsive politics: the principle of plausibility, efficiency, justice and freedom. With these four principles, responsive politics must consider public rationality without arbitrarily making policies/decisions; adaptability of policies and political institutions to the situation without forgetting the goals; equal sharing of profits and expenses; and people\'s approval of the government. When the political arena  increasingly accommodates conflicts of interest rather than visions of ideology, political character becomes narcissistic, discouraging the hope of many people. Back to the Pancasila Sanctity Day is not just about celebrating empty words. To make Pancasila truly powerful, we must return to the basic principles of the republic by continuing to maintain a close relationship between goals (aspirations) and facilities (capabilities) based on Pancasila.

Yudi Latif, Caretaker of the National Alliance