Entering 2019, the nation is experiencing the most thrilling period in post-New Order general elections. The legislative and presidential elections will be carried out simultaneously by converging on the contestation of two opposing camps. This competition has been so fierce that the two camps seem to see it as a life or death gamble.
There is the mobilization of creative energy that can improve learning skills. There is also destructive strategy mobilization that could jeopardize national integration. This is a crucial test for the sustainability of the nation-state. If we manage to go through this thrilling moment without social unrest, Indonesia will pass the history test so that it can look at the future full of optimism.
However, if we fail to control ourselves from the urge of lust, the nation will bear the costs of humanity and move backward.
Therefore, the new year really demands self-reflection and maturity. The development of this nation indeed has a lot of problems, but our arrival to this position has been paid handsomely for by many victims and also many achievements to be grateful for.
Do not ever discount the souls and sweat of our freedom fighters. Despite being hit by various problems, in the span of 73 years of Indonesia’s independence, this nation-state has carried out its emancipatory function wonderfully. This might seem strange to many of us, who have routinely been flooded with bad news.
In reality, the history of the journey of the Indonesian nation-state has seen lots of good news while navigating challenges. Externally, the solidarity of this nation has managed to free various ethno-religious groups from the shackles of colonialism. Internally, national solidarity has made Indonesia a relatively peaceful home for all pluralism.
Inter-ethnicity and inter-religious group conflicts-fights are less frequent. The mortality rate in this country has gradually fallen from 14.6 per 1,000 people in 1967 to 7.1 per 1,000 people in 2016. The life expectancy rate also continues to rise from 52.8 years in 1967 to 69 years in 2016, growing by 0.55 percent annually (World Data Atlas, 2017).
The “discovery” of the Indonesian language as a language of unity has laid a phenomenal achievement. Starting from the Riau Malay language family, this language quickly develops into a lingua franca throughout the country, even becoming the first language for most of the new generation, by providing a communication tool for cross-cultural association of this plural nation. Moreover, the adaptive power of this language to catch up with the times has made a number of language researchers in Europe refer to the Indonesian language as a case example on what is called the modernization of language, which
has succeeded brilliantly. Even a French scholar, Jérôme Samuel, wrote the book Kasus Ajaib Bahasa Indonesia? (the Indonesian Language Magic Case, 2008).
The tension among identities (ethnicity, religion, race, groups) can indeed occasionally explode. Some of the causes are the legacy of post-colonial pathology, which cannot be cured in the healthy home of the nation. Not because of the ineffectiveness of recipe of the national values, but because of the lack of measurement and consistency in using the drugs of the values of nationality.
Bloodshed horror has also occurred by involving both elements of society and the state in the action-reaction pattern, which was triggered by perceptions of socio-economic injustice, which provoked a counter-reaction in the form of an explosion of totalitarianism aspiration, both “left totalitarianism” (communism) and “right totalitarianism” (fascism). However, in all national tragedies, the conflicts have not knocked down the nation. National solidarity is even called upon as an antidote and the nation’s community is invited to learn not to repeat the same mistakes.
It does not mean that there are no problems and threats. The problems are even revealed when we hold a fierce political competition like today. Internally, the threats to the continuity of this nation-state can happen due to decadence in the mental-spiritual dimension, because of the failure of the education regime in nurturing the national morality and characters, with the implication of the destruction of public morality and citizenship characters as the basis of shared intentionality and social embeddedness.
Threats can also come because of decadence in the institutional-political dimension, due to the failure of the (political) policy regime in establishing the design and governance of democracy- government, because of ignoring the demand for unity and justice as mandated by the state\'s noble philosophy and constitution. Threats can also come because of decadence in the dimension of material welfare, because of the failure of the production regime to meet the expectations of economic inclusion and social welfare, which results in wider social inequalities.
Therefore, rather than utilizing national energy for eliminating each other, it is better for us to make this general election stage as a catalyst for making substantive changes in the realm of mental-spiritual, institutional-political, and material-technological institutions in order to be more compatible with efforts to realize (national) ideals for happiness to live together. (YUDI LATIF, Executive, National Alliance)
/https%3A%2F%2Fkompas.id%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F01%2F47710571_1546448774.jpg){kind=logo}
