The mind is the light that guides life. Misguided thoughts can destroy life. The nation\'s greatest loss is not the loss of its great people, the weakening exchange rate or the widening the trade balance deficit, but rather the deterioration of the mind. At a time when the power of thought increasingly determines the political and economic resilience of a nation, the current legislative and presidential election campaigns have become a major marketplace for competing in ignorance and misguided thinking.
The waves of campaigns and the hubbub of political debates have hardly produced any clear and valuable ideas that are memorable. Speeches bubble forth without comprehensible content. Substance is buried in the noise of verbal abuse, slander and lies. The vision of the future is dimmed, overshadowed by fragmented problems with patchy solutions and the inability to present a complete picture of the root cause and fundamental solutions. Amid the declining power of thought, the public conscience is overtaken by the magic of packaging. Image is prioritized over real content.
Each camp accuses the other of being a foreign stooge without even attempting to formulate the right mindset for dealing with foreign powers. Throughout this country’s history, the rise and fall of our politico-economic power has been inseparable from the dynamics of regional politics, especially the developments in India and China. When these two large markets experience peace in their politics and a boom in their economies, the economy of Nusantara (the archipelago) grows strong to thereby strengthen its political position.
During the heyday of trade between the Roman Empire and India in the 1st century AD, the Nusantara’s merchant fleets benefited through its trade routes with India. It was trade with India that helped grow its prosperity, which became the catalyst for the establishment of the early kingdoms of the Nusantara. When the Chinese market experienced a boom following its political reconsolidation under the Tang dynasty of the 7th to 10th centuries, the Nusantra grew as a trading power through the huge profits it gained, which in turn boosted the power of the Sriwijaya kingdom.
This pattern has continued to the Indonesian economy of the contemporary era. The rise and fall of the economy in the region, especially in China and India, and other large regions, such as the United States and Europe, both directly and indirectly impact the economic and political climate in this country. Therefore, our country cannot arbitrarily declare an anti-foreign stance in its political discourse or foreign policy.
However, we can neither allow all foreign economic powers to enter without formulating intelligent policies and improving our competitiveness. Once again, we can learn from history. When the various forces of our foreign trade partners took direct control of their local trading operations without intermediaries from the Nusantara’s own trade forces, slowly but surely, the country\'s trading power collapsed. This happened when the South Indian trade guilds started developing their own operations in the Nusantara in the 11th century, which was followed by a more crippling attack in the 12th century,
when Chinese trade forces under the Song dynasty developed their own commercial trade and naval networks that operated directly in the Nusantara.
Therefore, we must develop correct thinking and attitudes in dealing with foreign powers. We cannot be anti-foreign, because this would be suicide; nor can we accept foreigners with open arms because this, too, would be suicide. Intelligence is needed to take the right decisions and set strategic policies. It is here that valuable and constructive political debates must take place.
Intelligent thinking and educating the public are constitutional imperatives for all prospective state administrators. The state (administrators) is not only tasked with accommodating public aspirations, but also to serve as a "tutor" (educator): "educate the life of the nation". Moreover, the consultative democracy that we aim to develop also requires wise leadership, where political decisions must be based on deliberation and argumentation.
In deliberative democracies, a political decision is said to be true if it fulfills at least four requirements. First, it must be based on the principles of rationality and fairness and not merely subject to ideology and interests. Second, it is committed to the interests of the many, not the individual or groups. Third, it must have a long-term vision, and not aim for short-term interests through accommodating destructive transactions (negative tolerance). Fourth, it is impartial and inclusive, involving and considering the opinions of all parties (even the smallest minority) to curb the dictatorial directive of the majority and “the tyranny of the minority” from investors.
Finally, political parties must also be the center of political education, as they form the basis for recruiting the national leadership. It is in this context that Bung Karno said, "A party must be guided by ideas, respect ideas, carry forth ideas, and plant ideas."
Indonesia\'s political history was envisioned, pioneered and developed by intellectuals. When the political contest is marked by broad expressions of ignorance, an alarm must be sounded so that we may return to the brilliant thoughts that imagined and created the Republic. (YUDI LATIF, Executive, National Alliance)
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