Promoting Pancasila

NUT

Yudi Latif

When social structure is broken, we need Pancasila as the glue to unite. However, unfortunately the existence of Pancasila today is like a holy book with ragged paper. If it is thrown out, something unexpected is feared to happen, if it is used, it is no longer readable.

Being displayed for a long time as a ceremonial decoration, without careful attention, Pancasila gets increasingly obsolete. To stop the degeneration process, the way to preserve Pancasila must come out of the tendency of verbalistic formalism towards operative effectiveness.

If the existence of Pancasila is expected to be felt, it must be effectively promoted in the three domains of civilization: the domain of values, governance and prosperity; together with the strengthening of Pancasila in three dimensions of ideology: belief, knowledge, and action.

Values

To enable it to be great, the civilization of a nation must grow on the foundation of values. Borrowing the expression of John Gardner, "No nation can achieve greatness unless it believes in something, and unless that something has moral dimensions to sustain a great civilization."

The value is a clue of light that illuminates the path to the destination. Without the value guidance, no matter how great the physical development, intelligence, and skills that we have does not provide significant added value because it can get lost in many bends in the road. As a core value of public morality, Pancasila is not a memorizing material, but a value of life that must be executed and enlivened with integrity by maintaining consistency between thought, words, attitude, and actions; between belief, knowledge, policies, and actions.

Pancasila values are directed at making a nation with personality (character) with its main value based on its first, second, and third principles. That the will to unite and create harmony in differences can be achieved when we are able to develop a compassionate relationship with "the Holy One", which radiates a godly spirit which is cultured, spacious, and tolerant; compassion with fellow human beings, who emit a just and civilized spirit of humanity; compassion in human relations with living space (homeland) and life association (nationality), which exudes a spirit of unity in the diversity of the nation.

The main stakeholders who are in charge of executing this value management are the community. The value of Pancasila which was initially explored from the values of life that grew in various communities in the country should be returned to the community as the main caretaker. There are seven core communities for promoting Pancasila values: school community, religious community, residential community, work community, media community, political and mass organization community, and tradition community.

Each of these communities has its own pressure point and approach to promote Pancasila values, but as a whole forms a Pancasila value chain in a holistic and integral way. By returning to the community, state institutions (non-schooling), rather than busy taking care of the socialization of Pancasila to the community as an ineffective waste of resources, it is better to deal with the promotion of values in its own working community (state administrators). This is in accordance with the fourth main guiding principle of the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution. "The state is based on divinity, on the basis of just and civilized humanity. Therefore, the constitution must have contents that oblige the government and other state administrators to maintain noble human character and uphold people\'s noble moral ideals."

It is precisely the role models of society that deserve to introduce Pancasila values to state administrators.

Therefore, before making the society to know about Pancasila, state administrators must do the same by themselves in advance. It must be understood that officials and state apparatus do not always have credibility and authority to implant moral values to the community. Especially in the condition of moral drought in the state administration, what is needed is role reversal. It is precisely the role models of society that deserve to introduce Pancasila values to state administrators.

Meanwhile, state institutions with the task of fostering national values, in carrying out their duties must cooperate with these communities in accordance with the target group. The most important tasks that can be done by the state institutions are to create a regulatory framework, basic guidelines, facilitation, measurement and monitoring, so that the promotion of values carried out by various communities has slices of equality, coherence and quality assurance, so that they can simultaneously meet the desired goals and objectives.

Governance

After the value base is strengthened, the civilization of a nation can only be advanced with the accuracy of governance. Daren Acemoglu and James A Robinson in his book, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty (2012), suggest that the main cause of failure of a nation-state is not because of lack of superpower or resources, but because of mismanagement or wrong institutional design and governance.

Pancasila socio-political governance is directed to become a sovereign nation with its main values based on the fourth principle. That the socio-political order is to be built through a democratic mechanism that has the ideals of the populist, deliberation, and ideals of wisdom in the design of democratic institutions that can strengthen unity (state unity) and social justice (welfare state); which is manifested in the presence of a state government that protects the whole nation and all of Indonesia\'s bloodshed, advances public welfare, educates the life of the nation, and participates in carrying out world order based on freedom, peace and justice.

The main stakeholders in matters of governance are state institutions. The priority of the institutions as a political-policy regime is to reorganize the system of democracy and governance within the framework of strengthening national unity and social justice. Threfore, various designs of democratic institutions and governance must be reviewed.

Political practice is not left simply as a struggle for power, but must carry political substance in order to present a variety of reliable policies to fulfill the state\'s vision and mission. Political policy must respond

to the challenges of improving mental-cultural governance (values), governance of material resources (welfare), and democratic management and governance.

In relation to democratic management and governance, various crucial elements must receive serious attention. Some of them include structuring the legal system and restoring the authority of the legal authority (nomocracy) that can support democratic health, issues with capital-intensive electoral institutions, rearranging regional autonomy, urgency for the presence of a more solid directive guideline (development direction), overlapping authorities of state institutions, the too wide coverage of state institutions due to the presence of various state commissions, and the importance of streamlining state bureaucracy to avoid the trap of an employee state, the urgency of reforming a more inclusive representation system with the ability to accommodate all socio-political forces, and the importance of improving a welfare state regime which is passionate about mutual cooperation.

Welfare management

In the end, advanced civilization is determined by its ability to cultivate resources for richness and shared prosperity. In this connection, every ideology must have a conceptual framework and an operational framework regarding the realization of the dreamed prosperous society.

The development of prosperity management is directed at being an independent and public welfare nation with its main value based on the fifth principle. That independence and general welfare will be achieved by seeking an independent economy; based on a effort to help each other (cooperative spirit), accompanied by state control over the "gift of commonwealth" as well as on important branches of production and those which control the livelihoods of many people; while providing added value to the gifts provided with knowledge and technology inputs.

The main stakeholder in the affairs of prosperity management is the business world and the economic regime, with the main priority to develop an economy based on a cooperative spirit. With that spirit, budget politics must be more oriented towards general welfare. The ability of the state to control and manage commonwealth and important branches of production and control the livelihoods of many people must be healthy.

The ability to control and manage common and important products of many people must be healthy.

The main stakeholders are the business world and the economic regime, with the main priority being developing a cooperative spirit. With that spirit, budget politics must be more oriented towards general welfare. The ability to control and manage common and important products of many people must be healthy.

The production chain from upstream to downstream should not be concentrated in one hand. Prosperity and economic equality can be encouraged through the development of entrepreneurship that is equipped with mastery of technology, by prioritizing technology development based on potential and characteristics (condition) of Indonesianness. Therefore, technological development must be slightly shifted from the state research institutions to the realm of the corporate industry; integrated into the productive sector.

Promoting the ideological dimension

In addition to the problem of the scope of promoting in the three domains of civilization, the effectiveness of promoting Pancasila also requires the process of actualizing three dimensions of ideology: belief, knowledge, and action.

The first challenge in civilizing Pancasila is how to convince all citizens that the values of the Pancasila ideology are suitable, relevant, and effective as a meeting point, fulcrum, and point of departure in a pluralistic national life. In matters of this belief, as in religious belief, that although no one among the religions (who is still alive), has entered heaven or hell, they are sure that heaven and hell exist.

The first challenge in promoting Pancasila is how to convince all citizens that the values of Pancasila ideology are suitable, relevant, and effective as a meeting point, fulcrum, and point of destination in a pluralistic national life. In matters of this belief, as in religious belief, that although no one among the religion followers (who are still alive) has entered heaven or hell, they are assured that heaven and hell exist.

Convincing believers of the existence of heaven and hell does not rely on rational explanations, but by emotive approaches (recognition) by relying on the power of charm and imagination of the power of "myth" (in a positive sense). Nurturing the belief with the power of myths combines the power of narration (story), aesthetic powers, games, rituals, and symbols.

The impact of stories (history, literature, and films) on life cannot be underestimated. The figures in fictions often influence life, the moral standards of society, wage a revolution, and even change the world. In the context of the formation of Indonesia\'s own nationalism, Bung Karno once demonstrated in a sophisticated manner how to develop various myths of national integration by linking Indonesian-ness with the epics of Majapahit and Sriwijaya\'s greatness. He also frequently cited stories of traditional shadow puppets as a model source in fostering confidence in his people about the ability of the Indonesian people through various challenges.

The aesthetic and symbolic dimensions in fostering confidence in Pancasila are increasingly important in responding to the growth of millennial generation. A generation that is more accustomed to interpreting and responding to reality through symbolic and iconic means. And, Indonesia with its extraordinary cultural wealth can be a gold mine to develop various myths based on symbolic and aesthetic expression as well as games in fostering a dimension of belief in the values of Pancasila.

The second challenge in promoting Pancasila is how to explain the values of Pancasila through a scientific approach in a multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary manner. The aim is to make every citizen understand the breadth and depth of the Pancasila insights and the consequences of their derivation in various forms social institutions. In this connection, Pancasila must also color all aspects of civic education. Various theories can be used to explain the Pancasila perspective on human relations with the cosmos, religion and state, human rights, nationalism, democracy, national legal system, socio-economic justice, and so on.

In this effort, besides we have to explore the treasures of the knowledge and wisdom of the nation itself, it is also necessary to do various comparative studies with similar experiences in other countries because after all the values of Pancasila have universal dimensions.

The third challenge in promoting Pancasila is how to encourage citizens (especially students) to be able to develop life practices based on the values and conception of Pancasila. Pancasila does not stop just to

memorize items, but it becomes a deeply ingrained character in people\'s behavior in public life. So far, many teachers have taught Pancasila moral education like doctors who prescribe to sick people.

However, the prescription instructions are not implemented by the patients by taking the medicine; they do not even try to buy the medicines. Character education is the science which has to be implemented, something which is not given except for practice. Teachers nurture characters with exemplary practices, students learn the knowledge by practicing praiseworthy behavior. Pancasila learning can be done by forming limited groups consisting of a variety of identities, then encouraging them to develop various activities in order to directly practice the principles of Pancasila.

Strengthening the meeting point

Last but not least, the effort to promote Pancasila requires a clear awareness of the ontological basis of Pancasila. On June 1, 1945, in initiating his description of the foundation of the state, Sukarno said "that we must seek approval, seek understanding agreement". Then, he said, "We are looking for the unity of Philosophische grondslag, looking for a Weltanschauung that we all agree on. I say again agree! What Yamin agreed to do, which Ki Bagoes agreed to, which Ki Hadjar agreed to, which Sanoesi agreed to, which Abikoesno agreed to, which you Lim Koen Hian agreed to, in short we were all looking for one mode."

Thus, the ontological basis (the deepest structure of meaning) of the existence of Pancasila is the desire to seek "approval" in presenting shared happiness (al-problah al-ammah, bonnum comune) in the pluralistic Indonesian national life.

Therefore, every time the Indonesian people return to June 1, every time we are reminded to realize again the structure of the deepest meaning of the existence of Pancasila. Again, we question the meeting point, the fulcrum, and our common point of destination, amid the possibility of division, fragility, and disorientation that engulf national life.

In the framework of seeking the points of agreement, we must seek a democracy that does not stop merely as a ritual of five-year power struggle with an obsession with victory as far as defeating opponents in contestation in elections. We must develop a democracy that can win and make happy the entire nation of Indonesia, by putting it in the framework of the realization of national ideals: to become an independent, united, sovereign, just and prosperous nation.

Yudi Latif, Caretaker of National Alliance