Hysteria: A fruit of repression<\/p>\n
By Rahayu Ratnaningsih<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Several recent incidents in this country have
\nmade me ponder; what's happening to our people and society?
\nWhat's got into the population that makes them so vulnerable to
\nthe syndrome of collective hysteria which serves no purpose
\nwhatsoever?<\/p>\n
It's still fresh in our memories how they descended on
\nsupermarkets to buy large quantities basic ingredients such as
\nmilk, cooking oil and rice leaving many shelves empty for weeks.
\nThen they rushed the ATMs and withdrew their money from certain
\nrumor-plagued banks. Millions of them have been traditionally
\nrushing train or bus stations every year on the Idul Fitri
\nHoliday to go back to their villages leaving Jakarta a ghost town
\nfor a week or so.<\/p>\n
The most recent outbreak was when the government, \"out of the
\nblue\", on a clear scorching day, announced the disproportionate
\nhike in fuel prices. It shouldn't have been very hard to predict
\nwhat effect that announcement would have on the people who have
\nbeen bled dry for months in an attempt to survive the savage
\neconomic crisis.<\/p>\n
In circumstances where public confidence toward their system
\nof governance and the figures behind it, has worn awfully thin,
\nour people, who are traditionally easy to ignite with rumors,
\neither unfounded or \"semi-official\", descended in droves on every
\navailable gas station. Mile-long queues of public or private
\nvehicles decorated every road in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
How our people can succumb to this non-sequitur? It may be
\nunderstandable that in these hard times saving 15,000 or 20,000
\nfor fuel is really significant, especially for public
\ntransportation drivers, but is it not clear that the costs of the
\nattempt to save money come close to exceeding the saving itself?
\nIt is very simple logic, really, but how our people could miss it
\nis beyond my comprehension.<\/p>\n
Insisting on buying the fuel that day might have saved you
\n15,000 (let's say 30 liters x 1200 = 36,000, minus 21,000 old
\nprice of the same amount of premium gasoline, equal Rp 15,000).
\nUnless they had with them a large container, that's all they
\ncould save maximum in one day before the increase.<\/p>\n
However, the struggle for that gain is painful and involves
\nsitting in gas guzzling traffic jams for ours on end. So apart
\nfrom the long line to the petrol pump that takes at least one
\nhour, they also had to face the consequences of the collective
\nfrenzy; a total block of mobility for at least another two, three
\nor four hours, something that significantly depletes the coveted
\nfuel they had just agonized themselves over.<\/p>\n
Frankly, then, it's quite probable that by the time they reach
\nhome that afternoon they had spent an equal amount of money to
\nwhat they saved, and expended a great deal of time, energy and
\nfrustration in to the bargain. For public transport drivers, this
\nis compounded by the fact that they had to abandon their
\npassengers and spend more time in the traffic, thereby receiving
\nless income that day. So, what saving did they make?<\/p>\n
It's incredible how counter-productive this mass hysteria is.
\nWhen people rush the banks in fear of their bankruptcy, their
\nvery act could cause this bankruptcy, which in calmer conditions
\nwould be unthinkable. Even the soundest bank can be broken when
\nit's rushed due to baseless rumors. The same applies to the fear
\nof price increases that made people hoard foodstuffs; the act
\nitself could be construed as the main source of price rises that
\nwould otherwise have been minimized. And now, the fuel rush!<\/p>\n
It's clear that our people are now paying the costs for the
\ninefficient and ineffective governance over the last 30 years.
\nHowever, it's also clear that, ultimately, in every society, the
\npeople deserve the government they have. We deserve the
\ngovernment we have. We deserve the kinds of high ranking
\nofficials who say one thing one day and withdraw or rephrase it
\nthe next day.<\/p>\n
The same ones who withdraw a decree on the very day it's meant
\nto be implemented; the ones who repeatedly propagate
\nconstitutionalism and Pancasila self-servingly and selectively;
\nwho regularly come up with unintelligent, sometimes laughable
\nremarks, unaware that our people are no longer a bunch of
\nignoramuses. It is true though there are still many
\nunderprivileged who will temporarily worship their leaders for
\nfeeding them a free lunch for two weeks. Many say that our
\ncurrent cabinet minister are funnier than Srimulat, our funniest
\ngroup of comedians.<\/p>\n
Our students shall inherit this failure in the years to come
\nwhen they leave university. They'll have to face the uncertain
\nfuture before their eyes. Are they going to get a decent job or
\nwill they just end up being another statistic on the list of our
\neducated unemployed? More urgent than that, are they going to
\nhave public vehicles take them to and from school for Rp 100? It
\nwas a tough daily struggle for them before the bus fares hike
\nsince few public vehicles drivers would let them ride in or even
\non their vehicles.<\/p>\n
Yet when they voice their anxiety, they're told what a
\ncardinal sin they've committed by being involved in \"practical
\npolitics\" when they're main duty is studying. We, in fact, should
\nquestion the effectiveness of our education system if our
\nstudents remain silent amid the rampant injustice, inequality,
\nviolations and mismanagement of the country they try to study in.<\/p>\n
Today more and more people are probably fed up with being
\napolitical or politically correct. Political correctness has
\nbrought about stagnation among our people. One simply can't
\nexpect a country to be successfully run with a political literate
\nor a propaganda fed people. So yes, even a priest needs to be
\n\"political\" and one assumes that was what led Father Sandyawan to
\ndo what he did, and rightly so.<\/p>\n
Can anyone really be completely apolitical? It very much
\ndepends on how politics is defined. Is talking about and fighting
\nfor social justice being political? Is speaking up against gross
\nviolations of human rights in society a manifestation of
\npolitical mindedness? I think so, however at least we can
\ndistinguish being political in a bureaucratic sense and
\n\"political\" in an altruistic sense.<\/p>\n
No concerned citizen can be absolutely free from being
\n\"political\". Men are political animals by nature. They have to
\nstrive for their political rights at all times. It is, hence,
\nquite unacceptable for our ministers to blast the students or
\nRomo Sandyawan as being inappropriately political, in accordance
\nwith their \"duties and responsibilities\", backgrounds or \"job
\ndescriptions\".<\/p>\n
This is what we have as a nation: a people who are politically
\nill-empowered due to decades of systematic conditioning and
\nrepression, who resort to riots, rushes and panic instead of
\nusing their persuasive power and institution, which
\nunderstandably have long been sedated, to solve their problems,
\nanxieties and dissatisfaction. There are only two options:
\nchanging or dying.<\/p>",
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