JP\/3 \/INSIGHT<\/p>\n
Our independence: In the shadows of violence and seduction<\/p>\n
B. Herry-Priyono
\nLecturer
\nDriyarkara School
\nof Philosophy
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
The river of time has brought us again to the eve of
\nIndonesia's 58th anniversary. It may be time to prepare a
\ncelebration. A celebration could be a moment of hurrah; it could
\nbe a moment for soul searching as well. Either way, it is a
\nvirtuous moment to briefly escape from the torments of living in
\nour present predicament.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is a dream, not a reality. This may simply say
\nsomething so familiar and worn that it has become the cliche of
\nall cliches: It is an aspiration to a political community in the
\nform of a nation.<\/p>\n
A community is a group of people who share bonds of affection
\nand a moral culture in the broadest sense, and it is distinct
\nfrom an interest group. People that band together to gain
\nprivileged treatment make an interest group; those who share a
\ncertain level of geopolitical history make a community. An
\nexalted definition indeed.<\/p>\n
The fact that it is so lofty and because of this, too remote,
\ncould be gleaned from how the concept of "sharing" is too tall an
\norder. Again, we are forced to leave the utopia of normative
\ndefinition and return to the torments of our present condition.
\nAfter the political vices and virtues of the founders of this
\nrepublic in creating a nascent Indonesia, one of the torments we
\nface today is how to transform Indonesia as a mere crowd of
\npeople into Indonesia as a community.<\/p>\n
Here, what we find is not the process from crowd to community,
\nbut a quick deterioration from crowd to mob. Nowhere has this
\nshift been more pronounced than in the escalating orgy of
\nviolence in the form of acts of terror, bombings and communal
\nviolence. What has all this to do with our sense of community? It
\nis simple proven logic that violence shatters the sense of trust
\nand togetherness.<\/p>\n
Surely, unearthing the roots of this orgy of violence requires
\na thorough investigation. And, as in many other areas of public
\nlife, assigning such a difficult task to government is like going
\nout to hunt with a pack of toothless dogs.<\/p>\n
In truth, the orgy of violence is also much greater in scope
\nthan acts of terror, bombings and communal violence. It is
\nembedded in the way our media, especially television, run their
\nentertainment programs. Every time they visit Indonesia, my
\nEuropean friends are disgusted by Indonesian television, which
\nare cannibalized, if not by brainless gossip programs, then by
\nthoughtless violent films.<\/p>\n
They are not mistaken. As always, the apologists of such
\nprograms would argue that there is no connection between the
\n"bang-bang" programs and the actual, increasingly rampant
\nviolence in our society. For sure, such apologists would advance
\ntheir point with the support of vacuous statistics.<\/p>\n
What a pseudo-scientific attempt! They hardly look into the
\nproblem that the issue is not statistical, but psychological, in
\nhow the barraging images of violence penetrate deep into our
\npsyche and become a real force in forming the foundation of our
\nbasic instinct.<\/p>\n
Surely this is not the same as saying that the cannibalization
\nof our media by violence has a causal link to, for example, the
\nBali or JW Marriott bombings. What it says is that the orgy of
\nviolence in our society is more commonplace than these tragedies,
\nand ours has increasingly become a society that is ambivalent
\ntoward violence: It is loathed and simultaneously liked, and it
\nis despised and simultaneously celebrated.<\/p>\n
It is through the orgy of violence that our sense of community
\nis banalized and shattered. It is wise, however, to pose the
\nfollowing devil's advocate question: Should the orgy of violence
\ncease, will the banalization of our society also stop?<\/p>\n
Most likely not.<\/p>\n
The above question may sound strange and, because of it, is
\nhardly raised. To raise this question is by no means to underrate
\nthe urgency for solutions to the orgy of violence. What it says
\nis that the corrosion of our society comes not only from the orgy
\nof violence, but also from the orgy of seduction.<\/p>\n
Again, what we have in our media, television and mushrooming
\nvoyeuristic print-media in particular, could be taken as an
\nexample. Turn on any television channel, and in a matter of a few
\nseconds we will find ourselves stupefied by mindless programs,
\nmostly presenting gossip, celebrity chat shows and other
\nvoyeuristic programs. This is an economy founded upon the
\ncommercial preying of voyeurism.<\/p>\n
Or, going to most newsstands on any city boulevard, we would
\nfind more and more gossip, life-style and celebrities magazines,
\nad infinitum, all valorizing brainless consumerist cults. All are
\ntargeted at the consumption of the mindless cupidity of youth,
\ndazed by the ecstasy of voyeurism. As expected, the apologists
\nwould argue that such is the demand of most people, ergo they
\nprovide the supply. Ooh, come on, don't we remember Say's law
\nthat "supply creates demand"?<\/p>\n
Indeed, in this process of banalization, depth is by
\ndefinition lack of accessibility. It takes only a short step for
\nthis cultural banality to become interchangeable with vacuity.
\nThe credo of this cultural banality or vacuity is proudly
\nadvertised, for example, by A Mild cigarette: Gue berpikir,
\nkarena itu gue tambah bingung (I think, therefore I become more
\nconfused).<\/p>\n
What has all this to do with the problem besieging Indonesia?
\nIf the orgy of violence shatters the potential fabric of a
\ncommunity, the orgy of seduction banalizes the potential
\nintellectual depth by which a political community called
\nIndonesia is made possible.<\/p>\n
In the midst of such orgies of seduction, we should not be
\nsurprised then if people would vote for murderers, thugs or
\ncorruptors as leaders of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Indeed, as the late Antonio Gramsci, a renowned Italian
\nthinker, warned us a long time ago, monstrous power operates
\nthrough dual faces: Coercion, and what appears as consent.<\/p>",
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