Soothsayers in our society<\/p>\n
If the general election campaign was not in full swing, this
\nweek could probably be called the "week of soothsayers". Our
\nnewspapers are filled with reports about a homicidal soothsayer
\nin Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, whose victims are now said to
\nhave reached the incredible number of 42. Even more notable is
\nthe fact that, since the beginning of this month, 17 soothsayers
\nhave been holding practice in one of metropolitan Jakarta's
\nmodern shopping centers, Blok M Plaza.<\/p>\n
The thing to note is that, so far, we have been conditioned to
\nbelieve that due to both the success of our development efforts
\nand the swelling tide of modernization, Indonesians have become
\nmore or less modern -- or at least trapped and compelled to live
\nin a modern world environment. We are living amidst icons of
\nmodernity -- which appear in various forms, from skyscrapers to
\nour social system and institutions -- that can be defined only in
\nmodern jargon. How, then, are we to explain the reemergence, or
\npersistence, of soothsayers in our society?<\/p>\n
We are entering an era of skyscrapers, luxury cars and
\nfreeways, but we have not passed the phase of exhaustive
\npreparation. We drive cars, but we have not adopted the necessary
\nculture of road courtesy. We covet high academic degrees, but we
\nrefuse to take the trouble of adopting a culture of study or
\nimprove our academic standards. We want democracy, but we refuse
\nto accept the strains that come from allowing differing opinions.
\nWe are not ready to accept pluralism.<\/p>\n
Perhaps we could simplify all this by saying that we are
\nmodern in terms of our symbolical orientation, but have remained
\ntraditional in our cosmological orientation. We adopt academic
\ndegrees, drive luxury cars, wear brand-name apparel and talk
\nabout our system and strategy in modern jargon -- yet, at the
\nslightest sign of trouble, we resort to the services of
\nsoothsayers.<\/p>\n
-- Kompas, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soothsayers-in-our-society-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }