Anticipating social change in RI (2)

Anticipating social change in RI (2)

By Ignas Kleden

This is the second of two articles on development and the
accompanying changes the people have to face.

JAKARTA (JP): It is quite obvious that more participation in
political affairs will bring about more contributions, as well as
problems. It is almost impossible to ask the people to do more,
while expecting them to demand less. A sense of belonging, even
in political affairs, entails both more engagement and more
distancing. This is a psychological commonplace which can be
observed everywhere: The closer you are to somebody, the more
aware you will be of his or her strengths and weaknesses. In this
connection there is no reason whatsoever why this psychological
tendency should not hold true for those involved in politics.

In the mid-1960s it was easier to influence the people to
restrain themselves from active political involvement. For one
thing, everybody at that time was faced with the common crisis
that the whole national economy was very likely to collapse. For
another, there were real reasons for the people to tolerate the
condition of limited participation, because relative political
stability was still a necessary precondition in which to embark
upon a new economic venture.

This logic lacks its validity nowadays because the reasons
just mentioned above are more or less outdated. To a certain
extent there are more people enjoying an improvement in living
standards which was unprecedented in the previous decades. The
pressure of economic problems has been considerably alleviated.
Besides that, the general political condition seems to have been
reversed from too little stability to too much stability. In that
regard, the sort of concern we have has changed substantially. In
the past it was legitimate to be concerned about too much
participation, which could eventually engender political
instability, but nowadays it is more logical to be concerned
about too little participation, which could injure the
continuation of our development project.

After the fall of oil prices, we were struck by the fact
that our government, with all its funds and forces, could not
afford to finance the entire development program by itself. The
economic participation of the entire society as compared to the
sole activity of the state has become a necessity. However, to
enhance economic participation, while restraining, or regulating,
political involvement, is not only very difficult but tends to be
counterproductive. At this juncture we have to look into some
cultural features which have been maintained in the political
praxis, but which nevertheless should be reconsidered if we are
determined to encourage active economic participation and more
inventive initiatives. It is of course impossible to scrutinize
all of the related cultural features which should be taken into
account. Some of the most basic cultural propensities, however,
are worth mentioning, albeit just in passing.

Political sensitivity seems to play such a big role in our
cultural behavior. This is time and again emphasized when we are
faced with criticism in general and political criticism in
particular. However our habit of underscoring refinement in
political articulation should be gradually replaced by the civil
courage to look into the substance rather than to dwell eagerly
upon the formal appearance.

This is a very necessary and urgent change, not only because
of the reasons for cultural conversion, but rather because we
have to find modes of behavior which are more compatible with the
necessary economic efficiency and economic competitiveness which
is based on cultural simplicity.

By cultural simplicity I mean the new capacity and tendency to
emphasize culture rather than formal refinement for the sake of
economic and technical profit. This means explicitness, which
might be harsh and blunt sometimes, instead of the linguistically
and socially costly roundabout before getting to the point.

Or more willingness to get hurt, if necessary, in order to
come closer to the truth, as well as the readiness for simple
clarity instead of being fond of running the unnecessary detour
in order to secure the social elegance which makes for esthetic
vagueness.

To make a long story short, we cannot rely further merely on
our cultural values, while claiming that they are good simply
because they are part of our legacy. What is badly needed is to
recast those values in order that they do not contradict all the
goals which have become the aims of the project of national
development.

It seems to me, that a sort of cultural disenchantment is
necessary if we do not want to get trapped into unnecessary
contradiction between the changing material realities and our
idealized cultural world. Changes are there, and they are there
as a result of our political-economic interventions. Let us
rediscover the truth of the old saying: It is much better to
light a candle than to condemn darkness.

The writer has a masters degree in Philosophy from Hochschule
fur Philosophie, Munich (1982) and a doctorate degree in
Sociology from Bielefeld University, Germany (1995). He is now
working with the Jakarta-based SPES research center.