Bottom-up economic reform

The majority of Indonesians live in villages. Yet they do not have any influence on the economic state of the nation. Many remain poor and struggle to survive. It appears that the top- bottom economic development, as engineered by Western educated technocrats in Jakarta, has been based upon individualism, capitalism, materialism, consumerism and corporate dominance.

These ideas are in conflict with traditional village values, namely gotong royong (collectivism), community living, harmony, holism, family kinship, agriculture and cooperative entrepreneurship. In essence, the current economic development has caused villagers to become consumers of goods and services produced by giant corporations. They are no longer self-reliant. They are no longer able to produce their basic staples (rice, tapioca, coconut oil, sago, vegetable, meat, milk, eggs etc.), traditional clothes (cotton sarongs, batiks, silk, wool, etc.) and traditional means of transportation (e.g. horse-drawn buggy, pedicab, bicycles, horses).

Their clothes have been replaced by synthetic fabrics such as polyester, nylon and plastic. Their basic foods have been replaced by packaged foods such as instant noodles, cookies, packaged spices, bottled and canned beverages, and even hamburgers and hot dogs.

Credit cards and mobile phones are being used by people in villages. Plastic bags are scattered everywhere. Many villages are overrun with motorcycles emitting foul and black smoke. Traditional herbal medicine has been replaced by expensive imported chemical drugs. This basic unit of Indonesian society is currently affected by malaise and paralysis.

In my opinion, what we need is a bottom-up economic reform and not a top-bottom economic reform. Trickle-down economy does not work for Indonesia. Economic policies should emphasize plans that strengthen the socioeconomic structure of villages, not only the urban areas.

Villages should be able to utilize natural resources to generate basic staples and commodities (rice fields are disappearing because villagers are selling the land to investors of real estate, agro- and techno-industries and tourism industry). Villagers should be allowed to have shares and influence in the companies operating in their areas.

The current economic reform recommended by IMF will only increase control by foreign companies over our national resources and will weaken our basic village socioeconomic structure.

Natural resources belong to the people and not companies of foreign countries. To put it bluntly, money from Jakarta should be piped down the line (without being siphoned off) to reach the villages, to strengthen village socioeconomic structures.

The economic situation stimulates migration to urban areas and big cities. Hence, the development of dirty, overcrowded and over-polluted megapolitan and cosmopolitan cities. We have to reverse the trend by enhancing the villages' socioeconomics properly without destroying our traditional values and strengths.

This will require a national village socioeconomic master plan based on our cultural heritage and philosophy. Representation of the village people in the government should be based upon election and not appointment.

A team should be established in each village to help stimulate, facilitate, organize and supervise village socioeconomic activities based on collectivism, cooperative philosophy and consensus validation. Strong village socioeconomic structures will guarantee the resilience and strength of our nation.

K. PRIBADI

Cimahi, West Java