Bring back colonialism?

Bring back colonialism?

In his letter in The Jakarta Post of May 5 edition, David
Wallis yearns for a revival of colonialism. "Bring back
colonialism, is the only answer", he says, having come to the
conclusion that there is no hope left for democracy or fairness
in Indonesia.

I have sometimes read the letters read by David and found them
interesting. After all it is a letter written by a Westerner,
judging by the name. Perhaps the writer's longing for a return to
colonialism reconfirms this.

Nevertheless, I would be less inclined to read any further
letters by the same author having read his statements on
colonialism.

Of the little that I have read concerning that period and the
colonialist attitudes that prevailed at the time, and as an
Englishman, I am obliged to regard it with shame. The often
painful process of democracy, as history has shown, is not a
quick one. It is slow and it is frequently frustrating, but it is
a process nevertheless.

If David's defeatist attitude is right, then why didn't we
revert back to a primitive state and start gnawing flyblown meat
off the bone again? Why didn't we start grunting and pounding our
chests again at the slightest sign of danger? Why didn't we give
up, abandon our cars and our innumerable advancements and return
to the dark ages?

I imagine that most people would like to see democracy
flourish (not everyone), but it is narcissistic to believe that
it must all take place within one person's lifetime.

So what do you yearn for David? Completion? Closure? One way
or another? The frustration is not seeing the light at the end of
the tunnel. We may need a Hubble telescope to see democracy in
Indonesia, and the life that we have in mind, but by the same
token, there are a myriad of galaxies that we cannot see with the
naked eye and yet we believe they are there. Have a little faith.

JOHN CHRISTIAN TORR, Jakarta