Preaching economists
Interestingly, amid mounting public controversy over widening inequality and the allegedly high prevalence of malfeasance and other irregularities that accompany our robust economic growth, noted Indonesian economists have increasingly been preaching the value of conscience, common sense and public morality.
Widjojo Nitisastro, one of the country's most senior economists, dedicated most of his speech at the 45th anniversary of the Djakarta School of Economics at the University of Indonesia campus in Depok on Monday to public morality and conscience and not to economic theories, issues or the teaching of economics.
Widjojo, the architect of Indonesian economic development for more than two decades, said that schools should produce what he calls intellectual workers and not handymen or craftsmen. He said handymen differ from intellectual workers in that they do whatever their employers order without questioning if the job is against their sense of morality or conscience. Intellectual workers also do what their employers ask, but they question jobs they reckon contradict their morals and conscience. Intellectual workers use not only their brains and skills but also common sense and restraint.
Earlier this month, Finance Minister Mar'ie Muhammad, a student of Widjojo in the late 1960s, initially disappointed his audience at the Bandung Institute of Technology with a speech about social ethics and their impact on economic efficiency. After the initial shock of not being given the usual lecture on economic development, the audience became quite enthusiastic. Mar'ie told the institute's faculty members that however good a system might be, it will have loopholes that can be exploited by unscrupulous people. State Minister for Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita and State Minister for Transmigration Siswono Yudohusodo have also previously talked about what they believe to be the characteristics of good governance.
Set against the increasing hedonistic and monopolistic practices of greedy businesspeople and the pervasive official view that as long as it is legal it is ethical, the speeches calling for meaningful self-contemplation are quite refreshing.
The impressive economic development over the past three decades has significantly changed portions of our value system. The economic success has brought with it excesses, as reflected in the way we measure our lives by what we get, what we acquire and who we know. When the economy is considered the most important key to unlock every door, it is indeed natural that the worth of man is measured by his role as an economic tool.
The demands of modern materialism which are generated by the fierce economic competition have made corporeal success -- not the value of caring, the value of trying hard, the value of being trustworthy and the value of accountability -- the measure of prestige and achievement. Hence lies the relevance of the messages conveyed by Widjojo and the three ministers.
Widjojo's special reference to intellectual workers who, he said, tend to ask what is right and what is wrong is a warning that political and intellectual freedom should not be curbed while fierce economic competition is fully unleashed. Otherwise, money will reign supreme, conquering cultural and human values.