Public poorly equipped to handle crime
JAKARTA (JP): The increase in the country's violent crime rate reflects society's inability to solve conflict, a prominent intellectual asserts.
"When we encounter conflict, we promptly resort to beating. When we dislike someone we always resort to violence," Soerjanto Poespowardojo said in a seminar here Saturday.
Soerjanto was referring to a number of recent violent incidents in Jakarta and the regions, most of which, he said, stemmed from minor incidents.
Earlier this month, a mob in Jakarta attempted to burn the house of a suspect accused of brutally murdering a woman and her three children who lived next door.
"Ours is a society whose knowledge about solving conflicts is limited to physical means. We have never recognized conflicts in the domain of opinions or ideas," said the professor of philosophy from the University of Indonesia at the seminar organized by the Union of Catholic Students of the Republic of Indonesia.
This explains the people's dislike of criticism, an essential ingredient toward a more dynamic society, he said.
Resorting to physical means will lead to exclusivity and primordialism in society, he warned.
The root of the problem is the asymmetric growth of the economy vis-a-vis social value systems, attitude and mentality of the people over the last 25 years, he said. The economy keeps on growing but social values do not change.
"The gap between the two has reached such a serious level that it needs to be addressed urgently, lest our development efforts be in jeopardy," Soerjanto said.
The gap, he said, manifests itself in numerous fashions, but especially with respect to the excessive importance people put on material things.
"The yardstick of success is wealth, not social values. People look at wealth and top positions as accomplishments while ignoring the possibly unethical ways used in winning them," he said.
The gap is also reflected in the government's "security approach" in relation to development issues, which partly explains the revocation of printed media publications and the notorious permit regulation required for social gatherings.
Soerjanto singled out educating the public as the single most important objective in the next 25 years of development efforts.
"The nation badly needs a total social and cultural transformation. This means waging a battle against feudalism to pave the way for democratization," he said.
But, he added, this is only possible in an open, free and just society.
Other speakers at the Atmajaya Catholic University seminar were social psychologist Bernadette Setiadi and Franz Magnis- Suseno, a professor at the Driyarkara School of Philosophy (hbk).