The Shackled Freedom of Citizens
“I want to be myself. I want the decisions I make to depend not on others, but on myself. I want to be a subject, not an object,” stated Isaiah Berlin in 1969.
What Isaiah Berlin said serves as the foundation for my analysis in this article, which broadly addresses an issue that I believe is urgently needed by Indonesian citizens today. The concepts we call freedom and morality are what I intend to discuss here. Freedom, as described by Isaiah Berlin, is fundamental for an individual in a civilised society. Citizens, including intellectuals, are entities that cannot be shackled or dictated in all aspects of their lives.
Freedom, according to Isaiah Berlin, has two meanings. First, freedom in the negative sense, which relates to how an individual can obtain protection, appreciation, and space to express political, economic, cultural, and identity aspirations. Second, freedom in the positive sense is the freedom that every individual hopes for in the sense of wanting to be master of oneself. They want to achieve what they desire without interfering with or being interfered with by others, so they can become subjects over themselves.
It is such a condition that we are currently facing, when Indonesia’s position is gripped by foreign political and economic policies of America as a kind of world political and economic ruler, even though it is in disarray due to the Middle East war, particularly with Iran, which has proven to be very resilient, unlike what Donald Trump imagined when he thought Iran would surrender in a week. Iran, after being bombarded relentlessly and the death of their supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is now succeeded by his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, has truly become a very tough opponent for America and Israel. Even America and Israel are thrown into chaos by the weapons possessed by Iran’s military.
Politics of Conquest
The impact of the war between America and Israel versus Iran also affects Indonesia economically and politically. As a country that imports fuel oil for gas needs and so on, Indonesia cannot survive if the war continues to rage. Indonesia is strongly suspected of facing a fuel bankruptcy, especially LPG, diesel, petrol, and Pertamax. If all of it truly cannot be obtained because Iran closes all fuel oil access to the entire world, especially countries that Iran strongly suspects are close to America, then Indonesia is truly in danger.
We have also witnessed post-Eid al-Fitr that unemployment has started to appear everywhere due to layoffs carried out by several companies that previously employed many workers. Currently, for reasons of efficiency, some companies are reducing their workforce, such as PT Gudang Garam, Uniqlo, and Matahari, which have laid off some of their employees. Even more terrifying is the threat made by the state to those who are PPPK (Government Employees with Work Agreements) employees; if they are unwilling to be paid half for six months, prepare to be laid off or dismissed, to be replaced by other employees who are willing to accept half pay for six months.
Such conditions clearly threaten citizens personally. Citizens are truly under a politics of conquest. Citizens are in a very constrained condition due to state policies and the companies that employ them. If layoffs continue everywhere, what will happen is a wave of unemployment spreading rampantly. Swelling unemployment means more and more citizens who lack bargaining power politically and economically. Citizens are only in a very marginal position. Citizens are in the position of becoming “servants” and becoming a nation of coolies. Yet in essence, this nation is an independent nation. Citizens become slaves in their own country because of the actions of the state and other countries’ policies that make this nation increasingly miserable, yet the state leaders still endorse what the conquerors demand.
The issues of violence occurring in this country against its citizens are also increasingly apparent in recent months. The terror carried out by a group of people against several democracy and human rights activists in Indonesia shows us that citizens’ freedom is still far from our hopes. Of course, we do not hope for unlimited individual freedom. Everything is limited by others’ freedom. Limited by the law. However, fundamental individual freedoms such as expressing differing opinions cannot be shackled just for saying that it disturbs political stability and is prone to provocation.
The violence and terror that have recently afflicted democracy activists on campus and off campus indicate a conquest over citizens using various instruments possessed by the state. Even, the big question is that the politics of conquest is also supported by civil society forces, namely religious organisations that feel the need to protect the state from various anarchic actions and demonstrations carried out by its citizens. This is truly an irony that occurs in a country with a great deal of civil power. However, in practice, civil power turns into a supporter.