What the 2004 elections tell young generation

Thomas Hidya Tjaya, Lecturer, Driyarkara School of Philosophy, Jakarta

Many Indonesians, if not all, observe the upcoming general election with much apprehension. Logistical arrangements, including the preparation of ballot boxes, seem far from complete. People fear the election campaigns under way may easily turn into chaotic clashes to nobody's benefit.

Supporters of all election participants are fighting (often literally) for comfortable seats in legislative and government bodies. What are the seats for? To serve better the people of this country? I'm afraid not. More realistic answers, as many critics have pointed out, would be for the power, position and money that go with them.

As this political drama plays itself out, with its failings laughed at with some considerable concern, one may forget that the younger generation in this country is also watching. Both students and children who are forced from school to meet daily ends are observing their older brothers and sisters vie, often harshly and without morality, for political power. They are learning some practical lessons for thriving in the political arena, a crash course one may call "Indonesian Politics 101."

First, they will learn that if they want to accumulate plenty of wealth easily, they had better become legislators or government officials. Of course, they could get rich by becoming entrepreneurs. But economic uncertainty and volatility always loom large and might ultimately bring them to bankruptcy.

Thus, a much more assuring way to rise up the ladder of the most well-off in this country is to join the ruling elite. They will even get paid for issuing permits to those entrepreneurs who are desperate for their new projects to unfold.

Second, they will learn that they do not need knowledge about governance and other skills to be candidates. As long as they have enough money for formal registration and various gratuitous fees, they should be fine. Government buildings have long looked no different from chambers of commerce.

Of course, it would be helpful if the young generation were celebrities of some sort, for party officials would come to them and ask whether they would be willing to represent the party.

Third, they will soon find out that not even good moral standing is necessary for public office. As long as they have good political connections, sufficient blindness not to see their own faults and, of course, sufficient obstinacy to disregard what people say about them and carry on regardless, they will pave the way toward those glorious seats.

Is this to say that morality and conscience taught in class have died in their country? Hush, that's not the issue. It may be a little deceptive, but what is important is that people will still call them "representatives of the people".

Fourth, they will come to an understanding that they must fight fiercely for their ideology, their party and its leaders. Election campaigns often turn into battlefields, and they must be ready for the (physical) struggle. What is supposed to be a "feast of democracy" is often experienced as a period of chaos.

In class they may learn that democratic government is built on people's trust to hand over some of their rights to the elite for the well-being of all citizens. They may also have been taught that winning the hearts of the people requires rational debate about political and economic programs for the country.

But they may ultimately learn the lessons most from street politics in which fists and stones work more effectively to beat their opponents. Forget being rational animals. When it comes to real politics, people often somehow turn into mere animals in street violence and lose their rationality.

The list of lessons that the young generation learns about this election could be much longer. There are surely things they learn without even our knowing.

Now, what should teachers and other educators do? How are they to teach their students that power is meant to serve others and not to be abused for one's own interests? They will find it hard to teach the young generation, as Cicero the Roman politician proposed, that we human beings are born not for ourselves alone, but rather for the sake of humanity, so that we may be able to help one another, using our talents and learning.

It will be equally hard to encourage students to engage in rigorous study for their future and that of their country. The entire political scene seems to give them the impression that the pursuit of academic excellence has hardly any worth in this country. If it is money that they are after, they surely know where to go for it.

Educators may easily lose the battle against political revelers who embody the route to fame and wealth and continue to entertain the dreams of the young generation. Perhaps they can only hope that the younger generation will ultimately find wisdom in Edmund Burke's words: "If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free; if our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed."

Political education is indeed a formidable task, particularly when the current political wind goes against these ideals. Everybody in this country bears immense responsibility for the younger generation. Politicians should always be mindful of the roles they play and the examples they set. What young minds watch on TV and see in the streets may speak more loudly and remain more deeply embedded than what they receive in class.