The awareness to nationalism has emerged since a hundred years; still this Republic is away from its idea. The fluctuation of political condition is truly affected. The elite politics is more loyal to its interest of either personal or faction than setting the interest of public as a primary.
The consequence is recorded through its history the presence of certain point that needs to be corrected: Old Order by New Order, New Order by Reformation Movement. Reformation Movement is initially expected to be an entrance of changing to pursue the Republic’s idea. We are then entering a time of transition creating persons with no self-control, full of desire to pursue self-interest who leap into a living space.
This living space is getting crowded. This living space notes people attempting to compel their subjective truth to be accepted and performed by others and social bandits elected as government leaders or as members of the House. It is hard to expect such persons perform effective efforts and produce strategic policies that are able to employ all resources for collective benefit.
The government bureaucracy goes behind its previous practice: creating permit procedure and opportunistic. The time of transition is hard, but, can we comprehend this as a phase of detoxification to make this Republic better? Or, is it assumed as an uncontrolled condition and a must to set back to New Order? Do we surrender or appear as a subject of agent of change?
Subject and Virtue
The perspective of cultural sociology questions whether our behavior is determined by external structure or we determine the external structure. This desired structure is a system within which we interact as a social creature; e.g. system of culture. We grow up and develop through absorbing and learning certain values and system of culture. Our aptitude of employing language, of adapting to social norms harmonically is a proof of our living and absorbing system of culture.
Routine practices and self-creation exhibit a fact that we are successor agent of that social structure. If we only routinely practice the social system in which we are living, this civilization will be stagnant and has no leap or change. So, how can we explain the presence of such individuals or groups as the inventors and leaders that alter the social order? However, human being is unique rational being. Human’s social behavior is frequently aggravated by some internal motives such as interest, desire, and personal preference (Turner, Bran S (ed) 2006: The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology).
Those individuals who can produce change or novel social order are the subject. In this context, no individual can determine the self to be the subject. Event emerges the subject. Every event is the multiplication of another. The subject appear when action of and decision of individual isolate himself from the context to promote an event altering the situation. Instead of emerged by event, chance and consequence to the action or decision are another prerequisite of the subject. When decision and action are performed, another variable is possibly to appear and hinder them so that no situation is altered or in reverse.
In fact we are never able to point what is called ‘chance’ unless it is done (post factum). The consequence is that it is essential to be loyal to the action and decision. Because, someday what is decided may become novel event that change the situation (Badiou, A. 2004: Infinite Thought: Truth and the Return to Philosophy)
On this point, the presence of virtue in one’s character is chief. Virtue can be triggering motive to individual to act. Virtue is abstract conception on what is assumed as the good such as wisdom, courage, justice, humanity, generosity, and self control.
The criteria of virtue is there on every culture, is expected to be there, and if is lost everyone is regretful, and when is done can grant the feeling of fullness or satisfaction to the performer.
You can feel it when you are donating, helping others, and standing for justice. Such characters make the founding fathers loyal to the value of humanity though they are being jailed or exiled. Eventually they become the subject for liberating a nation (a novel situation). Their loyalty to the value of humanity is noted in our Preamble of Constitution 1945: expanding the public’s wealth, educating the nation, creating world’s peace and creating just and prosperous society.
The Republic of the Youth
However, the New Order, during its 30 years government, succeeds to plant a regime mental at least in one generation. This mental structure is a result of patterns of interaction and communication performed by New Order. Not only those who ‘serve’ it but also its oppositions are in the same frame of mental.
An answer cannot be accomplished using a same mindset that creates the problem, think out of the box. For reformation and its republic idea to be accomplished, a generation that is not trapped to the previous mindset and creative and innovative is needed. In this situation the idea from the youth appears. They relatively have distance from the mental and the practice of New Order.
This generation appears in every field. Indonesian movie (culture), for example, is awaken because of concerns given by the youth to its movie. Economy is preceded; companies succeed because of the work of the youth not of the government’s or military’s intervention. Politic is starting it. Political preference of the public has expected no old faces. Borrowing a friend’s term, its political soil has been good, and it is the time to start planting and developing.
The character f virtue inside us may trigger us to dedicate for make this nation better in whatever field we are. What we need is a loyalty to our belief for it is only the matter of time for generation to be changed; if it is not next year, 2014 will be. Meanwhile, the connection and interaction among the youth so far need to be expanded so that this Republic’ vision and idea are secured still. So, a Republic of the Youth is ready to be accomplished.
Source of Indonesian Text:
Chris Panggabean, Mewujudkan Cita-cita Republik dengan Keutamaan. KOMPAS edisi Jumat 27 Juni 2008.
