Silenced

Allah,

I hear that voice

The sound of misery

The voice of agony

Allah,

I'm still listening

The wind of violence

The storm of injustice

Allah,

I can't stop listening

The explotion of dread

The wave of chill

Allah,

I can see clearly now

It's dark and painful

Allah,

It's killing

It's crazy

This extraordinary of inhuman and insanity

The hell of deafness and blindness

Silenced

Oh Allah,

Forgive me..

*Palestine will be free, Insya Allah*

The Grotesque Face of Democracy

Today, democracy is a widespread system in the world. Many countries had taken this system to rule their country. People also think that democracy is the best system for rule a country than undemocratic governments, such as dictatorship, authoritarianism, totalitarianism, and repressiveness, which had happened in the past. In addition, undemocratic governments just caused war, violence, misery, and other dreadful things in this world. Therefore, democracy comes to heal the wound of atrocity in the entire world. However, this sincere expectation to democracy seems has not paid yet. Why? It is because democracy itself born into various meanings so then practically, democracy does not have the same form through over the world, included United States of America, European countries, and also Indonesia. Even, there are many complex issues raise because of the implementation of democracy. So, is it true that democracy bring its virtue for all people in the world like in the theory? Or, democracy actually just gives the downside for people? From all of those reasons, a country should not implement democracy system because it results more disadvantages than the advantages.

            Literally, democracy comes from Latin’s word, demos (society) and kratos (government). In history, democracy was originated from ancient Greek civilization in 500 BC. There were many Greek philosophers was deemed that they had given great contribution to the development of democracy. Later, democracy grew up and became prevalent ideas among many countries in Europe until it goes to the Middle East now (Iskandar, 2009:8-9). In Indonesia itself, democracy emerged after the New Order era fell down and then changed to Reformation era in 1998.

            In fact, democracy just wins in the theory but not in the reality. The theory said that democracy is from the people, by the people, and for the people somehow cannot drive a country to construct the government like on it. Take, for example Indonesian democracy. “Kepala Divisi Penelitian Lembaga Penelitian, Pendidikan dan Penerangan Ekonomi dan Sosial (LP3ES) Kurniawan Zein berpendapat hasil survei IndoBarometer merupakan lonceng krisis kepercayaan masyarakat pada lembaga demokrasi. Rakyat tidak hanya kecewa dengan kinerja pemerintahan Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono melainkan terhadap tiga institusi demokrasi yakni eksekutif, legislatif dan yudikatif” (vivanews.com). It indicates that the government’s work does not produce a development through the condition of the society. It seems that there is a huge gap between the government and society. Therefore, democracy proves to society that it cannot bring the merits for Indonesian.

            Besides, democracy seems do not have strong standard or principle in practice. It does so because democracy tends to show off freedom excessively. It makes as if there are no border and limitation in everything. Thus, there are many issues like, free sex, drug abuse, pornography, privatization, terrorism, corruption, abortion arouse because the moral, ethic, and law are weakened by the freedom. Those freedoms also create chaos which egoism, individualism, selfishness, greed, and fanatic collide each other. The law is likes an object that can be sold and bought easily. Moreover, the law makers (legislative) also seems do not tend to the society and even they support the elite or their own interest.

            Furthermore, democracy produces poverty, economic imperialism, social disintegration, etc. It is because democracy cannot avoid the influence of capitalism and liberalism systems which have high effect to the economic system and social life of democratic government. Democracy always create many opportunity of the open access to the capitalism and liberalism in this globalization era. Even though some economist believe that the Adam Smith’s thought about capitalist economy (neo-liberalism) can create prosperity to the society but the reality seems cannot be hidden that this system bring misery to the global economy (Triono, 2009:79). They produce high discrepancy between rich and poor people. Everything can be bought, even law, if anyone has much money and authority. This undemanding access also makes Indonesian government has to bear swollen debt (Triono, 2009:122). Besides, high exploitation of natural resources in Indonesia also easily happens because of the fragile law (privatization policy) and the delicate power of Indonesian government.

            In addition, democracy such create imbalance social life because of the existence of human rights. Almost in every case about violence, terrorism, sexual-harassment is always connected with human rights. However, democracy seems does not really support the human rights even though it give great space for human rights’ existence. For instance, the issue of Palestine and Israel which have not been solved yet until now is the evidence that democracy blinds with human rights and humanity. Even, the United States of America, the greatest democratic government in the world that masterminds human rights, cannot do anything to stop the Israel’s imperialism toward Palestinian. The United States of America even supports Israel to continue their imperialism in Palestine. In 2008, America gave fund to Israel around 120 million dollars to help the economy and the military of Israel (Khairi&Bukhari, 2009:199). Where is their humanity? Not only USA but also every country in this world, United Nations, Arab League, and even Indonesia, who is admitted as the greatest Muslim in the world, just ignore the suffering of Palestinian there. They pretend to become deaf, blind, and dumb when they have to face the conflict of Palestine and Israel. Probably, just few people who still have humanity to save and help Palestinian try hard to make them free.

However, people seem cannot rebuff that democracy is a better system the repressive governments nowadays because the theory lead to a government which can create prosperity, justice, and safety to the country. So, some countries take this system to create a better government than the repressive government. Some western thinkers also still support the democracy and keep in faith that democracy is the best system today. They also think that people still have chance to create a good democracy to lead a government.

In fact, the theory of democracy cannot imply to the reality and cannot be proven in practice. So that, we have to face the reality that democracy actually bring dreadful things than its virtues in the theory. People have to open their eyes, their hearts, and their minds that democracy is the ill system. Therefore, a country should not implement democracy system in creating the real prosperity, justice, and safety.

References: 

http://politik.vivanews.com/news/read/220698-ini-krisis-lembaga-demokrasi--tak-hanya-sby

Iskandar, A.B. (ed). 2009. Ilusi Negara Demokrasi. Bogor: Al-Azhar Press.

Khairi,G.A, Bukhari,A. 2009. Air Mata Palestina. Jakarta: Hi-Fest Publishing.

Triyono, D.C. 2009. Demokrasi dan Ancaman Ekonomi Neo-Liberal. In Iskandar, A.B. (ed) Ilusi Negara Demokrasi. Bogor: Al-Azhar Press.

Triyono, D.C. 2009. Demokrasi Penjajah Ekonomi. In Iskandar, A.B. (ed) Ilusi Negara Demokrasi. Bogor: Al-Azhar Press.

Democracy or “Democrazy”?

“Democracy is from the people, by the people, and for the people!” That was an Abraham Lincoln’s statement which is reminded of not only American people but also people in the world. Democracy emerged to fight authoritarianism and totalitarianism when people had bored with arbitrariness of the king and church, and also the intimate life of nobles. What about democracy in Indonesia? A democratic government was a cry of Indonesian in the Reformation era in 1998, because before Indonesia was known as the Javanese feudal kingdom under the government of Soeharto which was similar to authoritarianism and militarism. However, today democracy causes some complex issues in Indonesia because democracy is defined wider. For those, there are some unresolved issues in Indonesia because of the wider definition of democracy.

Generally, democracy is defined as a system of government in which every citizen can vote to elect its government officials. So, the citizens free to choose the government officials by a general election in every democratic country like Indonesia. However, democracy is considered as more than just a voting activity by election nowadays. It is defined as a system which brings freedom of everything. This freedom make citizens deem that everything in this country is based on freedom. The first point of freedom is freedom of speech. Every citizen can give their opinion or disagreement to the government by action like a protest demonstration. It is very contrast with New Order era when societies did not have rights to critics the government. However, this freedom can cause riot when some groups of people have different arguments.

The second point is freedom of ownership. According to the reality, Indonesia is well-known as a rich country of natural resources, picturesque cities, mountains, and tourism objects. In fact, those beauties are not appropriate in the reality. Many Indonesian societies are still inside the circle of poverty. It can be reflected on many laws which do not take side with citizens. For instance, the government policy of privatization in Indonesia gives a huge opportunity to foreign and private companies that can influence the economy system. As a result, many natural resources are grabbed by private and foreign companies because Indonesian laws give the freedom of ownership. Take for example, PT. Freeport which is owned by the United States of America. This company can obtain profit around 90% of the gold mine in Papua and Indonesia just can gain profit around 1-5% from PT. Freeport. In addition, PT. PERTAMINA has to compete with other private oil companies, such as Shell, Exxon Mobil, Mobil Oil, etc. Those are diabolical laws that make poverty in Indonesia become wider.

The third point of democracy is freedom of faith or religion. As we know, Indonesia law had admitted and protected the citizens to believe on their faith or religion freely. However, this freedom causes some issues like religious cults. One example of religious cults is Ahmadiyah which very controversial in Indonesia nowadays. Even though the government has controlled the law for freedom of religion it does not mean that there is no boundary of this freedom. What we can see in Ahmadiyah is clearly deviate from Islam. Absolutely, there is no other prophet after Muhammad, but Ahmadiyah admitted that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is also a prophet. In fact, the government is still in a hard situation to judge this issue because many societies argue for and against of this issue. Moreover, there are many religious cults in Indonesia which can make societies feel anxious, such as Salamullah, Qiyadah Islamiyah, etc.

The last point is freedom of expression. Take, for example, pornography. Although the government had formed the law of pornography in Indonesia, some people still argue against this law. In addition, the law of pornography actually is not really strict and cannot solve pornography issues in Indonesia fully. Because of some reasons like mass media or some importance of movie production, pornography still exists in societies. Certainly, it can jeopardize children and teenagers in Indonesia.

From all of those points, democracy which theoretically can be a solution for the better Indonesia actually just makes Indonesia become in worse condition. This condition unfortunately is also strengthened by some people or organizations that support humans right fanatically. People who think that human right is number one will base every problem on it. Therefore, Indonesian laws become weak also because people always think that human right should be number one and cannot be fought. This is actually also an explanation form of freedom.

Democracy which is defined wider as a form of freedom causes serious issues and some negative effects to Indonesian. The government in Indonesia should be strong and firm to erect the law in Indonesia. There is no fully freedom and absolute in this life although we have freedom because this life is controlled by The Mighty.

Indonesian Societies’ Disbelief toward Governments

Recently, governments have to face on many burning issues in Indonesia. Those issues have not solved yet until now. Even, the governments themselves involve in those issues. It is very irony when the governments always promise that they will solve those issues have to encounter their own people. It seems that the governments are busy in coping those issues than giving attention to society. The governments’ authority is getting down because of their attitude to society. Thus, many unresolved issues and governments’ involvement as the subjects to the issues makes societies’ beliefs begin to fade away toward governments day by day.

The indication of the societies’ disbelief toward the governments can be proven by many societies who do not vote the general election in local governments. This case rises because societies have bored with the governments’ promises that will bring prosperity, security, and tranquility to Indonesia. In addition, the societies are also made infuriate with the attitude of the governments who have never finished in solving many complex issues in Indonesia. For instance, the issue of Ahmadiyah has not resolved yet. It is because the governments are also not firm and strict to judge this issue. Besides, many pro and contra sides involve in the process of completion of Ahmadiyah’s issue. Indonesian law itself cannot give real contributions to be the foundation of making judgment. The attitude of the governments toward this issue is unclear even though the laws have been made. The societies watch the inconsistency of the governments towards this issue.

Another issue is terrorism which recently happens again in Indonesia. This issue make society fear and anxious if terrors around them. The issue of terrorism always rises as if it is made to hide another issue. For instance, the scandal of Century Bank had burnt when the media show off about terrorism in Aceh. The governments also have never been solved terrorism even though they have been formed Densus 88.

In addition, actually a tsunami attack in Japan recently, also happens in Indonesia but not in the real meaning. The tsunami attack in Indonesia arises because the person number one in Indonesia, Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudhonoyo, was reported has abused power by two popular Australian daily news, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. The news was exactly reported by them on March 11 which coincided with the day of Supersemar. Some people probably were very shock with this new, but some others perhaps that was not astonishing news for them. Perhaps, societies have known about the bad act and behavior of the governments.

However, we, as ordinary societies, cannot blame the governments fully. It is because there are many factors which influence on the creating of policies and laws. Moreover, the Indonesian system also cannot control the governments or even society well because the system, democracy, contents with many kinds interpretation of freedom.

Now, societies are getting more criticize to the governments. Societies’ disbelief toward government is higher and higher because of many complex issues that happen in Indonesia. The condition of Indonesia and the society is also pathetic. The governments should make changes on themselves and also prove to societies that they have the ability to rule the country. Besides, they must think deeply again about the system which is inappropriate to control the society, democracy. As a society, we also have to take part and participate in solving these conditions. We cannot just ignore and silent to the issues.

The Three Ideologies

Generally, every country in the world has its own ideology. An ideology is a fundamental idea which every country must have. Without an ideology, a country does not have great aims to be reached and it cannot regulate the citizens. Nevertheless, an ideology does not only need an idea but also need a system or rule to be implemented to the country. Therefore, an idea and a system are considerable elements of an ideology. In short, there are three ideologies in the world. Those are socialism, capitalism, and Islam.

The first ideology is socialism. When colonialism and imperialism controlled the world, socialism was constructed against it. Because the economy was controlled by certain groups of people, socialism comes as the form of rejection of injustice economy. Then, socialism becomes an ideology which is based on materialism and the value of product equipments. Furthermore, the government becomes the center economy controller to make prosperity spread evenly in society. In addition, socialism wants to create justice, the equality of human rights, freedom, and democracy for the society. In 20^th century, socialism was divided into democratic socialism and communism socialism. Bolivia, Venezuela, and Cuba are the examples of socialist countries. Nowadays, those countries try to fight capitalism.

The second ideology is capitalism. At first, capitalism was concerned in economical sector. People who have much money can control the economy. In fact now, capitalism influences all sector of country, such as politics, education, or even culture. Capitalism comes into many countries nowadays and the United States of America is the super power country which brings its system to control the country. This ideology contains liberalism, democracy, and also secularism. Liberalism becomes the way of society’s life; democracy becomes the politics system, and secularism construct religion just for individual life. Even though capitalism leads the world, actually it causes many conflicts and issues in capitalist countries or even in the world. The most significant issue is a huge gap between rich people and poor people.

The last ideology is Islam. Many people think that Islam is just a religion like Catholic, Christianity, and so on. In fact, Islam is the only one ideology which can build Islam Country or Caliphate for 13 centuries. Furthermore, the idea and system which are brought by Islam are very different from socialism and capitalism. This ideology based on the Holy Quran and Sunna. In addition, human does not make the system or the rule, but this system or Islam Shariah comes from God which was sent to Prophet Muhammad SAW. In general, there are three aspects of life which is controlled by Islam. The first is the relationship between humans and God, the second is the relationship between human and himself, and the last is the relationship between human and society. Even though many countries become socialist and capitalist countries, there is no country which implements Islam as ideology today.

All countries in the world have its own ideology which becomes an essential element to regulate and control the country. Those three ideologies, socialism, capitalism, and Islam, have great differences in idea and system. No matter how they build their countries, an ideology still becomes a paramount substance.