REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, By Nasihin Masha
Ruchir Sharma, a scholar of Indian origin. He wrote a very interesting book, Breakout Nations; In Pursuit of the Next Economic Miracles. He analyzed the countries that could be looming in the near future.
Sharma started writing with a picture that is very poetic and impressive. Its caption: Not all trees grow to the sky. That's the analogy of nations surpassed other nations in the world. According to him, there is no special recipe to be a great nation. Each one has their own way. Then he ended the paper with images of rowing people. He said: When there is no wind, row*. In Indonesia, he warned that the threat of a political dynasty could derail the pace of Indonesia to become a great nation. Yet today Indonesia has entered the emerging market countries. It's not many countries to be able like it; only 21 countries in the world.
Nothing is the same recipe for each issue and each country. Each one can find its way. The important thing is to be aware of the global trends and, of course, on their own national interests. More importantly, he predicts the future of nations. Where are you going, Indonesia?
If the criterion is about who will lead us from 2014, it seems we are in a quandary. It seems we have not found such a fitting and appropriate figure to lead the country in a flowing vortex. Though the presidential election only seven months away. "It is not yet clear." That was the average opinion of a number of party chairman or the national elite about who will be the next president.
Actually, the will of the people is clear. People want a change. People want leaders who work with the heart; it is easy to guess what it wants, hardworking, populist, assertive, and nationalistic, of course, not corrupt and nepotistic. This is evident of strong support at the figure of Jokowi and Prabowo. Jokowi represents a chasing and Prabowo represent the soul. They are macrocosm and microcosm, a container and content. But people have not fully settled on both. There is still some ambiguity. As if people are still waiting for the presence of a leader that can encapsulate a combination of Jokowi-Prabowo. But if not there, people will choose one of the two, depending on the combinations offered.
The will of the people is the people's resistance against the current situation. The elite currently offers cosmetic and image more than its authenticity, more political democracy than prosperity and justice, more macroeconomic rather than equity, give more attention to conglomerate than people economics, strengthening investments rather than strengthening national economy. Though ideas about authenticity, well-being, justice, equity, people's economy, and economic nationalism will never be extinct, because of all the ideas have been implanted in us by the founding fathers.
In his article in Fikiran Ra'jat in 1932 and Pemandangan in 1941, Bung Karno clearly distinguished between political and economic democracy. It's not enough to fight for freedom and equality in politics as happened in the history of Europe and North America. There is not enough political nationalism without any economic nationalism. "Political democracy alone has not saved the people," said Bung Karno. He said, "To make prosperity in people, political democracy alone is not enough. It's still need to be supplemented with other democracies in the field ... the field of sustenance, the economic field." For Bung Karno, the wanted thing is not just "political and country's perfection "but also" economic and sustenance perfection".
Ideals of national economic sovereignty were also the subject of Bung Hatta. He aspired Indonesian socialism in the form of cooperative economics. For him, national capitalism certainly is outnumbered by foreign capitalism. This is due to stronger foreign capitalism. Hatta's basic thoughts then animate Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution. However, all these ideals, including the Bung Karno thinking, ignored by our elite later on, even betrayed it. The law on mining, water, soil, and so on is no longer concerned with the national interest.
We are reminded of Abraham Lincoln's speeches when sworn in as president. At that time the United States on the verge of disintegration. Seven of the 34 states were preparing to form a confederation of states. A number of other states were also getting ready to do the same. That's why his speech turned into a kind of manifesto of war for anyone who does that. Although constitutionally, it's possible to disintegrate a number of states, but Lincoln would fight against it. For him, the union is older than constitution, because union was born before independence. He said, "Any State or States against the authority of the United States are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances ... I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the declared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and maintain itself."**
We hope that the 2014 elections gave birth to a leader who is able to capture the spirit of Indonesian independence. It's not enough for us to achieve only freedom and equality in politics but also have to realize economic sovereignty. The refusal for Indonesian entry into the BRICS group is due to its unclear stance in the global economic order. We'd settle for being a satellite of global capitalism than self-determination.
The results of the poll showed, in addition to giving birth for two figures Jokowi and Prabowo, also gave birth to publicly rejected figures. If we look at it, the rejected figures are the old idea that has disappeared, the imitators of foreign capitalism. We want the next president behave like Lincoln, back to the roots of Indonesian independence. It was only available in the new and nationalistic figure. Not an average and outdated figures.
We want to be a looming nation that is predicted by Sharma, fighting for economic sovereignty as envisioned by Sukarno-Hatta, and animates the constitution as Lincoln.
* A Zen proverb. Zen is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that developed in China during the 6th century as Chan. From China, Zen spread south to Vietnam, northeast to Korea and East to Japan.
** First Inaugural Address of Abraham Lincoln, Monday, March 4, 1861
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