Letter: Creating a better civil society

Fri, 02/13/2009 3:59 PM  |  Reader's Forum

Trying to define the words "civil society" is far from easy, especially if you accept that a fair proportion of it is indeed "uncivil". Rather than go into its origins, it may be better to consider what it means today, and who in fact qualifies to be a part of it.

We could say that in general civil society is a public domain that is set aside from state and market, although of course it intermingles with both.

We have governments and laws and these together should protect our freedom and human rights, but then all countries differ and all governments are not reliable.

Globalization and capitalism are clearly dividing societies at a fairly rapid pace, which of course undermines democracy and the very concept of a civil society. In general one could say that civil societies respect specific norms, accept other races and cultures, tolerate religious differences and live by the law of the land. But in today's world this stability is becoming harder to maintain.

Most states today have become a root cause of this ever-growing inequality and do very little to advance democratic principles. Apathy has become widespread such that voters are staying away from elections as they have lost faith in the so-called political elite.

Indonesia is staring at an election that will probably bring forth six political parties all sharing 75 percent of the national vote and thus horse-trading will be the order of the day which will send democracy into orbit.

The political elite will say this is unavoidable, but does that mean the country must accept it?

Surely there is something drastically wrong with a system that predictably will produce nothing worthwhile? What will that do for civil society in Indonesia - very little, but don't worry, the political elite will be all right.

And so will big business as this increasingly takes over governments and countries, the giant corporations that are relentlessly driving this madness. When Forbes Magazine prints the next batch of billionaires they should add a supplement that shows the number of increased slum dwellers so we can all see in which direction we are going.

Of course they would need a fork lift truck to deliver the supplement, but then the rich can afford such luxuries. Comparisons are always good to look at, as it enables people to put things into better perspective.

For example, the United Nations tries to operate on about US$ 1.25 billion per year, whereas the Americans (the biggest debtor to the UN, or were) spend at least $ 25 billion on chocolates and bubble gum.

They spend over $70 billion on alcohol and $600 billion annually on automobiles. Whereas 9/11 was a horrendous crime that killed 3,000 innocent people, something like 30,000 children die every day from poverty- related diseases - who bats an eyelid over that one?

If we are to create a better civil society then we need a new poli-tical order as it is clear our existing direction is destroying the very fabric of humanity.

Globalization is blindly running an unsustainable course that is counterproductive to its own thinking - in other words it will eventually kill itself. After all that doom and gloom, there is hope for change, as out there a lot of people feel really angry about this world we live in. In saying that, the one thing we should all remember is that we outnumber the so-called elite by billions.

Whatever you do, don't let the rich convince you through their wealth and investment they create jobs, security and happiness; what they really mean is that jobs are kept to a minimum at the lowest possible wage, short-term contracts are given with no guarantees and the happiness is theirs as they coin in the revenue.

If they can't get what they want in Indonesia, they will go to Cambodia or Vietnam or anywhere on this planet where labor is dirt cheap. Is that what civil society is all about?

David Wallis
Medan

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