From a psychological approach, the statement made by Communications and
Information Technology Minister Tifatul Sembiring in connection with his
shaking of hands with US First Lady Michelle Obama can be considered as
narcissistic.
This description is from Erich Fromm’s The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness.
“Only he himself and what pertains to him has significance ... and
because of this double standard the narcissistic person shows severe
defects in judgment and lacks the capacity for objectivity. Often the
narcissistic person achieves a sense of security in his own entirely
subjective conviction of his perfection, his superiority over others,
his extraordinary qualities...”
This sort of personality is well-suited to people in professions with
celebrity status, including politics, where he can be surrounded by
fawning admirers, who are oblivious to their hero’s lack of genuine
conviction or real accomplishments.
Since a narcissist politician will be considered insufferably vain if he
merely proclaims his own personal brilliance, he creates, or
appropriates, a group or ideology, building a symbiotic relationship
with his followers.
As Fromm points out, “fostering group narcissism is very inexpensive
from the standpoint of the social budget; in fact, it costs practically
nothing compared with the social expense required to raise the standard
of living.”
An historic, Indonesian example is Sukarno. Besides recruiting a stream
of submissive women to gratify his personal narcissism, he showed a
narcissistic orientation in his vision of Indonesia, promoting aggrieved
slogans such as “Crush Malaysia” and “To hell with your aid” rather
than pursue welfare policies that would have required him to confront
economic reality.
Of course Tifatul has none of Sukarno’s greatness, but he has a very potent channel for group identity.
What are the practical implications of all this?
One is that many urban Indonesians, who are severed from their roots in
the soil, from creative opportunity and from economic prospects, will
seek new roots in group identity. If leaders fail to offer a vision of
Indonesia founded on realism, inclusiveness and tolerance, then many
people will succumb to visions founded in narcissistic self-deception,
exclusiveness and intolerance.
A second is that education should promote reason, realistic observation,
critical thought and imagination, rather than peddling illusions of
certainty.
Fromm again: “From an educated guess, to a hypothesis, to a theory, an
ever increasing approximation of certainty exists mediated by reason,
realistic observation, critical thought and imagination. For the one who
has these capacities, relative uncertainty is very acceptable because
it is the result of the active use of his faculties, while certainty is
boring because it is dead. But for those without these faculties... the
fanatic who pretends to be certain becomes a most attractive figure,
somebody akin to a savior.”
John Hargreaves
Jakarta
