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How will the beloved republic survive?
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Indonesian flag 'Merah Putih' waves across the blue sky. (Shutterstock/File)
O
f late, the national discourse has clearly been polarized: beneficiaries of the status quo who posit that all is well despite the bleeding current account deficit (CAD) and the glaring inequality on the one hand and those who maintain that the end is nigh, in denial of the progress made to address past injustices.
The hate mongers are having a field day, adeptly manipulating social media to split us further apart; senior members of the administration at each other’s throat over turf, while Lamborghinis and Rolls Royces roll along unfazed. Corrupt politicians are running amok, stealing from the poor who voted them into office.
Indeed, there remains very little civility in public life. In fact, Pancasila scholar par excellence Yudi Latif warned that our underpinnings have been so saturated with hate speech that one major social tremor could sink all that we have managed to build, leaving no trace behind, just like the Palu liquefaction.
Hence, I became increasingly concerned over the fate of the republic, until it dawned on me that it was no longer a matter of survival; the 17845 (Aug. 17, 1945) Republic that had liberated us was dead already.
