Communism: Political System or Ideology?

 By: Riva Julianto

The issue of the resurgence of communist ideology always surfaces in the current political landscape of the Reform Order. This reflects the lack of public knowledge about communism, which is not surprising as during the New Order era, communism was considered a specter and the country's number one enemy. Even attempting to study it scientifically was warned against, as it could endanger one's descendants. However, studying communism allows us to understand both its weaknesses and strengths, as well as its deviations from Karl Marx's theories in practice.

These issues are thrown out without detailing and further indicating the bases that give rise to the fear of communism. Are they using the criteria once used by the New Order government to label someone or a group as communist, such as when questioning issues related to ethnicity, religion, labor, land, human rights (HAM), democracy, and those defending marginalised communities? Or is this issue thrown out as political warming up for the five-yearly elections? Only the issuers of these statements know the answer. Therefore, it is entirely reasonable that many consider the accusations of communism against a group or individuals as unjust.

Communism as an Ideology

Communism, born from the ideas of Karl Marx, emerged from the Industrial Revolution which allowed the exploitation of humans over other humans without recognising the boundaries of humanity. Marx's vision was of a classless society without Masters and Slaves, free from an obsession with work alone, so as not to be alienated psychologically and materially. The ideology of communism falls into the realm of dreams of the return to the earthly paradise after Adam and Eve were expelled from the "real" paradise. By "eliminating" God, they aim to create an earthly paradise. However, it is impossible to achieve an earthly paradise if one considers that the earthly paradise (read: ideology) is a real human reality.

A classless and boundless state is an ideal world that continues to be a spiritual guide for humans. Daily life is full of paradoxes. Masters and Slaves are realities that must be accepted. Without these paradoxes, humans are simply flawless, static beings without dynamism and emotion. As long as justice remains the ultimate goal, the struggle of humanity for democracy and human rights will continue.

So, the real issue is not the ideology per se, but the morals and ethics of the political actors. Regardless of the ideology of a country or a political actor, none aims to degrade the dignity of oppressed humans. Morality and ethics should be the guidelines to prevent goals from justifying means, as happened in the 1960s. Politics is not a commander, as there is still morality above it.

Fear of communism is more due to the lingering trauma caused by the actions of political actors in world history, especially in Indonesia, who desired a social revolution, even if it required sacrifice (read: bloody coup). The communist revolutions initiated in Russia by Lenin and Stalin, annihilating the royal family of the Tsar, served as inspiration for other revolutionary communist coups in various countries.

Communism, in essence, does not advocate violence. The tendency to legitimise means leans more towards the political morality of the political actors than the understanding of communism itself. As an ideology, communism is not a political doctrine that must be applied and implemented. Ideology never reaches the level of reality, although humans always refer to and depend on it. A real example is Pancasila (Indonesian Five Principles: 1. Belief in the One and Only God; 2. Just and Civilized Humanity; 3. The Unity of Indonesia; 4. Democracy Led by the Wisdom of Deliberations among Representatives; 5. Social Justice for All Indonesian People), which has never been created and realised in the daily life of Indonesian society, even though P4 (Training for the Development of Pancasila Education and Instruction) training is given to all layers of society. Meanwhile, in European countries like Italy and Germany, for example, communist parties are not banned and even participate in elections. Remarkably, they never staged a coup to seise power and compete fairly in elections to gain seats in parliament.

Communism as a Political System

Communism as a political system has proven not to accommodate change and justice. As a political system, it accommodates rigid authority and tends toward tyranny. The state, as a buffer for justice, turns into a tyrant due to the need for an iron hand to homogenise the plurality of the people. The dictator-like power of this state is reflected in the unlimited control of production tools and land. This strong state authority is held by a handful of party leaders.

As an economic system, communism can make the economy static and unwilling to surrender its authority to a "living" market. Instead, communism tends to homogenise and centralise the market in one hand. Uniformity does not enliven life. An economy that communists consider as the basis of the social structure will not be able to support other social structures. On the contrary, social structures like religion and norms, as social bases, will make other social institutions dynamic and alive. By placing the economy as the sole basis, life will undoubtedly stagnate. Look at the "dead" state of the economy in Cuba and North Korea now, or China and Vietnam, which consider themselves communist but, in practice, are shy capitalists.

All social institutions based on myths and norms will endure because they can accommodate change and diversity. And that is found in the democratic system. Democracy is a restless spirit because life is full of contradictions and differences of opinion. However, through these conflicts, life develops and matures, as democracy always favors the majority and protects the minority. However, democracy can fall back into political authoritarianism if there is a historical political trauma, legitimising policies that punish and eliminate opposing political forces.

Looking at the background of the emergence of communism and its aspirations, it is clear that communism is the utopia of creating a world without state and social class boundaries. A world where people are free to express themselves, be creative, and be free from social pressure.

If we go back to the history of the birth of religions worldwide, a common thread can be seen in the goals and objectives of the struggle between ideology and religion. Both stem from the same desire to reach a fair world free from fear. A world that everyone dreams of. It is not wrong to consider this desired world as ultimately a utopia that does not materialise. The history of religions in the world is a history of the struggle to defend the oppressed and guide them to a place full of peace and prosperity. The promised place (read: paradise).

If Marx considered religion as an opiate, it is because religion legitimises the subordinate relationship between Master and Slave, which in real life is the true relationship between humans. That's why Marx is considered a follower of materialism, believing only in things that are real and tangible.

Conclusion

Communism essentially exists in every human heart and even shares the same goals as human religions. The difference is that paradise for religions is the paradigm of the goal of life after human death, while communism wants to embody the paradigm of that paradise into real human life today, not in the world after death.

The Right to Life of Humans

 By: Riva Julianto

The heated debate on human rights by countries worldwide, particularly in Indonesia, is merely empty rhetoric if the death penalty or the revocation of someone's right to life is still justified by the judicial system and ruling elites. Why is that?

When we talk about human rights, it must be associated with the right to life as the most fundamental right. This right is not a grant from the state or any other human. Humans cannot create their own life or existence through medical technology engineering. The Creator (read: God) is the one who gives us life and breath. Thus, this right can be considered the most fundamental and basic right that humanity possesses. The United States, as a powerhouse nation that glorifies human rights, still implements the death penalty in some of its states for criminal offenders.

However, upholding the right to life of a human is not as easy as we imagine. Dilemmatic issues stand before us. On one side, the desires and inclinations arising from conscience to abolish the death penalty clash with the consistency of upholding justice as fairly as possible on the other side. The power of institutionalising justice has submerged those desires and inclinations. Humans must accept the consequences of the development of civilisation if they do not want to regress from the increasingly pervasive modernisation in their lives.

We may not realise or perhaps consciously avoid saying it, but the truth is that the conception of justice that has been firmly held so far cannot be realised one hundred percent in everyday life. Justice has its own limitations when it reaches a point where human involvement is questioned. The symbol of justice represented by a balanced scale is not an inanimate object because the Goddess of Justice is blindfolded. Whether the scales of justice are balanced or not is determined by its actors (humans).

The genuine concept of justice cannot be concretised objectively and unequivocally in real life. If that happens, what occurs is the erosion of our humanity. The judicial system is nothing more than an institutionalisation of "revenge." A life debt is repaid with a life, and a blood debt is repaid with blood.

The task of the judicial system is not only to deliver the message of justice but also the spirit of humanity and human divinity. A punishment that revokes someone's right or the death penalty cannot be compared with laws, norms, and values that impoverish our tolerance for humanity. Furthermore, upon more critical examination, an unfair attitude within the judicial system becomes apparent. The death penalty as a genuine conception of justice upheld by the judicial system is no longer related to the issue of life. In this case, it means we have entered the realm of life and death where power is entirely in God's hands. Will we bring down and embody God's power into the reality of life? Have we forgotten that the Most Just is God Himself? Is taking away someone's right to life the last resort that humans have? Is a human life equivalent to a few kilograms of narcotics, political ideologies, or a life that has already irreversibly ended?

Does this make our scale of justice unbalanced? The answer is no. Achieving a balanced scale is the goal, and it is not a result that we must carry out purely. Of course, this only applies to cases of the death penalty. It is inhumane if we play with someone's life and their life-or-death situation in the judicial system.

If we are truly religious and follow religious teachings, then it is our duty to abide by them. In the teachings of all religions worldwide, none justifies murder and the destruction of all of God's creations on this earth. We are obliged to protect and preserve all of His creations, including humans as the highest beings.

This explicitly proves that the teachings of any religion do not approve of the revocation of someone's right to life by law, norms, and values that perpetually surround human life. Those facing firing squads, electric chairs, gas chambers, and various other forms of the death penalty are victims of the earthly judicial system created by humans.

Indeed, humans are wolves to each other (homo homini lupus), as philosopher Thomas Hobbes said to illustrate human aggressiveness that often exceeds that of animals in defending their lives, consciously or unconsciously. The implication is an action that is reasonable and common for humans. But we must not forget that humans are "rational beings" (anima rationale). It is the reason that distinguishes humans from other living creatures. With reason, we should be able to judge life more wisely when facing humanitarian issues.

There are many alternative ways to replace the death penalty. Ideas to replace the death penalty have been proposed and submitted. However, the most important thing is the awareness of the convicts and mental and spiritual education for them, so they do not repeat their actions.

Humans are creatures full of dynamics. They can change due to significant events in their lives. But they can also be stubborn in what they believe in. With a strong philosophy of life, humans will not be easily disturbed by situations that can lead to their misery and suffering. They become more realistic about their lives without disturbing the rights of others.

Language and Political Manipulation

By: Riva Julianto

As the most essential means of communication among various forms of artificially engineered communication media in modern technology, language can be said to be a part of human existence. This is closely related to the function of language as a tool for humans to express their feelings, thoughts, ideas, and actions in daily life. "Sprache ist ein Werkzeug, kein Spiegel" (language is a tool, not a mirror), as Ludwig Wittgenstein said, indicating that language is a tool for humans, not a reflection of human reality. Human experience and the meaning of life (read: reality) are shaped through language.

Because language functions as a tool, it can also be used for various purposes and objectives, whether individual or collective. Collective and individual interests and goals must be achieved by humans if they want to survive in the realm of competition. Of course, language is essential in the initial steps to achieve these goals and interests. With language, humans can abstract their desires into a "real concept."

Language and Politics

The connection between politics and language is the reality that politics is a speaking activity (read: language use). A political scientist, Mark Roelofs (The Language of Modern Politics, 1967), simply stated, "Politics is conversation, or more precisely, doing politics is talking." According to him, politics is not just conversation, and conversely, not all conversation is politics. However, the essence of political experience is the communicative activity among people.

Certainly, politics has its own moral-ethical dimension because politics is fundamentally the activity of people organizing their actions in conditions of conflicting interests and goals. Every political setting is always marked by disputes and conflicts.

Similarly, language has emancipatory, transformative, and open dimensions within moral-ethical judgments. Language can be good or bad. Language can oppress, restrain, and colonise an individual's consciousness, especially when used as a means of manipulation and indoctrination. Language becomes good when used as a means to improve human well-being and liberate human consciousness from the shackles of ignorance. The phenomenon of language has a socio-political scope. Hence, it cannot be denied that the phenomenon of language has a direct and strong impact on the reality of human political history.

Language and Political Conflict

Many political idioms and jargon, which were originally used as symbols of stable political conditions, have changed into symbols of political instability with the upheavals and changes in a country's politics.

Plato even said that if rulers become authoritarian, language will surely become chaotic. Chaos arises from the conflict of interests between rulers and opposition. Therefore, the source of chaos lies with the rulers and the opposition. To perpetuate the structure and status quo, rulers will engage in political manipulation through language. Conversely, the opposition, opposing such policies, creates manipulation that contradicts the rulers. This is where the chaos of language begins. Subsequently, language polarization occurs not from the language itself but from the reality of political upheaval, which is then reflected in the language.

This chaos can be observed in debates that use jargon and idioms between the ruling government and the opposition outside the government. Examples commonly debated include labor-workers, breidel-revocation of business licenses, price increases-price adjustments, women-female, layoffs-dismissals, and so on. In this case, the government and the opposition use their respective terminologies, jargon, or idioms as characteristic signs of their roles in the relationship.

Language as a Tool of Political Manipulation

Language is a means of uncovering personal and communal reality. Language can deceive, disturb, excite, and paralyze humans. Humans can be lost, defeated, victorious, and saved with or within language. Through language, people find harmony and peace by aligning with each other. However, language can also destroy peace and harmony through misunderstandings, insults, and even warfare. The use of language cannot be separated from human action.

In reality, political manipulation is also used as social-political control. Social-political control through language by rulers is done persuasively. For example, by creating development jargon and euphemisms that are vigorously pronounced by state officials on every occasion. Subsequently, mass media echoes and amplifies them to the public. The negative impact is the colonisation and restriction of the consciousness and thinking of society due to the indoctrination of language by the ruling party through mass media without reservation. With language uniformity, political stability is expected to be maintained because the language spoken by society becomes a mirror and indicator of "enchantment and deception."

If this happens, then society will be becoming like people with blinkers, submissive to what the driver says. In Herbert Marcuse's language, such people are called One Dimensional Man. 

Why Foreign Languages?

 By: Riva Julianto

In commemorating sixty-six years of Indonesian independence, the government has initiated the use of the Indonesian language for all terms with foreign origins, especially the names of commercial entities. This decision comes in response to the business world's inclination to use foreign terms in their products and business identities. In fact, foreign languages are now unofficially considered the language of business. There are two main reasons why business practitioners use foreign terms.

Firstly, due to the absence of an equivalent term in the Indonesian language, foreign terms are often left as they are and eventually become commonly used, even entering the new lexicon of the Indonesian language. The lack of an exact equivalent for a foreign term is closely related to the inundation of foreign cultural and technological products. For instance, product names cannot be changed because they have become patented trademarks, or technical terms in specific fields that are challenging to find equivalents for in the Indonesian language.

Secondly, the everyday reality shows that foreign cultures and technologies dominate this nation, creating a myth that society believes in everything associated with foreign names. Additionally, in the era of globalisation, English is informally regarded as the language of business.

Globalisation requires a global language, an international language. Although Indonesia fulfills the requirements to become an international lingua franca, its role is increasingly marginalised. This article aims to discuss the two aforementioned reasons – technology and the language of interaction – and how they contribute to the marginalisation of the Indonesian language in the daily activities of Indonesian society.

Technological Lag

We must accept the fact that our country is still far behind in creating and developing technology. This lag inevitably influences the marginal economic and linguistic role of Indonesians within it. Historically, we have imported more technology than we have exported (if any at all), making us mere users of foreign technology.

Technology assumes culture as its creative soul. Consequently, foreign cultures ride along with imported technology. As this technology comes from countries with different cultures and languages, importing technology is equivalent to importing foreign cultures and languages. Therefore, learning a foreign language is necessary to understand and utilise the imported technology. Importing technology is importing foreign culture, and language is included.

Indonesians, being technologically backward, cannot develop because of a lack of creativity in the technological field. New technologies imply the emergence of new terms. In the field of computers alone, foreign terms cannot be replaced because they are highly specific to this domain. In other words, if we were to create and export more technology, it would not be impossible for Indonesian culture and language to become global.

Lingua Franca

The current international language of interaction is English. Why English? History shapes this reality. Although English is not the most widely spoken language globally, its historical role during colonial times has made it the lingua franca. At the end of the colonial era, an agreement was reached and ratified concurrently with the establishment of the United Nations, declaring English as the official language in international forums.

Approaching the twenty-first century, with information technology, the world is shrinking into a global village, as predicted by philosopher Marshall McLuhan. The world becomes extremely interconnected. In this global village, English has been officially recognized as the language of conversation. It's not surprising that English names and terms are dominant and continue to expand globally. If a language becomes the second language in a country, it is a natural occurrence. Our neighboring countries also face similar language challenges. However, they anticipate it by making it the second official language after their country's primary language.

Mastery of English becomes crucial because global interaction cannot function if there are language barriers. Every job vacancy in various businesses requires candidates to have at least a basic understanding of English, even advertising it in English. It's almost impossible to find products at home without English labels. English-language songs and films are also prevalent on our radios and TVs. This is the consequence (read: advantage) of becoming the official international language, studied and used by almost everyone worldwide.

The late Indonesian scholar Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana once complained about the emptiness of the Indonesian language, considering it a language void of modern ideas since all influential books were not written in Indonesian. Consequently, Indonesian society was not fully exposed to the modern world. He even praised our neighboring countries, the Philippines and Singapore, for maintaining English as their medium of instruction. According to him, English is excellent for intellectual development (Transformasi Masyarakat Indonesia, Denny J.A. editor, 1986).

In conclusion, language experts in Indonesia and other fields need to respond promptly to the rapid development of foreign terms in society. These terms need to be quickly matched with Indonesian equivalents or, if none exist, incorporated into the new vocabulary of the Indonesian language. However, this should be done after consulting experts in the specific field where the term is used. They must diligently seek new entries for the foreign terms that are rapidly developing in the world.

I Learn, Therefore I Exist

By: Riva Julianto

Contrary to the social media trend that promotes "I selfie, therefore I exist," in the realm of education, the maxim "I learn, therefore I exist" should be the philosophy for everyone. This maxim is indeed inspired by the famous statement cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) by René Descartes, a medieval French philosopher.

He expressed this thought as a response to the situation and conditions of that time when religion (represented by the Church, which held power over knowledge) was the focal point of all knowledge and societal thinking.

All advancements in knowledge and thinking were controlled and had to gain approval from the Church. This thinking became the foundation for the development of science and resistance against the suppression of knowledge after the medieval period.

Is this thinking still relevant today, especially in Indonesia? Oh, absolutely. It not only strengthens but becomes a necessity for everyone. Not just for educators, learners, families, or communities. Every individual is a lifelong learner. Humans are inherently born as learners and can be educated (homo educandus) and rational beings (animal rationale).

So, fundamentally, every human is a learning being from birth until death. Without guidance or a teacher, humans can actually learn through self-learning. Nature is the best teacher for humans. The story of the character Tarzan is a classic example, where a human child is educated and raised by nature.

The present era is the age of the information revolution, thanks to the presence of the internet and digital technology. Millions, even billions of pieces of information are scattered across the virtual world. All types of information are available here, from state secrets to social media gossip. That's why everyone is expected to be able to process and learn from it. The digital world and the internet are just repositories of data and information that still need to be processed and learned. The role of nature is increasingly being replaced by the internet network.

More and more people prefer to learn from the internet rather than from nature. Learning from nature not only requires cognitive knowledge but also empirical experience. Humans must personally experience the phenomena and grandeur of nature. It is through shared experiences with nature that humans can construct knowledge, as Newton did by dropping an apple or Benjamin Franklin did by flying a kite.

Humans can survive and become rational beings because they can learn. Without learning, humans will not exist and may even face extinction. Human extinction is not only due to natural factors but also because of human actions and behaviors. Intelligence and cleverness, if not used wisely, can threaten human existence.

The knowledge acquired is not used to sustain life but to pursue the satisfaction of consumerist desires and worldly pleasures, thus depleting limited natural resources. However, with the knowledge they possess, humans continuously seek alternative resources to sustain their lives, including exploring other planets like Mars.

Education is a process for individuals to understand the universe and life through knowledge that can be inherited, learned, and explored. Unfortunately, the knowledge learned is not value-free. Why? Many crimes are committed and occur using the knowledge acquired by the perpetrators. Knowledge can also be used for personal gain by oppressing others or exploiting nature.

So, how can humans prevent the misuse of the knowledge they acquire? The answer is moral and ethical education. Moral and ethical education must be the primary foundation to support and produce a morally and ethically upright generation. If borrowing President Jokowi's slogan, this awareness is what is referred to as the process of mental revolution.

However, the issue that then arises is that morality and ethics are the truth and guide for everyone. Certainly, morals and ethics are found in the teachings of every religion, customs, and values that exist in society. But in the context of living in a state and society in Indonesia, Pancasila (The Indonesian Five Principles: 1. Belief in the One and Only God; 2. Just and Civilized Humanity; 3. The Unity of Indonesia; 4. Democracy Led by the Wisdom of Deliberations among Representatives; 5. Social Justice for All Indonesian People) has been agreed upon as the basis for the morality and ethics of every Indonesian citizen, which should be internalized, learned, and practiced both in the world of education and in daily life. This morality and ethics are important because they can guide humans towards the sustainability of their lives, not towards destruction and extinction.