Delphi: Nothing in Excess

Another part of Indonesia,Jogjakarta “the central of Java Universe” is being devastated by quake. My deepest mind and soul are in a very sad condition caused by this news….

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I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

[Martin Luther King, I Have A Dream: A Speech]

It was 8 years ago, I joined the student’s demonstration againts Suharto’s regime. May 20th was the time of  Suharto’s step down and the rise of Habibie. Since that day, the reformists do not have any reason to fight together facing a common enemy. The real political battle has begun among the reformists until today and the real enemy is “his/her desire of power”.

One of the reason why Suharto was forced to be steeped down was the economy; but today’s economy still have a bad performance, for some extent, the economy getting worse. The only advantage of , so-called reformation, is freedom (but not the economic freedom i think). 

1. If any one ensnare another, putting a ban upon him, but he can not prove it, then he that ensnared him shall be put to death.
2. If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death.
4. If he satisfy the elders to impose a fine of grain or money, he shall receive the fine that the action produces.
5. If a judge try a case, reach a decision, and present his judgment in writing; if later error shall appear in his decision, and it be through his own fault, then he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case, and he shall be publicly removed from the judge’s bench, and never again shall he sit there to render judgement.
6. If any one steal the property of a temple or of the court, he shall be put to death, and also the one who receives the stolen thing from him shall be put to death.
7. If any one buy from the son or the slave of another man, without witnesses or a contract, silver or gold, a male or female slave, an ox or a sheep, an ass or anything, or if he take it in charge, he is considered a thief and shall be put to death.
8. If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass, or a pig or a goat, if it belong to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirtyfold therefor; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.
9. If any one lose an article, and find it in the possession of another: if the person in whose possession the thing is found say “A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses,” and if the owner of the thing say, “I will bring witnesses who know my property,” then shall the purchaser bring the merchant who sold it to him, and the witnesses before whom he bought it, and the owner shall bring witnesses who can identify his property. The judge shall examine their testimony — both of the witnesses before whom the price was paid, and of the witnesses who identify the lost article on oath. The merchant is then proved to be a thief and shall be put to death. The owner of the lost article receives his property, and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the estate of the merchant.
10. If the purchaser does not bring the merchant and the witnesses before whom he bought the article, but its owner bring witnesses who identify it, then the buyer is the thief and shall be put to death, and the owner receives the lost article.
11. If the owner do not bring witnesses to identify the lost article, he is an evil-doer, he has traduced, and shall be put to death.
12. If the witnesses be not at hand, then shall the judge set a limit, at the expiration of six months. If his witnesses have not appeared within the six months, he is an evil-doer, and shall bear the fine of the pending case.
13. [There is no 13th Law because, then as now, the number 13 was considered to be unlucky.] . Then continued until 282…

[Hammurabi,The Code of Hammurabi, 1700 BC]

“How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it except the pleasure of seeing it. Of this kind is pity or compassion, the emotion which we feel for the misery of others, when we either see it, or are made to conceive it in a very lively manner. That we often derive sorrow from the sorrow of others, is a matter of fact too obvious to require any instances to prove it; for this sentiment, like all the other original passions of human nature, is by no means confined to the virtuous and humane, though they perhaps may feel it with the most exquisite sensibility. The greatest ruffian, the most hardened violator of the laws of society, is not altogether without it”.

[Adam Smith,The Theory of the Moral Sentiments,Chapter I, 1759]

This new category is designed to give a deeper understanding of the world according to the great thinkers.

I found three great sites to be seen: great books, history, and literature. I link them on my sidebar.

What was the reason why the students and people forced Surharto step down? The answer was a hope for a better future of this country and the people. After almost ten years, the hope is still just a hope, or even worse. Why? most of the reason is the reformists themlves: fighting each other for their power. People and students, which gave them a chance for the power, have been left behind. Then, what are the benefit that we are still Indonesian?

The idea of this story came from the train conversation between me and mas j from Depok to Salemba. It was a nice talking about  poverty. He said that I should learn poverty from the structuralists view. I replied that, “It is a good idea”. Actually, I did it when I was a student in FEUI around 10-15 years ago, from the Latin America’ leftist view. I was in the left perspectives in undestanding poverty. However, I told him that if I countinue to learn it more, probably I will end up with becoming an activist and I should move to the NGO who fight for anti-globalization as the pathway or fighting for political position or becoming a frustating person.In contrast, If I learn the poverty from what I learnt from the text book and the world bank way, probably I could move out of poverty and keep preaching in the university about poverty. Then we agreed that we have to learn it both. At the end on the conversation,  I tried to imagine that If I learn it both, probably I will end up with this condition: My heart has a structuralist perspective way, but my brain is in the text book way. Probably another inconsistent man is being born. Being a split personality?    

I was one of that agreed  the labor should be given more before the economic crises and downfall of Suharto. On the early 1990’s the labor under the suppress–for example, Marsinah– and the economy is in the its golden growth. However, today, since the economic recession, the high unemployment rate, and the political uncertainties, i agree if the chance should be given to the owner of capital to run economy and pushing the growth. But, should the labor’s benefit which have been given since the reformation should be taken back? It is depend on your side. The economists said, it is the time to do what the microeconomic theory said:”labor market flexibility”; The  labor activists said:”no way: we are not the factor of production, we are the human being who pursue higher benefit from the economy like our master, the owner of capital”. And the May Day is coming. And if I were as an economist, my voice will be the same. All of us are the factor of production, and should proud of it….