Humanizing the System

Barack Hussein Obama, former President of the United States. He is famous as the first black US President. The way he talks is very inspiring. He is considered a "slang" president with policies that are considered quite successful.

He is the son of immigrants who later studied and succeeded in the United States. Initially, he lived in Hawaii and then continued his studies at Harvard University's Law School. He then became a politician in Chicago, and then became the 44th President of the United States in 2008 and then.

His life story is the "American Dream", which is a story about a poor person who then climbs the career ladder, and becomes successful. He became a symbol of the effort to deal with various prejudices and racist attitudes. The fruit is a success. His life has been an inspiration to many people.

In many of his speeches, Obama has often emphasized this. "You can be successful if you try," he said many times in his speeches. He said it more than 140 times in public. (Sandel, 2020) In philosophy, this is also known as Meritocracy.

This is an understanding that emphasizes that in a society, people can succeed, simply because of their talent and hard work. Success does not depend on race, religion, or family background. Success is the result of one's efforts. So, when successful, people have the right to be proud.

Sandiaga Uno, the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy in Indonesia, has often spoken a similar tone since late 2020. He often told me that he was fired in 1998. With his efforts, he then rose and became a successful entrepreneur. Now, having succeeded as a businessman, like many others before him, he is trying to become a politician.

Success stories are easy to impress. Many books and films were created to perpetuate the story. Motivators also like to spread it. “Chase your dream!”, “You can do it if you try hard!”, “Success is in your hands!”, they shouted at motivational seminars.

The other side of meritocracy is often forgotten. People who fail are considered because of their fault. They are less intelligent or lazy, so they fail. Prosperity Theology is even crueler, people fail in life because they are not blessed by God. He failed because he was full of sin. (Sandel, 2020)

Divided Society

Society was divided into two. One is a group of successful people who are rich and influential. The other is a group of people who fail and are poor. This is the social gap that is the root for various other social problems, ranging from religious radicalism, crime to bloody conflicts.

Social inequality data from the Central Statistics Agency may provide some insight. Social inequality is measured by the Gini ratio of the level of expenditure in the household. The Gini ratio is 0 to 1. The number 0 is perfect equality. Meanwhile, the number 1 is a perfect gap.

The latest data from the Central Statistics Agency was obtained in September 2020. The Gini ratio in Indonesia is 0.399. It decreased since the beginning of 2020 which reached 0.39. This means that social inequality is getting bigger in Indonesia. The pandemic, and the government policy blunders associated with it, have had a major impact in this regard.

There is another measure that can be used, namely social inequality based on the value of wealth. This was formulated in a 2017 Credit Suisse report. (Garnesia, 2020) The wealth of the four richest people in Indonesia reaches 25 billion US dollars. This is greater than the total wealth of 100 million poor people in Indonesia which reaches 24 billion US dollars.

The gap hurts even more as the meritocratic outlook grows. People succeed, because of their efforts. People fail because of their laziness. In the long term, the hatred between the two groups was tapering off.

Considering Meritocracy

Is my success the fruit of my efforts? Was my failure the fruit of my laziness? Can meritocracy be justified? These are questions that must be addressed critically.

Seven things affect a person's failure or success. The first is health. A healthy and well-nourished body is the main capital of success. Without these, success will be hard to reach.

The second is the more or less stable state of the national economy. Even though he was born in a poor family, if the national economy had stability, the chances of success would be great. It should be noted that a healthy body, adequate nutrition, and a stable national economy are not created by one person alone. This is the result of the efforts of the wider community and the international community.

The third is work ethic. A good social environment develops from a good work ethic. This will later be passed on to the next generation. With a good work ethic, the chances of success will be much greater.

The fourth is political stability. A country that continues to be hit by conflicts and wars is not safe for the lives of its citizens. The success of its citizens to develop is far from their grasp. The work ethic and political stability are also not the creation of one person alone, but the cooperation of many people.

This is directly related to the fifth, namely infrastructure. Without adequate infrastructure support, success will be difficult to achieve. This mainly includes adequate transportation and communication infrastructure. The development of digital technology in the fourth industrial revolution greatly supports this.

The sixth is the personal ability that suits the tastes of the market. From time to time, market tastes continue to change. The pattern is always random. People with high abilities, but not according to market tastes, will find it difficult to develop. On the other hand, people with shallow abilities, but in line with market tastes, can soon become celebrities who are considered successful.

This is a random pattern in economics. Economic values ​​are not in line with real contributions to society. The profession of garbage collector contributes greatly to society, although it is often neglected economically. The influencer profession often gets great economic benefits, even though it doesn't contribute much to living together.

The last one is nature that is minimal in disaster. This is self-explanatory. A society that is free from major disasters, such as tsunamis, earthquakes, and various other forms of disasters, will be easier to succeed. This is of course beyond human ability to predict and fully control.

The basic idea of ​​meritocracy is not quite right. Success is very dependent on many things. It can even be emphatically said, success is always collective. No one succeeds by his strength and effort. That's the delusion of the motivators.

Failure is also not just because of my laziness. Many things influence, as described earlier. A bad social environment, random markets, and disasters that keep coming make many people fail in life. My failure is not entirely mine, but the failure of many. Systemic failure.

Humanizing the System

If my success is not mine, and I owe a great deal to society at large, then solidarity makes a lot of sense. Solidarity with those who failed is not a mere call. Their failure is also not because of them alone, but because of the failure of many things. If success arrives, then sharing becomes something that should be done.

The social state makes solidarity a part of official policy. The higher the income, the higher the tax levied. In fact, in some circumstances, taxes can touch 90% of income. Funds from taxes are then used to build society as a whole, including building infrastructure, fighting poverty, creating a culture of peace, and disaster mitigation.

Realizing this, a humble attitude emerges. People are not arrogant, because of their success. He realized that his success was the success of many people. He then becomes humble, ready to share, and more human in his life.

People who fail are not discouraged and become angry. He realized that his failure was a systemic failure. He can try to develop himself. However, if his talents and abilities do not match the market's taste, then he will be difficult to develop. He did not feel hopeless, let alone a grudge against the wider community.

This is the importance of building a humane system. Everyone has the same right to develop. If successful, then he is ready to share. If he fails, he does not have to suffer, be discouraged, despair, hate, fall into hunger or be homeless.

The human system is aware that failure has many causes. So, high-quality social security becomes very important to be realized. Those who lose the competition do not have to live in shame, hunger, or being homeless. They can still live decently as dignified human beings.

A healthy democracy is formed from this kind of humane system. Social inequality is low. Many people meet in public spaces, despite their different races, religions, and political sects. The community has high social resilience to face radicalism and other possible conflicts. Society is not easily divided by destructive interests.

We must humanize the existing system. The government has a big responsibility in this regard. Those with the necessary authority and resources. We monitor, criticize and assist all existing processes. Let's start moving.

The lead image by: https://unsplash.com/photos/QR_TFiIX8hM