Humanist (Indonesia)
Warm Greetings
First of all, I really want to express my gratitude to the Organizing Committee for this event, which has given me the opportunity to convey my writings and views.
As many of us all know, geo-political, economic and military developments in recent years have shown very rapid and significant shifts. Which shows that everything is starting to turn in the direction that gives much wider space to the struggle, formation and strengthening of the Left Movement anywhere in the world. Although in fact of course this did not happen suddenly, but through a long process which eventually accumulated and increasingly showed its impact. There have been a lot of new partnerships between a few big countries which recently got stronger with many smaller countries. This cooperation is generally pioneered by China, Russia, India and several other countries, which are growing and developing very well every year. This cooperation was carried out with great enthusiasm and courage, which directly or indirectly succeeded in restraining, reducing and stemming the hegemony of the imperialist countries. Western hegemony, which has lasted almost 80 years, since the end of World War II, has never succeeded in making the world order better and bringing prosperity. On the contrary, it actually caused a lot of damage, both from the physical and social aspects of society and culture in many countries.
China, after going through a very long process, with all its intelligence and hard work ethic, has shown its ability to grow and develop without having to colonize other countries. Without having to disrupt, attack, occupy, plunder, and even kill citizens of other nations. In the last two decades, what China has shown in its efforts to live together on this earth has opened the world’s eyes to the hope of cooperating and living together in a more righteous way in equality. Without preconditions that are full of hypocrisy (such as the one-sided version of the prerequisites for democracy and human rights from the West) which so far have turned out to be the evil schemes of Western imperialist countries. Without that, China, Russia and India were able to attract the hearts of many developing countries to work with. Several other major countries such as Brazil, South Africa, Iran, and Saudi Arabia also showed interest in becoming a new power with them, which quickly found a tune with this rhythm.
On the opposite side, the countries of Western imperialism, which still think they can always maintain their power and influence in an outdated way, are increasingly showing their greedy, cunning and ruthless side. We have been reminded a lot by the latest news from Platform News which reports how France is increasingly losing influence in West Africa, due to the disappointment of sweet promises full of lies. It also explained that China’s firmness towards those who try to interfere with Taiwan will be met with fire. Platform News also mentioned statements by several heads of state who clearly did not want to express their hostility to Russia in the Ukraine case. Even several Western European countries that are members of EU-NATO, do not fully share the same assessment and agree with the steps suggested by America to be directly involved in the Ukraine crisis. The romance and philosophy of living together, the political vision, and the different way of self-development pioneered by China recently, can be said to have split the world into very different options. The world is currently at two decisive crossroads.
My country, Indonesia, which is one of the countries in Southeast Asia, as well as many other developing countries in the world, is experiencing a difficult situation in dealing with this rapid change. My country has a large area (70% sea and 30% land) almost as large as all of Western Europe or all of Brazil’s landmass. With a population of nearly 275 million people, this is certainly a lucrative market for many countries in the global economic configuration. But at the same times it also has extraordinary potential to become a large developed country. Many leading analysts and experts estimate that Indonesia will be included in the 10 countries with the largest economic power, at least in the next 20 years.
But before that, for nearly 60 years, my country had a bad experience of cooperating with and oriented towards Western countries (both politically, economically and militarily). That bad experience taught us many valuable lessons, which showed how the imperialist countries fooled us, acted hypocritically, and trapped us in a suffocating debt bondage. It all started with work contracts in the oil, gas, mineral and forest sectors in the late 1960s, where the contents of the contracts were completely unfair with an unequal distribution of profits. Transfer of knowledge also does not work. The habit of Western conglomerates to always collude by bribing our country’s top officials so that corruption has become part of our country’s culture for nearly 50 years. The end of it all is the emergence of misery, poverty, backwardness, and development progress that moves very slowly. My country is a resource-rich country with abundant deposits of oil, natural gas, minerals and forests. Not to mention the wealth of the sea which is 70% of our country’s geographical area. Almost all of the above sectors were plundered by Western conglomerates. What I want to convey is that it becomes an important note that the looting of our country’s natural resources began when the Left Movement in our country was killed. Almost all Parties members were killed, Parties supporters were imprisoned and exiled. It happened in the mid 1960’s. And I firmly believe that the purge of the Left Movement in Indonesia clearly involved the active intervention of many imperialist countries at that time. Interfering in internal affairs, playing one against another and creating a Puppet Government, or sponsoring an uprising, are ways they have frequently duplicated in other countries, since their success in crushing the Left Movement in my country. This can be seen clearly in many cases, around the 1970-1980s, such as in many Latin American countries, in the Arab Spring countries (2000s), Afghanistan, Iraq and others (1990s). Their behavior is terrible. Cooperating with countries with bad behavior clearly has to stop.
Luckily, in the last 10 years, our President, Mr. Jokowi, has been able to read the direction of global geo-political change quite well. His courage to renegotiate with Western conglomerates and make employment contracts more clear and fair. Close and abolish official institutions whose nothing more than a bunch of business brokers. Take a bold step to execute infrastructure projects that have been neglected for a long time. Allocate more the state budget for the health and welfare of the people. These are all very reassuring policies and actions.
However, another obstacle that still needs to be handled very seriously is the harmony of national life. My country has nearly 275 million people. More than 80% of them are Muslims. The country with the largest Muslim population in the world. A small number of Muslims are radical groups who are very vocal and aggressive. Their efforts to unseat our President have occurred repeatedly by inciting, slandering and spreading hoax news which is done very often. Through social media. Quite a lot of their influence on other Muslim groups who are more passive. In short, they sell religion to try to gain influence and power. Absolutely nothing to be underestimated. Beyond all that, we firmly believe that behind everything that happened, was the active role of the Western imperialist countries sponsoring them to damage the social structure, destabilize the people, pit them against one another, and even attempt to overthrow the legitimate government. Currently everything is still under control pretty well. But at any moment, when we let our guard down, things can shift and change rapidly, turning the tables and wreaking havoc.
Once again, what is important for me to note on this occasion, is that the imperialists will continue to use any means to impose their influence and power in any part of the world. They will never stop. So conversely, the formation, consolidation, and strengthening of the Left Movement, also ever recede and stop. The current global geo- political changes, as I have described above, are very dynamic, fast and significant. Almost all actual conditions are providing opportunities for us, the activists of the Left Movement. The world is changing fast, and we are in the middle of the rhythm of that change.
Have a good fight! Do Your Best! Thank You