My Life and Politics: “Can I just ignore it?”
and if we were really needed to care, how deep should we do it?
Disclaimer: this writing is intended and will be highly relevant for Indonesians.
The recent political situation in Indonesia has created turmoil for some, and for others, it may have brought more prosperity. Being able to be indifferent to political issues is a privilege because that would mean you have enough safety net regardless of the situation. However, to say that one’s life is not affected by the political situation at all is negligent.
The price of our basic necessities (Sembako in Indonesia, for instance), the subsidies for the fuel we use, access to quality education, and everything else to the weather affected by climate change — all influenced by political situation, if not political decision. As much as you want to avoid being involved in political situations, the political situation affects every single aspect of our lives.
Consciously following a political situation can be tiring, I agree. The constant updates, new information, and situation changes, especially when circumstances are unfavourable for us, can be draining. Very draining, in fact. However, to consciously disregard new information and blindly decide to believe what we believe to be true without having the urge to cross-check facts and refuse to educate ourselves, is ignorant — fully ignorant.
But then, how deep should we be ‘involved’? should everyone post on their social media about their take on every single policy? should everyone repost the template that works in favor for the citizens?
If you ask me on a surface level, the answer is it depends. But if you ask me on a deeper level, here’s my answer:
Do at least your best effort to educate yourself.
While political situation is very dynamic and millions of differing opinions can pop up within seconds, educating ourselves is a must to ensure we take the right side. While you do not necessarily have to say anything about your take on the political situation, educating ourselves is still the bare minimum to ensure we know what is actually happening, and we know how this could have impact to our lives.
Educating ourselves may begin by reading the news, read differing opinions, read what experts may have said towards the situation. It is particularly important to diversify your source of knowledge to ensure you’re not trapped in your own opinion by reading only from those supporting what you have believed to be true. After educating ourselves, we could then do the thinking process, see the cause and effect chain, and conclude our take on the situation. Whether you want to voice out your position or not is fully your choice, but dismissing those who voice out their opinion is utterly close-minded.
We have the right to voice out our opinion.
I find it highly weird that the netizen today consider voicing our opinion on political situation for being ‘noisy’, ‘annoying’, and ‘nonsense’. While it is no obligation for you to voice out your take on the current political situation, there is also no obligation for people to stay silent. People can, may, and allowed to share what they think about the current situation. Ridiculously, some people even find it disturbing when their favorite positive-vibes influencer voicing out their opinion on politics, and those on the opposite of the opinion may criticise the influencer for being ‘changed’.
When a political situation does not seems right for you anymore, and you feel highly disturbed by it that you want people to also wake up, voicing your opinion matters.
This goes beyond just sharing what you think. Voicing your opinion can eventually educate others who are on the quest of educating themselves and trying to find differing opinions. The opinions you shared could also spark discussion that may eventually feed you with another new opinion thus enriching your knowledge; thus affirming your take or perhaps leading you to change your conclusion.
While voicing your opinion is no achievement, it is also not an achievement to stay silent. This is simply a choice you could make and what impact you want to create.
Trigger the thinking process.
One can simply want to go beyond just educating others; they may want to also create a change.
Opinions on political situation are not simply built based on informations people recieve. It is built based on prior knowledge, prejudice, experience with the government, trust to the government, and among everything: a thinking process.
One could have had all the informations they needed but if the thinking process involves logical fallacy, the conclusion being made may have been a fallacy in itself. As much as our opinion can fuel the knowledge people were seeking, if we have a bigger mission, we need more than that.
We could go beyond just voicing our opinions and actively participate in shaping the conversation. This means engaging in meaningful discussions, challenging misinformation, and encouraging critical thinking in others. It also means taking action — whether through advocacy, supporting causes aligned with our beliefs, or even directly contributing to change in our communities.
Understanding political situations is not just about gathering information; it requires questioning narratives, recognizing biases, and constantly refining our perspectives.
Actively participating in politics may look different to different people. Some may choose to educate themselves in silence, some may choose to share what they have learned so far, and some may dive in conversation and challenge differing opinions. While we are allowed to have different opinion, witch hunting those on the opposite of our stand is, in my opinion, not politically constructive. As a citizen, our goal should be for the greater good; that is for a better society that there is. While we are allowed to choose what we want to do, dismissing those who do differently is not wise either. You may stay silent, but other may choose to voice out what they think.
Afterall, political situation affects our lives, and what we choose to do could also affects the situation.
Hope you learn something from this writing. Xoxo,
Anin
