Good Job, America.

RIP USA 1776-2017.

No, don't start the flame war just yet. I know you have picked an unpopular president. I know some of you think he might tip the status quo of the entire world. Hear the words of your new Commander in Chief. Each and every word just screams America First and to hell with the rest of the world. 

But the entire world is changing. 

I seem to have heard the same tone from every new world leader, most notably mine, in Indonesia. We aim to rank higher in the world ladder, and if the cost is a tip in the balance of power, a change in the status quo, than it is fine. Anything for great Indonesia, and President Jokowi is ready to make a change.

And it is the same everywhere. Near us, there is the controversial Philippine President Duterte. Half a world over, we have Britain leaving the EU. Also, new conservative leaders consolidating power in the EU itself. Meanwhile, south of the US, more right-leaning leaders are also ready to take the spotlight.

It seems the trend is clear: more nations are becoming more individualistic. Someday, those convoluted systems of allies and pacts and blocs since the world wars must break loose. So, perhaps this change is not entirely and inherently bad. If Trump wants to make America great again at the cost of other nations, that is completely fine--just look at what we are also doing here!

My point being, I do hope, from all of this chaos and change, the entire world--and yes, including the USA--will rise up from the ashes. 

Or perhaps I am being too optimistic. RIP The Entire World ???-2017.

___

Please keep in mind I am not a political analyst. I am merely giving my two cents on a subject I deem interesting and important enough to talk about, plus an added bonus of practicing for my English test. Perhaps this turned out to be an incoherent rant. I seriously do not know. Thank you anyway.

Terrorrism: The Foolishly Ineffective Way to Get Your Point Across

At school today, I first heard about the news about the bombs that went off in Sarinah, Thamrin, Central Jakarta: In a police post and in front of a Starbucks Coffee store. Several people lost their lives, including several terrorists that got shot in the following firefight. This invited the attention from other nations worldwide, but that also means that Indonesia's economy might fall once more due to mistrust. 

Who did this foolish act, nobody knows for sure, however some state ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, also known as ISIS or Daesh) as the possible mastermind. What point they are trying to get across, nobody also know at this point. Now, if terrorism couldn't immediately deliver a message, even after sacrificing the lives of suicide bombers, then it has a flaw, ineffective.

Terrorism has no one definition all scholars, military men, and governments agree on, however a broad term able to at least give a clearer picture of what it is, is that terrorism is violence toward civilians not done by a state, to convey a political or ideological message. Using violence, possibly resulting in the deaths of the terrorist him/herself and innocent lives while the message itself isn't effectively delivered is, for certain, incredibly dumb. In this essay we'll stick to this broad term, and refer to the actors of terrorism as terrorists.

But just how effective is terrorism? While it does scare the public, and could make the standing government seem less credible in protecting its people if sequential acts occur, at the end, terrorism just makes the people wroth rather than surrendering, then directs the governmental and worldwide focus to the terrorists, at the end hampering the spread of the ideology itself.

First of all, everyone (perhaps, save for deranged men who love violence) will stir in anger if they find out that innocent lives have been lost, a truly immoral act. True, that the people living in the vicinity of the event (such as myself, who live in Jakarta) will be on high alert, perhaps scared. Repeated terrorism may scare the public enough to give pressure to a government to hand over concessions to the terrorists, but proud, nationalistic men will not stand for innocent lives being lost, would we? At the end, the terrorists will just face the wrath of the people, multiple calls for the root cause to be exterminated.

The people now will pressure the government to react, and then the entire world's eye will turn against the organization. Before long, many more will join the fight against the ideology. This happened in the aftermath of 9/11, after which the United States declared the war on terror. At the end, the same fate to the terrorists shall happen like the Al-Qaeda: their head lopped off.

That being said, the citizens are indeed still scared at the aftermath of the attack. Several investors flee, fearing for the safety of their money, which may lead to a crisis if this goes on. Shall we just cower in fear? Why should we submit to fear, the very thing that those terrorists want to instill? Should the trending hashtag be #prayforindonesia? I say not. #indonesiamustfight should be better. The government should and will protect the citizen, and we should go on with our lives, carefully. Indonesia already had went through much attempts at terrorism. We still stand proud.

At the end, the hashtag shall be #prayforterrorists, who all shall burn in their hell.

___

References. Read further about this in the following sites:

[1] Steinsson, Sverrir. 2014. Is Terrorism an Effective Way to Attain Political Goals?. Retrieved 6:28 PM, 14 January 2016, from http://www.e-ir.info/2014/06/22/is-terrorism-an-effective-way-to-attain-political-goals/

[2] Thomas, Jakana. 2014. Actually, Sometimes Terrorism Does Work. Retrieved 6:30 AM, 14 January 2016, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2014/04/22/actually-sometimes-terrorism-does-work/

Various news sources, including BBC Indonesia, Kompas, Antara, and Viva News.

On further note, people usually associate terrorism with Islam, and Islam may have been tainted in the world by that. The fact that terrorism strikes in Indonesia, the largest Islamic nation, proves that it is not Islam that is the problem, but the people. Do not hate Islam, but fight the terrorists.

Politics.

I'll stop my stories today to tackle one thing that tickled the hell out of me for along this week: politics. 

Edit: Removed a paragraph which includes more sensitive material and rewrote the introduction.

I will not get into the details of some of the later news from Indonesia. However, to summarize, a man, high in the politics ladder--which I will not explicitly name here so it could not be said that i am soiling the man's name--resigned after being accused of profiteering. Which has a chance of being true, looking from the effort put in his defense. It is strange. But who knows; this is proof that people already mistrust politics as they are now.

Oh, politics. I have read two and a half books of A Song of Ice and Fire. Clearly, this is an Indonesian version of the Game of Thrones. And not only this man. I hate to say it, but since long, corruption has been a big shame in the face of my nation. Not that I hate this country; I love these lands. Like many others, I want to help. This problem doesn't just occur in Indonesia, I believe. 

One thing that needs to be answered: Why have politics become a nest of these foul players? Indeed, I want to believe that not all of the fruits in the basket are rotten; there are, hopefully, properly righteous people leading us. This does not change the fact that many people mistrust politics.

Tracing back from the moment democracy overturned tyranny, the plebeians did drag the kings down because they had enough of those kings' (and including dictators') desire to only fulfill their own twisted desires. At the very least, it is true that we are no longer oppressed. However, how come should these plebeians become kings, in their own way? Isn't that ungrateful?

I could understand the greed that is the nature of humans. And as such, I will understand that those high-standing people are desensitized to their people's plea, such as this one. Perhaps, in a vain attempt, I shall say what is written in the law of the Republic of Indonesia: the government is a democracy. From the people, by the people, and for the people. This democracy was made so that the people could have their own say. This system does have its faults, after all. If the representatives do not hear their people, then the system is broken.

People standing higher up are there because they were selected by the people, to rule in their name. This is a system of trust, after all. This game of thrones is about trust. A politician should work to the will of the people in order to gain their trust, which puts them in that high position where they could easily bend the law and steal some huge amount of the country's cash. However, this status only exists as long as the people support and trust them, which to put in another way, is to not steal their money.

Paradoxical? Not necessarily. A politician is nothing without his people's trust. The politician could stop the paradox if only he listens and stop messing around.

To finish it up, if the government would ever want to tear this post down, I'll let them. I understand why. Such an action will confirm their paranoia of having their heaven eaten away by the people that should have a place in them. Shame is one way to learn, if someone has some. I hope these politicians--not only those from Indonesia--do.