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We hope the elite and society will be wiser in responding to politics. Experience shows that everyone must learn the lessons of the strong political polarization of the previous presidential election.

There should be no more political sharpening (politicization) of identity, including through a flood of hate speech on social media, or ridiculing each other. However, our political dynamics are prone to conflict. In the elite field, divisions between them are common. In today’s digitized and connected society, conflicts can quickly emerge and quickly escalate.

Political conflicts easily spread to social conflicts that are conveyed through social media. Therefore, in this context, the treasures of digital democracy must be deepened.

Read also: Identity politics and public civility

Literacy must continue to develop in order to present a condition of national consciousness framed by intelligence and wisdom (wisdom) digital. It’s not enough to be smart on social media, unless you have to consider everything wisely. This is understandable given that every information and message we convey on social media has a wide impact, even counterproductive.

Since the beginning of the development of digital technology, until today, many studies have been conducted on how political and social conflicts easily escalate along with the dominance of social media usage in society. .

This phenomenon caught the attention of all of us. However, we also realize how difficult it is to manage social media ideally, there is always a gap between expectations and reality. Therefore, digital literacy must continue to be intensified so that all are smart and wise in using social media.

Read also: Taming identity politics

Efforts to take care of the public’s digital emotions are not easy. Moreover, when the parties that deliberately warmed up the atmosphere continued to exist numerically and applied themselves to provoking public emotion. Destructive symptoms should be avoided in a pluralistic society. Elites and community leaders must be able to be models, spearheads of a common and dignified digital literacy.

The politics of meaning

In an article I once wrote in the daily Compass (24/11/2014) entitled “Towards the politics of meaning”, once again recalled the urgency of the politics of meaning. I took the term from Clifford Geerzt’s vocabulary, “the politics of meaning”, In closing note of the book Culture and politics in Indonesia (1972).

Geerzt invites us to be able to grasp the meaning of the different political paths of Indonesia since 1945. The historical actors of the political phase that determined the post-independence were analyzed in the political context of meaning, what are the important meanings of the different political dynamics, and how to make sense of future political developments within the framework of democracy for progress.

When we talk about the realm of the political elite, in the context of Indonesian leadership, what we hope is that they are leaders. Elite is not necessarily a qualified leader or a leadership spirit.

Political elites are often just high-ranking political entities, people who see politics as a career or a job, not a vocation and a struggle to create better and just conditions.

Elites and community leaders must be able to be models, spearheads of a common and dignified digital literacy.

Often they are content, in reference to the concept of Jeffrey Winters (2011), of the oligarchs, to rely only on material achievements and their defense (defense of wealth). Leaders are more than elites in politics.

When associated with the politics of meaning, political leaders understand their national identity. They are able to absorb the lessons of history, to understand the legacy of good and helpful leadership from their predecessors. They are able to take the essence of the leadership of the nation and strengthen their vision in accordance with the constitution, to exercise leadership functions in a proportional, ethical, communicative and realistic manner.

In the context of national elections, particularly presidential elections in Indonesia, what should develop is the contestation of ideas, so that what emerges in the public domain are national meanings.

It is not the dramas or the events that are politicized, but rather the essence of the thoughts of the candidates. Therefore, those who compete need an academic mindset.

How well do they understand the problem, develop a narrative and provide insight into policies to be adopted on specific issues. Leaders clashed with each other’s charisma, but not in the context of physical imagery, but in the substance of ideas.

The politics of meaning is more synonymous with the politics of ideas. The political contestation of meaning is the contestation of national ideas, when sociological feelings, namely considerations of religion, race, custom, ethnicity, are not excessively exploited to prevail. Beyond development issues and a better vision of the future, within the framework of a tight and compact national unity.

Elections and national unity should be seen as two sides of the same coin. Don’t let election dynamics tear national unity apart. The practice is not easy and requires extra effort, both in the elite and in society. The ideal of democracy requires quality participation from all elements.

The political contestation of meaning is the contestation of national ideas, when sociological feelings, namely considerations of religion, race, custom, ethnicity, are not excessively exploited to prevail.

Constructive persuasion

Elegant and constructive communication becomes important in the practice of the politics of meaning. Political elites must be able to show their class as functional leaders. The function of political education must be a priority, the quality of democracy is the main effort.

Winning or losing a contest should be seen as a simple logical consequence. Things like this must of course be accompanied by the practice of holding honest and fair elections. Election organizers must be professional. Entities that must be neutral in elections as stipulated by law, such as the civil state apparatus, the TNI and Polri, must be closely monitored so that they do not enter the realm of protest politics. .

Monetary policy must be eradicated. The use of digital technology must also be effective in anticipating various possibilities of electoral fraud. Various social media reviews should be logical, factual, argumentative and elegant.

All parties must prevent substandard and destructively nuanced debates so that in this way the political aura of meaning will spread everywhere, even in today’s sophisticated digital age.

In our time, learning from past experiences, the politics of meaning can become mainstream when the substance of meaningful political messages is channeled through healthy and functioning media. Beyond, of course, the democratic mentality of the actors involved in the elite and community spheres.

Mr Alfan Alfian, Lecturer at the MA in Political Science at Jakarta National University