Cultural Transformation

“Whether our cultural system (value structure, theological beliefs, families and education system) have an adequate force to protect us, to defense ourselves in the middle of massive acceleration from global civilization?”

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On certain matters, we have to admitted, that we ought to appreciate what mass media have done. With their persuasive capacity which reaches every home, mass media have a role as a cultural guard, a democratization watchdog, an arouser of social awareness, and even as a moral officer.

The disgraceful demoralization affair (which discussed until now) was a sex scandal of our national legislative assembly member. With media provocation, this sex scandal became widespread issue, and able to clarify various symptoms which are distinctive feature of our present Ages.

Apart from this scandal politicization (it’s seems that we already have a long-standing question about moral integrity of our public official), there’s a lot of message which emerge to the public. This scandal is only a surface of free life style as ‘the unseen ice-floe phenomenon’. Free life style, and free sex as its principle substance, already involved many people: student, also university student, young executives, former activist of religious organization, public official and included society figures.

Sex scandal also exhibit in what Akbar S. Ahmed convinced about. Professor Akbar (as a Moslem’s professor on International Studies at American University-Washington DC) believed that present Ages was a ‘post-honor Ages’. The Ages wherein honor (or dignities) metamorphoses to the unessential conception. Human honor failed into nothingness.

However, member of DPR-RI’s sex scandal is only a small part of zeitgeist (a prime marker), from freedom revolution which occurs in our society.

We’re all knows, since social repression started decreased, liberalization doctrines also started to find a relevant form at our life system and public space. Free life style, ATM condoms, free sex, an absolute of information freedom with vulgar news and magazines, or subtle youth prostitution is manifestation of tangible permissive philosophy.

Society Anomaly

On larger frame, it’s more complicated for us to decide our attitude. Our eastern identity, morality system, and theological values have to face rapid changes.

When cultural observer and intellectuals still debates about liberalization impact which damage and substitute pervasively to our nation identity’s system, apparently, some of our society consider these realities as usual inclination. It’s a part of modernization.

Thought tradition which emphasizes truth as a relative and subjective fact is started expands on our society. This tradition exalts a hypothesis that morality isn’t term of right or wrong, but more based on personal desire and subjectively contentment.

Is it a result of ‘education without character’, as one representation of the seven social sin which introduced by Mohandas Gandhi? Or, is it a multiplier effect of clash civilization from Samuel Huntington? Is it a kind of global tendencies that parallel with Hegel discourse about history’s meta-narrations, which brought us to a wider rationality and freedom?

With these preconditions, it’s possibly too premature to conclude that already happen a large-scale substituted at our cultural system. Too early to judge about our beliefs system shifted, which also influenced on how we comprehend-fully, think about, feels and to do something.

We seemingly just entered an anomie stage. The systematic stages which introduces by Emile Durkheim, and talked about an erasure process to indigenous traditions and deregulation at some society. The stage where we’re difficult to differentiate whether a certain social behavior is deviant behavior, or it’s an advanced eugenic activity (and also indicates our advancement civilization).

This anomie stage and inter-civilization contact are significant initial symptom for cultural transformation process. Wherein informational media, as civilization agent, join in clarify of crystallization from our cultural idea, activity and artifact’s changes. On anthropological term that interrelated, we known about baseline acculturation term. This term has meaning that entering process of external values was an initial moment for cultural diffusion.

An Existential Discourse

Finally, we’re demands for prepare ourselves to confront a freedom revolution at larger-scale. And preferable we’re not necessary to use up our energy for debate on freedom legality and its trickle down effect to our society. Because, according to Foucault, each society periods will have rightness regime of themselves.

For that reasons, significant knot which surely debate is our social-cultural force itself. Whether our cultural system (value structure, theological beliefs, families and education system) have an adequate force to protect us, to defense ourselves in the middle of massive acceleration from global civilization?

An apocalypse challenges for us is how an education system capable to maintain our value structure. Also, how parents (and family) run their traditional role effectively to re-define an environment which potentially produced the valueless world-design.

This discourse which questioning our cultural existence isn’t provocation. It’s also not a stimulus toward binary logic (thinking based on black or white, right or wrong), especially discourse with esoteric messages.

This existential discourse is only a minor part of wider dialectics effort. An effort to stimulate antithesis toward a dim thought of ‘positivistic’ philosophy, which convinced that the permanent moral-theology values and eastern identity was an utopia state. It’s also claims certainty about narcissistic changes, sooner or later, on our indigenous value and cultural system.