American Politics from a Young Indonesian Perspective.

Introduction
This post is a result of some kind of a collaboration that me and my father Andy decided together.

After some time going into the pandemic, we happened to find more time and find new ideas when most of things that were planned got stuck or sidetracked due to the Pandemic. This is an idea that my father proposed and then discussed together, to create some content based on certain topics — topics that we had discussed on some occassions. It is then written down and posted as blogposts Q&A’s.

So we have decided to try it out, and this is how we are going to do it. We decided on a topic, have some preliminary concept or framework on what and how the topic will cover. We are going to take turns to come with the questions then we would respond to the questions based on our perspective. We hope we will be able to cover a wide range of topics — that hopefully would appeal to a wide range of audiences as well.

So here goes our first post.

American Politics from Indonesian Perspective.

Q1 : So Rico, we have decided to talk about American Politics for the first topic. Perhaps you should share a little bit about how you are interested in politics. I know that you have been following US elections that lead to Trump becoming the president of the United States.

Back in 2016 when the US presidential elections was happening, I was doing an internship with a social research institution. And I remember walking into the office one day and picking up the newspaper. The headline was about the Trump’s victory in the US election, I couldn’t believe it, I thought it was a joke at first, and the more I read about it, the less it made sense. Because it says that Clinton got more votes, but Trump was the winner? This was before I knew about the electoral college system they have in the states. So, perplexed on how a man like Donald Trump can win the highest position of power in the government, I read more and became highly interested in the world of politics.

What people don’t seem to understand is that politics influence every single aspect of their life. Its not something that only exists every presidential election. I hear people complain about issues like “Oh I’m too tired from working all day for too little pay, I need to pay off my student and medical debts, the climate change is getting worse” separately, as if they’re not connected to each other by the deliberate decisions made in politics. I realized that most people are too busy and tired from dealing with their own work and studies, making sure that they themselves can survive, they don’t have the time nor the energy to get involved in the issues that ironically keeps them in this vicious cycle of daily struggle. And when good people like us decide to stay of out politics, it gives the greedy, selfish people free reign over our whole lives.

Q2 : You are an Indonesian, you have never been to the States, yet US Politics seemed to attract you so much. What is it exactly that got you interested in the first place as I remember you were about 17 years old at that time? Also, what do you think that you will learn from what you learn — especially for you as an Indonesian youth interested in Politics.

America is a special case, because its technically an “advanced” nation, yet it does not have the typical luxuries and assurances of lets say European countries. And its very interesting for me because I see a lot of parallels between America and my own country of Indonesia. We are both large and diverse, and face similar looming issues of intolerance, severe disparities between the rich and the poor, crumbling infrastructures, and so forth. In some social issues, there are advances made there that my country hasn’t even touched on, so I hope that by studying what they did right and what they got wrong, I can apply it over here and get results. In the beginning, the two party system they have in the US seems very simple, Democrats and Republicans, good guy vs the bad guy, but now seeing everything that’s happened, I’ve realised that the reality is that in their very cores, both parties only exist to serve corporate interests, not the wellbeing of their citizens. Seeing the injustice and corruption that permeates the entire political system is sickening, and alone, we can’t do much about it. But together in solidarity, we may have a chance to make a real difference.

Q3 : Next question is, you have followed the previous US Elections and for the last few months have been closely following the current US Elections. First question is why? And what do you conclude from the processes which have been happening-all the dynamics on the current US Election- including the withdrawal of Bernie Sanders from the election.

This is the craziest election cycle I’ve ever seen. So many twists and turns, unexpected victories, betrayals and tactics being used. I was very interested in this particular election because nothing close to this ever happened before. So, everyone wants Trump gone, the question is who the democratic party will send as their nominee. Will they stick to their inefficient strategy of running a status quo moderate? Or will they finally accept that we need real change to take effect? Unfortunately, the answer is the former. I was excited for this election because Bernie Sanders, someone who has been fighting for the people for 40 years, is running again. His ideas about guaranteeing free healthcare for everyone, free colleges, taking real steps to address the threat of climate change, and a million other things that will make life better for everyone. In the beginning of the democratic primary, Bernie Sanders won state after state, I actually had hope that he’ll win. But sadly, making peoples lives better seem to be unacceptable for the establishment, so every other candidate dropped out and endorsed Joe Biden, so they have a chance to defeat Bernie Sanders. And the tactic worked, with the help of the entire media, corporations and the Democratic Party establishment, Biden pulled ahead and won the candidacy. Quelling the hope that things will be better, and that even if Biden defeats Trump, the massive systemic issues that plagues the nation will not be addressed.

Q4 : What do you think the odds are for the coming US Elections — running in November?

This is the most unprecedented election in a very long time. The situation has changed a lot with Covid-19 and the protests that has been going on. Before, I would’ve guaranteed that Trump would easily beat Joe Biden, but after Trumps horrible response to the pandemic, and his fascistic response to the protests, a lot of people want him gone, even if he is going to be replaced by an unenthusiastic candidate like Joe Biden. What concerns me is that politicians like Biden are exactly the kind of people who enabled someone like Trump to get elected in the first place. And even if Biden gets elected in 2020, I fear that it will pave the way for someone worse than Trump in the following years.

Also, a lot of Trump supporters that voted for him in 2016 will not be doing so again, because they’ve seen firsthand that he’s broken his promises, and their lives are not better than they were before. Yet I’m sure that there are still many diehard Trump supporters that will continue to vote for him no matter what. I am unsure on how the election will play out, because every day seems to bring about new gamechanging situations, things can drastically change in a short amount of time.

Q5 : If Trump win the next election, what do you think the consequences will be — globally.

It’s almost impossible to predict what will happen if Trump manages to get reelected, but it will further destabilize the country, and the US will slide deeper into fascism. If that happens, there will be little hope left for America. I don’t know what crazy things will happen next, but it won’t be pretty. America cannot take four more years of a Trump presidency. It will light the fuse that will burn the whole country down.

If Biden manages to win, the previous status quo will be restored, which is still bad, but its better than the alternative. But nothing will fundamentally change, that was his campaign promise, and right now, we need fundamental change to take place, because we’re running out of time. No more empty promises, and no more meaningless platitude. But maybe if Biden wins, and down the line people realise that the issues that oppress them still exists, they might finally see that it is deeply embedded in the system, and it has to be dealt with.

Q6 : Final question for this post is : What is the lessons learned from all this for all of us? What changes that you think should be made to the political systems anywhere? Is there a fundamental mindshift that we should make so that any changes necessary are possible in the future — and why.

A6: To make the world a better place, we need to take drastic action. The political and economic systems we have thrives on greed and inequality, and this has to change. We should look at what’s happening in the US as a warning, what horrible things the people in power are willing to do to stay in power. Politicians like Bernie Sanders who are truly on our side, are very few and far between. Almost all of the government officials and representatives are only concerned about their own wealth and power, they don’t care if it comes from the detriment of their own community. The system seems to favor those who are greedy and unsympathetic, and will punish those who try to bring positive change, because it’s looked as a challenge to the power of the establishment. We need to rethink our strategy, because everybody that has power and influence are against us, and they will use every tactic necessary to make sure we don’t get the change we need. It’s time we learn from our mistakes, and play this insane game of politics better. Giving up is not an option when the entire future of humanity is at stake.

I think this is all — well I am excited to hear what Rico has learned and what he has to say in response to my questions. Thank you…