A polling station in Jakarta on election day, Feb. 15, 2017. (AFP Photo/Goh Chai Hin)
Now that we’ve cast our ballots, can we please stop being angry at each other?
15 Februari 2017 20:00
I know that we havent healed completely from the 2014 General Election and all the anger that followed.
I know because I see it firsthand in my community, how people who failed to get their candidate to the State Palace get angry at every single thing the winning party does, now matter how effective the policy might be.
I know because I see it in my social media feeds how unfulfilled emotions and disappointment lead to unreasonable and unstoppable resentment.
I know because I also see the fanaticism it creates, and how its bias clouds our judgment.
I know because I feel it myself.
I am exhausted, but I had no choice about following the never-ending political debacle - it's everywhere.
Since July 2014, there have been fights in Constitutional Court over election fraud, fights in the House of Representatives, the December 2015 regional elections, and now, the 2017 regional elections.
I know our feelings, our inner resentments and our inner biases grow over time, fed deliberately by fake news and current political developments.
I understand if those pressed feelings turn into action.
How many friends have you unfriended on Facebook? How many acquaintances have you followed on Twitter and Path just so you can hate-stalk them? How many people have you screamed at over whether a politician is guilty or not? How many family meetings have you avoided because you could not stand talking about politics? How many WhatsApp group have you muted just so you dont have to read those annoying broadcast messages?
My number: zero, eight, two, maybe five, and zero.
But then it got me thinking: is this ever going to end?
Now that the voting today is over, can we ever learn how to be friends again?
Can we stop saying that the other camp is evil, infidels, senseless and stupid?
Or are we now split, forever oblivious to the other side?
The elections are still going to come the second round of regional elections in April, the General Election in 2019 (legislative AND presidential). It will not stop. How many friends and family members are we going to hate then?
What are we going to do about it?
The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect Brilio's.
