Blog #4: Indonesia's Civic Culture only Grazes Democracy

Indonesia’s “street justice” and open distrust of its urban authorities has long since held the nation back from fully accepting any form of democracy. Scientists Gabriel Almond and Sidney Verba had created a term 50 years ago, “civic culture,” which was related to a political culture that is opportune to democracy, but someone or something was holding it back. 

Not too long ago, there were reports of a young man in Jakarta suffering from a motorcycle fall that resulted in him being wedged under a car; the unfortunate part is that the driver of the car, who was aware of the youth under his vehicle, continued to drag him along for another 30 kilometers before he was forced to stop. His justification? The fear of being lynched by a growing mob of witnesses on the scene, which prompted him to speed away. His fear wasn’t far-fetched, for there had been another recent case in the city of Tangerang, where a mob had lynched and incinerated a man caught stealing a motorcycle. The mobs taking matters of street crime into their own hands shows a lack of confidence in the present authorities, which is one of the loftiest walls separating the nation from accepting full democratic reform. Almond and Verba had argued that civic culture society should be able to build a bridge of trust with its government, and expect to be protected and judged fairly by its agencies, however this is lacking in Indonesia’s current state.

Civic culture also includes tolerating different views, which, to an extent, is missing in parts of Indonesia where minority groups are sometimes treated as second-class citizens. A recent lecture on creating a system of healthcare for the 1965-66 Communist Purge victims in Solo was ended by the Islamic Defenders Front, who dictated that it had been an attempt to spread communism. Last week in Sidoarjo, East Java, the same illiberality was present when GP Ansor, the youth organization of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) was successful in the removal of town square statues that had shown traditional rural occupations. The Muslim youth organization alleged the statues were a form of idolatry, thereby disrespecting Islamic tenets. 

Finally, several parts of Indonesia lack civic cooperation, or the ability of citizens cooperating to achieve the common good. Last year when free rice was being given away at a Chinese temple in Tuban, East Java, several people had been injured from agitation and crowding, being shoved along while waiting for their turn. 

Writer Johannes Nugroho dictated in the article that in order for democracy to sow its seeds and grow, civic culture must be strong. Elements of democracy, like elections and judicial systems, can be assimilated relatively easily only once the country meets strong civic culture standards. I think it’s important to consider here that even as the holder of the largest economy in Southeast Asia and the epicenter of major trade routes, it’s still a nation that has succumbed to inter-disputes among it’s diverse populations, and unfortunately has yet to establish a trust between it’s authoritative organizations and it’s booming urban population. The concept of street justice, racial and ethnic inequality, and intolerance only being elements of crumbling states or impoverished countries is no longer relevant; Indonesia is a major Pacific power and is one of the emerging market economies on the globe. With so much potential, and I know this is a problem that takes a painstaking process to fix, it’s unfortunate to see such a massive population hindered by an untrustworthy government. I’d hope in the near future a fitting state of democratic ideals finds its way among this archipelago of islands and ends its inner-city rabbles. 

Read the article here: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/what-you-think/article/indonesia-just-scratching-the-surface-of-democracy-johannes-nugroho

Salwa Majeed
Thursday, March 2015
7:24 PM

Blog 4: Indonesia and climate change

Empty Promises: All that remains of Indonesia's climate plans

The president of Indonesia declared at a meeting in 2009 that the country would cut its carbon emissions by 26 percent by the year 2020 and with international support, Indonesia could bring that reduce emissions up to 41 percent.  Not much has been done about it in the past four years.

Much action is being taken against the president because of this.  Environmental activists are doing everything from protests to class action law suits against corruption for these neglected promises.

Not only is Indonesia not moving forward quickly enough for environmental activists, but as a rapidly developing country, they are high growth of their coal industry.  The article states that the country's coal industry, being backed by the world bank is worth 33.9 million dollars and includes a 2,000 MW coal plant and a 424 kilometer railroad for transportation.  Environmental groups are also upset about this as well as local villagers.

The president did not say anything about coal in the promise he made at the conference.  He was talking about deforestation and the depletion of the peat bogs.  The president stated that most of Indonesia's carbon emissions stem from forest fires and deforestation.  Indonesia's peat bogs are essential to keeping carbon in check and loss of those due to oil palm and Acacia plantations are causing the peat to decrease and the plantations are more prone to ignite.  Peat can hold up to 20 times as much CO2 as tropical rain forests and in reality, the peat holds 57 billion tons of CO2 and the peat bogs are being eliminated.

This article states that not only is Indonesia developing a coal industry, but it is also not paying attention to the value peat bogs.  This could be looked at from both sides of the sociological standpoint.  On one hand, why is Indonesia not allowed to grow their economy by introducing the coal industry?  Why is their responsibility to stay a less developed country then say, the United States.  They deserve to have equal opportunity to thrive just as we do.  America is not going to lessen its standard of luxury living to the extent that we are asking and frankly demanding Indonesia to do so. This is a bit on the hypocritical side of things.

On the other hand, the indonesian peat is a valuable asset to combat climate change and the world needs it to keep CO2 emissions at bay.  Indonesia should pay more attention to their peat bogs and take their fair share of responsibility to combat global climate change while at the same time, they should be able to develop their economy as much as they please.

Lilian Brown
October 2, 2013 at 12:10 pm
http://www.redd-monitor.org/2013/10/01/empty-promises-all-that-remains-of-indonesias-climate-plans/

Blog 4: It’s 2013, And They’re Burning ‘Witches’

Jaleesha Holden
02/19/2013
1:35pm





It’s 2013, And They’re Burning ‘Witches’

                 In the article the writer talk about the women of Papua New Guinea. In Papua New Guinea the belief of women using black magic is very common. This article talked about how a women who was accused of using black magic and being a witch.  When there is a sudden death of a child or a man it is said that it is the work of black magic. The responsibility of the death of a man or child is then placed on a women and she has to pay for it. The recent death of two men raised the hunt to find a woman to blame for the deaths.  A woman who was named Angela (not her real name) was tortured and burned alive for the death of two men. The men stripped her of her clothes and placed her on wood to be on display for everyone that was surrounding the women watching. Some of the people that were watching were off duty cops and even little children were there to witness such a horrible act.  It is all too common that many women are burned or beaten because of the belief of witches and black magic. Many are trying to make efforts to help with this issue.

                I feel that something should be done about this issue. I feel that no women should have to live their lives in fear. I feel this is immoral and even from any view point of this issue this is something that should not be happening to the women of Papua New Guinea. I this one of the many stories of how women are treat unequally and has little to no help to fight for their rights and receive help. I feel that women of any country should have adequate resource to seek help and have help for crisis such as this article presented.

http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/its-2013-and-theyre-burning-witches/558/

Blog #4, Corey Sitton, Canadian job problems within Caterpillar

"Buy American"...We all have heard it here in the US. There is quite a patriotic symbol behind the phrase. Buying American means keeping jobs in America, and supposedly getting a better made product.
Caterpillar operations in Canada are receiving the negative reprecussions of this phrase.  A Lockout took place when company owners introduced a new contract which would essentially cut wages and half, severely decrease benifits, and terminate the existing pension plan.  The Union workers were extremely upset about this, as anyone could imagine.  Electro-Motive Canada, the company owned by Caterpillar which proposed the new contract, is accused by Union workers of using the contract as means of even further disturbing actions.  The Union workers believer that the contract was an attempt to shut down the Canadian factory, forcing all jobs to their parent companies in the midwest United States, because of Government propogand influincing consumers to "Buy American".  However, job salaries and wages in the American plants are significantly less than the wages in London, Ontario.
What we can see here is something that is not new to any labor and production project in any area of the world. Companies raising demands and cutting wages is what business has turned to these days.  Sending the job to where the pay is cheaper is the way companies are staying afloat in this economy.  It is also suprising to see how much control government has say in the matter.  It is interesting to me that for once a job issue is coming to the US from another country in demand of lower wagers.  In the economy we are in, wages are low and jobs are in demand, so companies can get away with paying Americans cheaper than ever right now. This however, has left Canadian workers in a bad situation. ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/business/workers-locked-out-at-caterpillar-locomotive-plant-in-canada.html?_r=0

Blog 4: Teenage girl recieves 100 lashes for relationship

Afghanistan: 100 lashes for teen shows why climate of violence against women must be tackled

Sunday morning, a 16 year old girl is sentenced to 100 lashes for having an “illicit relationship” with a young boy.  The action is known as “flogging”.  The act is set to have taken place publicly.  It has been said that members of the Afghan Parliament have started an investigation for the cruel and unlawful punishment of a teenager.  However, there are still other crimes against women under investigation that have yet to be taken seriously.  They expressed that such a punishment is cruel and forbidden under Afghan as well as international laws.  The fact that this is a teenage girl only makes the punishment worse.  This type of punishment is not unusual to be taken out on women; although it is unlawful.   Amnesty International is trying to persuade the Afghan government to enforce the law of Elimination of Violence against Women enacted late 2009.  This law criminalizes the forced rape, marriage, and beatings against women.  The Afghan government is also under heavy scrutiny to reform their justice system increasing their accountability and oversight of unlawful female punishments.

There should be no punishment for such an act as being in a relationship; especially at such an age where it is expected.   Women’s rights are taken lightly where they are subject to such degrading and violent punishments for simple acts that are later deemed as crimes.  Laws that are in place to protect these women should be taken seriously by their government in hopes to saving their lives.  

Here is the link for original article:  http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/news-item/afghanistan-100-lashes-for-teen-shows-why-climate-of-violence-against-women-must-be-tackled

Blog 4: Mystery of the disappearing bees

     In the past 15 years an important part of our agriculture has been jeopardized by a certain insecticide. The western honey bee and other similar species play a key role in the pollination of many crops we consume. Neonicotinoid insecticides have been linked to the colony collapse disorder. Colony collapse disorder describes the disappearance of bee colonies across a great area. Neonicotinoids are a new type of insecticide created in the 80’s and 90’s. Millions of acres of crops are treated with these types of insecticides. Neonicotinoid imidacloprid is currently the most widely used insecticide used in the world. Neonicotinoids are chemically similar to nicotine, which is found in the cigarettes that many of us smoke. Neuroreceptors are blocked by the neonicotinoids and causes paralysis and death in insects. Over the past couple decades several studies have linked neonicotinoids to colony collapse disorder. Harvard’s school of public health as recreated a colony collapse just be administering small amounts of neonicotinoids to small populations of bees. France and Germany have already took action and banned the use of these types of insecticides. Due to the damage of bee colonies, agricultural entities have introduced changes to increase productivity of the bees. These changes, such as artificial diets and insemination of queen bees, has lead to a decrease in the wild bee diversity. Changes imposed upon bees may cause the species itself to become non existent. Bill McKibben states that “Past a certain point, we can’t make nature conform to our industrial model. The collapse of bee hives is a warning – and the cleverness of a few beekeepers in figuring out how to work with bees not as masters but as partners offers a clear-eyed kind of hope for many of our ecological dilemmas.” Bill’s statement explains that we must not just use the bees as a resource, but have a symbiotic relationship.

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2012/04/09/mystery-of-the-disappearing-bees-solved/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neonicotinoid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_collapse_disorder

Blog #4- Hate Crime based on sexuality

In this blog I would like to talk about hate crimes that are caused because of sexuality. I think this is a good topic for this weeks blog because this is what we did our discussion board on. I read an article titled “U.S. Marines probed for hate crime in beating a man in a California gay bar”. In San Diego this week four marines were being investigated for beating a gay man outside of a gay bar. Witnesses reported that during the attack the men were using terms that would indicate that they were beating him because of his sexuality. They were arrested and released on bail and all returned to their units. After reading this article I researched hate crimes based on sexuality and it took me to About.com/ Gay Life. This website says that even though there is an increase in acceptance of gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual people, gay and lesbian hate crimes continue to rise. There are many stories posted on this website about hate crimes over the past 40 years. It also shows evidence such as; “In 2004 the FBI reported that 15.6 percent of hate crimes reported to the police were founded on perceived sexual orientation, 61 percent of those attacks were on gay men”.  Also the claim was made in 2007 that hate crimes based on sexual orientation are the third most common type behind race and religion. What does this say about our country? Why is this happening? And why do people care so much about others sexuality? We are usually taught in schools not to discriminate, so why do people think it is okay to discriminate against people based on their sexuality. This is a global issue because it is happening everywhere not just in the U.S. In my discussion I talked about how Based on empirical evidence people are judged and talked about based on peoples religions. In Russia there is no law for same sex marriages and it seems to be legal that females are with females and males are with males. In Algeria and Rwanda Gays are not able to serve in the military. In chili and Australia you have the ability to change your gender on official documents. Hate crimes based on gender identity seems to be the most frequent in the USA and hate crimes based on sexual orientation seems to be a big deal in the USA, Canada, Denmark, Peru, the UK and even more. Based on all of this evidence hate crime based on sexuality is a huge deal and needs to be stopped.

http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/09/04/man-recalls-4-marines-allegedly-beating-him-unconscious-for-being-gay/

http://gaylife.about.com/

Blog 4: Sister Aziza to the Rescue

Kourtney Reynolds

9:12am

Blog 4

According to the dictionary, a human right is a right that is believed to belong justifiably to every person. In many studies this right includes safety. In the parts of Africa discussed in this article, safety is rarity and a luxury. This article focuses on what is considered to an “oasis” for African Asylum seekers and its dedicated leader, Sister Aziza. Sister Aziza saves as a safe haven for Africans that are escaping from danger within their own countries through the Sinai Desert to flee to Israel. Sister Aziza is a nun whom practices as a nurse for the African refuges. She has conducted over 1300 interviews and seen thousands of people and out them n path to recovery. These interviews expose the rapes, kidnapping, torture, forced, labor and slavery these refugees have experienced and survived. She does not do this alone, but does serve as maternal figure for everyone helping heal him or her emotionally not physically. She has shined an enormous light on the trafficking issues in the Sinai. Her stories stretch from women raped to men beat to near death. Sinai desert is a prominent for people trafficking from sub-Saharan Africa. In the process of trafficking their families may be blackmailed, as they are tortured. Bedouin gangs hold them captive and continue to torture them many times until family members pay a ransom for that loved one. This is often much worse for women. From a Sociological perspective, I see the masculinity as vulnerability. Currently in these deserts, men are unable to protect their families and fall vulnerable to the traffickers. Also, although not exactly what may be thought of when is comes to word matrifocal, I see this oasis as matrifocal with Sister Aziza being the mother figure. Yet as the book states, the constant rapes, sex trafficking, and harsher punishments with the desert support the continued perils of being a female. 

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/20/sister-gives-hope-to-trafficked-migrants/

Blog #4 Delilah Kelly: ScienceDaily: Your source for the latest research news and science breakthroughs -- updated daily Science News ... from universities, journals, and other research organizations Save Email Print Share Climate Change Threatens Tropical Birds: Global Warming, Extreme Weather Aggravate Habitat Loss, Review Finds

Climate change, as we know it, continues to take a large toll on the preservation of life in a variety of environments. This article places most of its emphasis on the threats that climate change poses to the life of birds. There are 10,000 birds species approximately 3,900 of them are migratory bird species who are greatly threatened by extinction. These birds will have to be fit enough to travel to unfamiliar climates and environments and must obtain the ability to adapt to new environments for these species to successfully escape extinction. Our bird species are being presented with habitat loss, disease and intense competition among species. Scientists are only predicting more harsh and frequent climate conditions such as droughts, heat waves, fires, cold spells, and more spread out less frequent hurricanes and storms. Although scientists believe that many birds will be able to adapt to warmer climates, extreme weather can be detrimental to their habitats posing more threats to the extinction of these bird species.

This article was very interesting due to the fact that although this article applies to the extinction of bird-life, I cannot help but think that in the future humans will be faced with some of the same adversities that our bird species are faced with today. To think about the effects of climate change on an entire species is mind boggling, allowing me to realize the importance of my role in creating a more sustainable society fighting against things within our society that promotes negative climate changes.

University of Utah (2012, February 16). Climate change threatens tropical birds: Global warming, extreme weather aggravate habitat. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/02/120216094724.htm