A call to arms against bigotry and the politics of amnesia
by Jennie S. Bev As part of international efforts to commemorate the Rwandan genocide, a New York-based group is calling for the United Nations to declare April as Genocide Prevention Month. Here at home, next month will bring the 11th anniversary of the...
Lifting moratoriums and loan restructuring hope
by Jennie S. Bev The foreclosure moratorium, which basically banned foreclosure sales and evictions for mortgages funded and securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, ended on March 31. It came with many consequences: the good, the bad and the sexy. Loan...
On the carpenter and resurrection
by Jennie S. Bev Two millennia ago, a simple man from Nazareth made his debut in the world of politics and religion by starting a minuscule Jewish sect. Jesus was a humble man whose values and virtues were remarkable. He was inspiring to all mankind, and Christians...
In search of radical public intellectuals
by Jennie S. Bev Contrary to popular belief, academics are intellectuals but not all intellectuals are academics. Additionally, not all intellectuals are known to the public, and not all public intellectuals are radical. Radical intellectuals can be found somewhere...
Measuring progress amid the patriarchies
by Jennie S. Bev Adam Smith hypothesized that people are inherently greedy, and that’s what it takes to run the engine of wealth. And to measure a country’s economic health, gross domestic product comes into play. But while numbers look neutral and impartial on the...
A flourishing state lives on compassion
by Jennie S. Bev In modern societies, compassion is scarce. Almost every day we read news about deadly brawls, mass shootings, hazing, social unrest, murders, robberies —even servants are killed in their employers’ homes for petty reasons. Two weeks ago, a high school...
The marriage of politics and economics
by Jennie S. Bev Politics and economics make an incredibly sexy partnership. Their erotic affair is based on influencing people, getting them to respond to desires. According to Thomas Sowell, a Stanford-based economist, political decisions tend to be categorical or...
Fight for equality is still far from over
by Jennie S. Bev An Athenian tragedian Euripides (480 BC-406 BC) said, “Equality will never be found among humans.” Some 2,500 years later, women are still struggling for their equal position in society. Speaking from experience, living in the United States as a...
Decline of pluralism, a cause for concern?
by Jennie S. Bev Indonesia is a pluralistic country, and it shows how people of different religions and ethnic groups can live side-by-side in harmony. The Indonesian brand of Islam is generally considered to be moderate and liberal. However, a survey conducted by the...
This election, a little Socrates for debate
by Jennie S. Bev Prior to Socrates (469-399 BC), there were the Monists and the Sophists. While the Monists subscribed to superstitious primitive beliefs, the Sophists were much more sophisticated. They taught and philosophized. Above all, they were well-versed in the...
Martin Luther King, jr lives on with new White House
by Jennie S. Bev On Jan. 19, 2009, Martin Luther King, Jr. would have been 80 years old. His hair would have been all gray and his hardships would have been marked with deep wrinkles on his face. And he would have been the proudest person on earth to see the first...
Fighting crimes against humanity
by Jennie S. Bev Wednesday was the 60th anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We have come a long way from the first legal system, which was Hammurabi’s Code; to the universal concept of jus gentium; to the Magna Carta; to the first...
Writing for an imaginary homeland
by Jennie S. Bev Everything starts with words. Throughout history, every individual of any degree of importance in society has had at least one book and multiple short pieces written by, inspired by, or dedicated to him or her. Every major event and phenomenon is...
Life’s impermanence and momentary motherhood
by Jennie S. Bev Life is a series of impermanence. People and things come and go. There are hellos and goodbyes throughout our lifetime. But the most painful goodbye for a woman is the death of her child, either born or unborn. I did not realize how painful it was...
The politics of compassion
by Jennie S. Bev This November marks the 10th year commemoration of the 1998 Semanggi Tragedy I, which occurred on Nov. 11-13, 1998, which caused 17 deaths. Almost one year later, Semanggi Tragedy II occurred on Sept. 24, 1999, resulting in one death and 217 injuries....
Terminator’s lessons in leadership
by Jennie S. Bev I was invited to attend an annual presentation by the 38th governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, as organized by The Commonwealth Club, a public affairs forum, at the historical Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco last month. Beyond my...
Screening political soaps
by Jennie S. Bev If life were show business, then politics must have been a soap opera with twists and turns as well as climaxes and anti-climaxes found in Greek tragedies. The only difference is all scenes and chapters are reality and directly affect our well-being....
Hope from Silicon Valley
by Jennie S. Bev In September I attended a presentation by a group of distinguished movers and shakers in the region and by Silicon Valley Joint Venture Network’s President and CEO Russell Hancock. In the midst of a bleak economy, those who reside in...
Facing a U.S. downturn
by Jennie S. Bev The United States is heading into what is believed to resemble the ultimate economic nightmare: The Great Depression. Still, there is a joke circulating about George W. Bush's "limited" intelligence in which he was believed to have said,...
Obama’s campaign promises and us
by Jennie S. Bev Both Barack Obama and I once lived and grew up in the Menteng district of Central Jakarta. He went to SD Negeri 1 Menteng, while I went to Saint Theresia. Both schools were within a few minutes drive from each other, but of course unless time was a...
Intellectual politicians, treason, and schismogenesis
by Jennie S. Bev The "notion" --borrowing Barack Obama's favorite word according to Dr. Lee Thornton, the president of American Journalism Review-- that a public intellectual who decides to plunge into the political arena is either inappropriate or...
To love our country, our country ought to be lovely
by Jennie S. Bev I once attended Robert "Hollywood Guru" McKee's screenwriting class in downtown San Francisco. During the analysis session Casablanca (starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid) was played on the projection screen. I was...
Beijing olympics: between friendship and power
by Jennie S. Bev "One world, one dream" is the official slogan of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. It is said to reflect these six values: unity, friendship, progress, harmony, participation, and dreaming. It also expresses the common desire of people all over the...
Here’s to punditocracy
by Jennie S. Bev We all live in an interesting time today. All kinds of forces have been affecting long and short-term policies, as well as macro, meso, and micro ones. There are thousands of causes to fight for, starting from the bottom of Abraham Maslow's...
Generation X, Y, and leadership
by Jennie S. Bev Indonesia's 2009 presidential election campaign promises to be exciting for Indonesians and the world. Unlike the two previous post-Soeharto elections, dominated by Baby Boomer candidates who eventually won, candidates from Generation X will...
Indonesia in food, fuel, and compassion crises
by Jennie S. Bev I live in Northern California, considered one of the wealthiest regions in the United States, where the global intellectual hub of Silicon Valley neighbors the panoramic San Francisco Bay area and where luminaries like Larry Page and Sergey Brin (the...
Citizen diplomacy and cross-cultural pollination
by Jennie S. Bev Post Sept. 11, the world is getting more polarized and more religious as well as anti-religious. This tiny blue planet is getting more divided and Indonesia is no exception. It is a reality check to acknowledge, to reflect and to act upon. It is true...
Conscientiasclerosis and legalized persecution
by Jennie S. Bev I love Indonesia and Indonesians, but I have some reservations whenever it comes to acknowledging a particular government. I had high hopes for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, for he is the first president of Indonesia directly elected in a fair, square and...
Islamic view on jurisprudence and compassion
by Jennie S. Bev When I was pursuing a law degree at the University of Indonesia, I became fascinated by Islam as the one and only religion of laws approved in Indonesia out of only a few “official” religions. At the time, I did not learn much about Islamic notions of...
The fallacy of equality and persecution
by Jennie S. Bev Two centuries ago, John Adams said, "Facts are stubborn things, and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence". This still rings true to this very day and...