Viral Hashtag Kabur Aja Dulu and Unhealthy Competition in the World of Politics

The hashtag #kaburajadulu summarizes the concerns of the younger generation regarding the condition of the country in early 2025. The absence of healthy competition or fairness, including in the political sector, is thought to have made the younger generation hope to leave their own country.

Hashtags, which refer to topic or issue markers on social media, can depict the most bustling "tweets" in the virtual world. This time, the call to just run away with the hashtag #kaburajadulu is buzzing on social media, especially on the platform X (formerly Twitter), in response to the difficulties faced by young people in making a living in Indonesia.

In fact, some users suggest netizens to continue their education and seek income abroad. Various offers, scholarships, and calculations of living costs while overseas have become hot topics of discussion.

Researcher at the Center for Political Research, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Firman Noor opines that this condition occurs because the younger generation sees a competition that is tight but unhealthy. This condition, according to him, occurs in various aspects of life.

This is no exception in the political world. Unhealthy competition occurs because significant capital and connections are needed to participate in it. In fact, democracy prioritizes ideas, not just the majority of votes alone.

"If the competition is fair, not being accepted because of lack of intelligence, that can be accepted. But not being accepted because of insider connections or money, that is what makes people discouraged and motivated to leave," said Firman when contacted from Jakarta, Tuesday (18/2/2025).

In other words, the unhealthy domestic political conditions may contribute to the emergence of the call to just leave first in the virtual world. The expensive nature of politics and the pragmatic society make the opportunities for young people to enter the political world increasingly narrow. According to Firman, this makes politics not a common field for young people.

"This condition makes our politics abnormal. In a normal democracy, anyone can be elected as long as they have ideas. Now, the political situation is expensive. I recently met with several politicians, and they admitted that the public will not vote unless they are paid," he revealed.

The situation has made political dynasties increasingly mushroom and oligarchies increasingly stronger. According to Firman, this is not in accordance with the thinking of young people who see that career levels can be achieved according to their own abilities.

"They (the young generation) respect people who are from nobody to somebody. But in the world of politics with the phenomenon of nepotism, insiders, to using money, that's what makes them lazy. They feel that politics is not a world that should be respected," he explained.

This condition is reflected in the young generation who are hampered in pursuing a career in politics. This can at least be seen from the number of young legislative members in the House of Representatives (DPR). These young members refer to people aged 40 and under who are appointed as members of the DPR.

Referring to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 2023, the number of DPR members aged 40 years was 18.8 percent. However, in Indonesia, the results of the 2024 Election, only 15 percent of DPR members were young.

In fact, data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) shows that 50 of the 87 elected members of the DPR come from political dynasties. The young people who won the 2024 Election have a background of children, siblings, older siblings, wives, and other relatives of political officials.

This low percentage is not representative of the national population. As many as 53-55 percent or 107 million-108 million voters come from the age group of 40 years and under.

"If you look at the number of young people entering the legislature, of course it will not be high because of the high cost of politics. If you look at the cadre formation, there are still some who come from the young generation, but they are just cheerleaders," said Firman.

Nasdem Party Secretary General Hermawi Taslim also saw the dynasty circle in political parties increasingly phenomenal. On the other hand, the minimal participation of young people also occurs because of negative perceptions of politics.

Therefore, political parties need to approach the younger generation. According to him, Nasdem is trying to break through the deadlock in political participation of this generation by holding the Youth Program for the State which was launched at Nasdem Tower, Menteng, Jakarta, Saturday (15/2025).

The activity, Hermawi continued, was an educational activity with mentors from national political officials to discuss various issues. In addition, three models of state game simulations were presented which were carried out by members of the DPR.

The first simulation related to the recess of DPR members who went to the field to collect public aspirations. Second, the participants also conducted a simulation of a plenary meeting, and finally a simulation in the leadership deliberation body.

Teenagers in the country are held every Saturday with 30 participants in each session. This activity is also targeted to attract 1,035 participants aged 13-19 years in the next year.

"This is one way for Nasdem to break through the deadlock in young people's political participation. Hopefully, with this semi-game approach, young people will be interested in aspects of political life. Hopefully, this method can also penetrate the increasingly phenomenal dynasty circle," he said.

However, according to Firman, that alone is not enough to make the younger generation politically aware. In addition to open opportunities, there needs to be a figure who provides an example of a political career ladder without having to rely on blood connections or oligarchic interests.

Unfortunately, these figures who started their careers from the bottom did not appear on the surface. They were defeated by politicians who achieved the stage because of the support of kinship to oligarchy.

"That's what makes the youth antipathetic. Why, the honest ones are losing and being replaced by those like that (dynastic politics). Life is already hard, seeing competition like this, people will choose to leave," said Firman.

The anxiety of the younger generation towards the state of the country that emerged from the call to run away first occurred because of unhealthy competition, one of which is from the world of politics. Open opportunities and role models are needed so that the younger generation still sees opportunities amidst the narrowness of life.