BALI TO HELL?

BALI TO HELL?

By: Ida Bagus Gde Pujaastawa

Twenty years ago, Putu Setia, a journalist who is also a writer from Bali through his work Suing Bali (1987), said that he had been ridiculed by a young poet, when in his office read aloud a rendra poem entitled "Bali Island Poetry" and even louder when it comes to the closing line reading that reads:  In Bali : beach, mountain, bed, and temple has been corrupted ". After reading the free poem, the young poet added, "Bali is truly commercial. This area is walking towards hell, "he said. Furthermore, the poet asked "what else can be maintained by Balimu? White sand and palm wave are no longer the property of Balinese fishermen. The beach has become the property of Jakartans, or possibly foreigners. Putu Setia only answered it with a smile, because according to him the young poet had answered it himself.

The poem above can actually be interpreted as a form of protest as well as a warning against the phenomenon of environmental capitalization in line with the growing development of the tourism sector in Bali. Even though these protests and warnings were made twenty years ago, the phenomenon of environmental capitalization in Bali seems to continue as if it cannot be dammed.

For capitalists, natural resources are the main commodity for making profits. Natural resources have been an important factor in the development of capitalism since the nineteenth century. Indeed environmental problems have arisen in line with the development of capitalism which motivated the countries of Western Europe to launch an expansion to control natural resources in various parts of the world to ensure the supply of their industrial raw materials. The impetus for libido of capitalism to make unlimited profits is certainly a serious threat to the preservation of natural resources or the environment. Moreover, the paradigm of capitalism which tends to view natural resources as mere economic commodities and is less responsible for their preservation, has led to massive exploitation of natural resources in the interests of profit maximization. Such a paradigm of capitalism is an anthropocentric paradigm that positions humans as the center of orientation and conceptualizes the environment as nothing more than objects that only have value as far as it can meet human interests.

The rapid development of the tourism sector is a stimulus that has increasingly fueled capitalist libido. Through the tourism industry the capitalists not only capitalize on material elements, but also nonmaterials, such as: education, culture, and even sex. Multinational conglomerates allied to build cartels to hunt for places where people can still enjoy the sunshine, fresh air, sea or scenery for free. On the land they built various facilities such as airports, apartment towers, hotels, swimming pools, docks, and parking pockets. Thus if people want to enjoy the sunshine on the beach or fresh air in the mountains, they are forced to use and pay for these industrial facilities. Even in some places, the right of people to gain access to the beach or watch the scenery has been obstructed by various tourism facility buildings that stand proudly. Capitalists have achieved successful achievements in capitalizing beautiful landscapes and places, which means making them capital, by managing, operating, renting them out to users.

Even worse, environmental systems that are culturally conditional with a religious image do not escape the greed of capitalist passions. Forests, mountains and springs, which in the conception of religion are sacred areas, are now being touched in the interest of tourism on the pretext of increasing foreign exchange and public welfare. Imaging or traditional cultural views about the environment that are often packaged in the form of myths about the environment that are considered sacred and sacred are now being harassed and marginalized by capitalist views that are more concerned with economic profits. Modernization as the basis for development assumes that society evolved from traditional to modern. For this reason, it can be understood that modernization of traditional attitudes is often seen as a problem that must be reduced and replaced with modern attitudes and actions that are rational.

In fact in various traditional cultures, human relations with their environment tend to show patterns that are harmonious and harmonious. In this context the utilization of environmental resources is highly controlled through ecological wisdoms that lie behind the cultural envelope. Whereas modern human culture which is progressive is more prioritizing economic values and rational logic, tends to show exploitative patterns of relationships. This resulted in a tug-of-war between motives of economic interests and environmental preservation becoming stronger. The latest concepts about saving the environment that are based on the rules of rational logic continue to be explored and developed. However, the phenomenon of the declining quality of the environment is actually increasing and expanding from year to year. If this phenomenon is allowed to continue, then tourism that is expected to bring blessings will only bring disaster.