Culture in Various Aspects of Human Life

Aliifah Nazeeya – MPKT A Class B

Faculty of Law, University of Indonesia

1906316465

The terms race, ethnicity, and culture contains contain different concepts. Race refers

to the groupings based on the biological characteristics and geographical origins. As for

ethnic or tribal nation is a social entities that can be distinguished from other entities based on

their roots and cultural identity. So, it can be concluded that culture is a distinguishing feature

of ethnicities. Culture is closely related to a society’s views of life regarding the values it

adopts, from the aspect of belief, kinship system, tenacity, resilience and so forth which are

the distinguishing factors of one ethnicity with other ethnicities.1

In general, there are four categories of race, the Mongoloid, Negroid, Caucasoid, and

some races that are not included into the three categories, that are Bushman, Veddoid, Ainu,

and Polynesian. Furthermore, this racial groups develop culture. In fact, despite having the

same ancestral origins, these racial groups are also social culturally fragmented. Race groups

then form ethnic groups based on shared values, perspectives, belief systems, and

constructing universal elements of different cultures.2

In the race category, ethnic groups in Indonesia are part of the Malayan Mongoloid

Race, with phenotative characteristics of not being too tall, big, black hair, and light brown to

dark brown. As is known, cultural differences practiced in different groups of people have led

to cultural differentiation, it can be understood that the Indonesian nation is a heterogeneous

nation, with cultural diversity that is owned by ethnic groups or ethnic groups in the territory

1
Revision Team (2017). Materi Ajar MPKT A. Depok, West Java, Indonesia: Universitas Indonesia.
2
Ibid.
of Indonesia. Examples are ethnic Sundanese, Javanese, Batak, Bugis, Dayak, Minang, and

so forth.3

The process of community formation and its development is inseparable from the

economic aspect. Communities are formed because of the desire to cooperate to meet their

needs by utilizing available resources. Meeting the needs by forming a community will be

faster, more efficient, and have better quality. The development of the community in a

location occurs because of changes in the way the needs of existing conditions are met in

fulfilling these needs.4

In a community in a location an economy is formed which in the macro scope

includes the economic structure, economic system, economic development, and economic

performance. The economic structure describes the economic conditions in a society in the

form of contributions from each of the existing sectors. Contributions in this case can be in

the form of contributions to total community income or providing employment for

community members. While the sector can be interpreted as economic segmentation in terms

of location, business fields, legal forms of business, business actors, ways of managing

businesses and so on.5

Structural changes occur and can be seen from changes in the contribution of each

sector in line with community development. The economy usually changes from what was

once dominated by the agricultural, traditional, non-formal, rural and public sectors into a

balanced economy. This change is dominated by the modern, formal, industrial and sector

sectors which will better ensure equitable welfare improvement for the community.6

Changes in resource allocation between sectors also occur along with structural

transformation. How far the structural transformation occurs is determined by the economic

3
Revision Team (2017). Materi Ajar MPKT A. Depok, West Java, Indonesia: Universitas Indonesia.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
system adopted and the economic development that takes place. The desired economic

performance also determines the economic system adopted, the pattern of development

adopted, and the direction of structural transformation that occurs. Whatever form of

economic system is followed, includes several aspects, namely the value system, the system

of objectives, the system of ownership, the system of incentives, and the system of

coordination / allocation.7

Economic development is often interpreted as infrastructure development, both

physical and social infrastructure. Likewise, development is defined as a process of fulfilling

the primary needs of society materially. But the true economic development is to build

human beings who are dignified, efficient, and independent. Economic development must

support the achievement of civilized and civilized societies. Human and community

development is directed to strengthen nationality, unity, independence, sovereignty, welfare,

justice, and so on in Pancasila and the 1945 Constitution.8

Various economic performance indicators can be used. Per capita income which is

calculated from per capita gross domestic product (GDP) is still the main reference for a

measure of economic performance of an economy. Economic growth per year is calculated

from constant price GDP or real value so that it reflects an increase in national production at

a macro level. However, GDP includes production output from companies and factors of

production from abroad so that it cannot fully reflect the welfare of the Indonesian people.

There are other efforts to produce economic performance indicators that are more

comprehensive and better reflect the actual economic achievements of the community, such

as the Human Development Index (HDI) issued by the United Nations (UNDP). Other

performance measures are calculated by various international institutions. The happiness

index is issued for almost 200 countries in the world by the United Nations (UNSP).

7
Revision Team (2017). Materi Ajar MPKT A. Depok, West Java, Indonesia: Universitas Indonesia.
8
Ibid
Corruption index issued by Transparency International for more than 160 countries in the

world.9

The economy as a human macro environment that groups and forms society will

contribute to the formation of the character and character of community members. By

understanding the economy and its aspects properly, each member of the community will be

able to determine their attitudes and actions in any given situation. Next it is necessary to

understand the concept of culture as a result of community and economic activities. Indonesia

is currently ranked 100th out of almost 200 countries in the world, with a GDP of US $

10,517 in 2014 (calculated with the purchasing power parity rate). This means that Indonesia

is in the middle income group. The Human Development Index issued by the United Nations

(UNDP) records Indonesia as ranked 110th out of 188 countries surveyed in 2014. Other

economic performance indicators can be mentioned that Indonesia is ranked 79th out of 157

countries in the world in the reported happiness index. by the United Nations (UNSP) in

2016, ranking 88th corruption out of 168 countries.10

The term culture is often equated with the term civilization. This is because the

elements discussed in culture are elements that are discussed also in civilization. However,

culture and civilization are two different things. Not a single society does not have a culture,

but not all societies have reached civilization. If the culture of a tribal or national society has

brought that society to a level which is called advanced by other societies, then it can be said

that that society has reached civilization. Thus, civilization is part of a culture that is

distinguished in terms of quality.11

In history, civilization shows ups and downs. A national society at a certain time is in

a state of lagging, but at any time can skyrocketed into an advanced nation and is considered

to have reached a high culture or civilization. As for the context of Indonesian history, the
9
Ibid
10
Revision Team (2017). Materi Ajar MPKT A. Depok, West Java, Indonesia: Universitas Indonesia.
11
Ibid
progress and fame of the kingdoms of Srivijaya, Majapahit, Malacca, and so on, are

considered to be one of the points of civilization of this nation's society. To achieve progress

and fame in achieving civilization as an Indonesian nation, we need to understand the

existence of a self as a person who has the uniqueness and freedom of creation as part of

groups and community members who can demonstrate self-efficacy for the surrounding

community, Indonesian society and the world community by developing culture tall one.12

Understanding the community and culture can build the character of mutual

cooperation and competition, because the progress and setbacks of a society are very

dependent on the individual members of the community. In addition, it fosters mutual respect

and respect for differences between individuals and between communities, and is able to

develop the culture of the community so that community progress is desired together.13

12
Revision Team (2017). Materi Ajar MPKT A. Depok, West Java, Indonesia: Universitas Indonesia.
13
Ibid