The Fruit of Rebellion Against the Past

While most countries are still caught up in the AI fever, one of the great minds in that very industry has turned his gaze toward water as his next source of inspiration. Bill Gates recently announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity under his and his ex-wife’s names, is launching an initiative aimed at maximizing the use of water for hygiene and public health in various parts of the world.

The Microsoft boss also introduced a new technology called the Omniprocessor. While we’re busy analyzing the chip war between the United States and China, the world’s biggest chip consumer is instead focusing on creating a machine that turns sewage water into clean, drinkable water—while generating steam power to run the machine itself.

Ironically, in some regions drought is spreading as a result of natural phenomena like lower rainfall intensity and the conversion of water catchment areas into housing developments. That’s exactly what’s happening in my hometown—Singosari, Malang, Indonesia. The growing population, coupled with the shrinking of water absorption zones, has caused several natural springs to dry up and stop flowing altogether.

At first, I and many locals hoped that the city’s religious foundation and values would remind people to honor water as the source of life. But that didn’t happen.

The local culture—rooted in an ancestral veneration system that later merged with Hindu teachings—was branded as heretical. Marking trees and forests with incense and flowers to prevent them from being cut down was said to be not something religious people would do.

Vandalism = “Rebellion”

Meanwhile, thousands of miles from my small town, a historic site was forever altered by an act of vandalism committed by a group of environmental activists calling themselves Just Stop Oil. The incident happened a while ago but went viral again after Ian Miles Cheong brought it up on X.

His post highlighted a British court’s decision to acquit two Just Stop Oil activists of responsibility for their actions. They were initially tried for causing permanent damage to Stonehenge, a prehistoric site in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England. According to the court, the activists had the right to protest climate change—even through acts that provoke public outrage—because that was precisely the purpose of their action.

Illustration: getimage

Just like the ruins of Hindu temples in my hometown, Stonehenge is essentially a pile of stones. Yet there will always be people who find meaning in such piles of rocks—using them as a backdrop for selfies or as a spot to witness awe-inspiring natural phenomena like sunsets or solar eclipses.

The permanent damage to Stonehenge will prevent future generations from studying their ancestors more deeply—through the stones’ characteristics, for instance, or through research into how the megaliths were erected in the first place.

The fact that human remains—of both adults and children—were found at the same site could serve as a clue to events that took place there thousands, or even millions, of years ago. Those events might explain how the local people were shaped, and why.

However, the past of nearly every civilization carries dark pages that haunt the present from time to time. Some believe the fastest and easiest way to escape this samsara is to “rebel”: to destroy, deface, or disregard any form that symbolizes or represents the past.

This kind of “rebellion” has started to become the new normal, fueled by the growing sense that humanity has lost the freedom to enjoy happiness.

The people in my hometown don’t feel guilty for destroying natural springs, because they believe there’s still groundwater left (which, according to recent studies, is no longer safe for consumption due to pollution from nearby factories). To them, Hindu civilization represents a sinful past—a “dark” era that once drew strength from its environment, leaving behind only a handful of springs that still serve the people today. (dswas)