Written by:Junaidi Lubis SH., M.H.(Founder of the Barus City Legal Aid Institute)

Legal Literacy - A hedonistic lifestyle can trigger acts of violence. Lately, we have been faced with a legal event that is quite shocking, yes, it is enough to make us all stunned by the lifestyle (hedon) of a tax director general's (djp) son who committed alleged acts of violence against a child who was around 17 years old, that a hedonistic lifestyle among the upper middle class is normal, it's just that we shouldn't let that hedonistic style make us feel like we own everything and are free to take any action that can cause harm to others, especially if the actions we take can have fatal consequences for others and clearly this is an act against the law which is threatened with acts of persecution and others.

Whatever we do with a hedonistic style is fine, only with the note that there are laws that we must respect and also there are the rights of others that we cannot take away, either unintentionally or intentionally because of alleged love problems between young people.

Equality in Law

All actions we take must be directed according to legal provisions, there is no hedonism in law, that the 1945 Constitution affirms that equality before the law is in accordance with Article 27 and in Article 28 D that we receive the same treatment before the law. Furthermore, Indonesian positive law also recognizes the principle called equality before the law, which means that we are all subject to law and the same judiciary, therefore it is emphasized that whatever actions we want to take must be based on the same law and there is no difference between those who live a hedonistic lifestyle and those who live a normal lifestyle, just like the community in general.

Looking at the Influence of Hedonistic Style on Violence

Referring to the Big Indonesian Dictionary, hedon comes from the word Hedonism which means material pleasure as the main goal in life. In everyday terms, hedon is the nature of someone who is wasteful or likes to squander money or in today's terms, people who are used to living in luxury.

What happened in the case of violence shows that the alleged perpetrator lives with hedonism. However, what we want to know is the extent to which hedonism can influence the occurrence of violence in social interactions, that there is an assumption in society that people whose lifestyle is hedonistic will tend to do whatever they want to do things they like without thinking about whether the actions taken will have a bad impact on others or not, violate the law or not, or even more dangerously, the assumption is that I am the child of someone who has power (luxury) so when I commit an act that violates the law, I have the power (money) to be able to resolve this act peacefully, of course this is the kind of thing that we must avoid in behaving in society.

According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary, violence is defined as a hard nature or thing, strength, coercion or pressure, strong urge, so violence means bringing strength, coercion or pressure, while the meaning of violence in law is in accordance with the provisions of Article 89 of the Criminal Code is to make a person faint or helpless (weak) it is explained that committing violence means using physical energy or strength that is not small illegally, for example hitting with hands or with all kinds of weapons, kicking, kicking and so on.

Please have a hedonistic style as long as it can be accounted for both morally and especially legally. That living a hedonistic lifestyle is normal among the upper classes, it's just that don't show off hedonism by doing whatever you want, especially to the point of breaking the law, this is a wrong action that is happening in our society, that what happened as above is just a small example called a coincidence, there are still many hedonistic styles out there that are even far more luxurious than what the alleged perpetrator did, it is emphasized once again that hedonism and violence will influence each other's lifestyles in society itself, those who are used to living a hedonistic lifestyle will tend to be a little more arrogant compared to a normal lifestyle.

Then how about the law views hedon and violence in a legal event, that in practice law is a tool to control behavior arising from various forms of symptoms that occur in society, that law must also have control over hedon itself, hedon that has an impact on law is something we must avoid, whatever the circumstances, do not be caused by hedonistic behavior itself, that oneself must have full control over the style that is being carried out in society.

The law also requires that hedonism can actually have a bad impact on people who like it, therefore the law also wants to limit a person's life to be as simple as possible in order to avoid behavior that will tend to do things that are destructive, which are detrimental to both oneself and others. The root of violence means wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, trade without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, and politics without principle. That law enforcement that is just, beneficial and certain is expected to be able to be the answer to events that occur and in the future there will be no more similar events that occur due to hedonism.

*This article is the personal opinion of the author and does not represent the views of the editors Legal Literacy Indonesia.