In Thailand, the expression “same same, but different” is a widely used and well-known slogan. Its origins are quite interesting, because it’s a hybrid of Thai and Western outlooks. The Thai would say “same same” but as time passed and tourism grew in the country, Westerners (the so-called Farangs) added “but different” to it.
But how come? Well, when you want to buy a product or service from a Thai, but they don’t have it available, they would propose you another product or service telling you it’s “same same.” But then, of course, it’s never ever “same same” at all!
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So, finally this became such a thing, that we, Westerners, added “but different” to the Thai selling-strategy. Nowadays, it has become a kind of a joke, and in Thailand one can even buy T-shirts with on the front side written “same same” and on the back “but different.”
Intriguing enough, it’s also an accurate description of what is happening in Thailand and world-wide around the globe. Traveling the continents one discovers that things have become increasingly “same same.” People seem to run after money everywhere, after bigger, better, and more, and severely pollute and destroy their living-environments locally and globally.
You hit onto the same commercial chains of food, utility, and fashion stores, the same kind of shopping malls, conglomerates and enterprises, whether you are in Bogota, Paris, or in Bangkok. Stress, anxiety, competition, and ruthlessness have become all-present in a unified East-West melting-pot.
The only “but different” seems to remain in the variety of climate-zones, the languages, ingrained cultural attitudes and traditions, but even the latter are under strong pressure of so-called globalization.
Of course, people and nations feel threatened in their identity, and in past years we have increasingly seen strong uprisings from nationalism worldwide, in many forms, and with different intensity.
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Nevertheless, when we look closely, we can only realize that “the battle” has been lost in favor of a so-called “new world order.” A world order ruled by super-rich people and their enterprises which are not bound by borders, traditions, or culture, but operate and penetrate internationally in order to get richer.
The wars of the near future will not be about religion, ideology, tradition, culture, or nations, but about protecting and multiplying private assets, property, and money for state-less, tradition-less, care-less, super-rich groups and individuals.
Through cultivation of mass fear and anxiety they mobilize the masses and impose their values, goals, and morals on the rest of the world. It’s this “rest of the world,” consisting of middle-class, lower-class, and no-class, that generally “eats-it,” and obediently cooperates in reaching the goals of others set before them.
Of course, we can keep our eyes shut or say that “we can’t do anything about it,” and perhaps we indeed can’t stop the Titanic collide. But in any case, it seems that human “civilization” has too long been same-same now, and I wonder if it’s ever going to be any different!
