Where is it all leading?

Remember my last entry?  There, I wisely placed my reflection within the context of my golden rule - "All is never what it seems".  I have learnt this from 15 years of experience of living in Thailand.  You may look at what is before you within one interpretation, while underneath there may be a totally different one at play.  

Is this being confirmed when I hear a Thai priest at daily mass say that the Thai youth of today "are brainwashed"?  Really?  I would hold that they are energized to act against the enduring reality of oppressive and corrupt social structures running their country.    

Still, I start asking myself, if there is once again an undercurrent, a hidden agenda, the real narrative beyond what is presented.  So I must give Father some air time. 

He says brainwashed which I find interesting as I identify that Thais are a people who are already brainwashed.  I say this as I see them believing convincing, locally produced propaganda about their identity and standing in the world.  This has arisen beginning from 1932 when the then king abdicated, handing rule over to capable and vested interests of the state.  Over time, these interests and other powerful forces have joined to create a social narrative that has served them well in running the country.  

With time, there has arisen a powerful and wealthy elite which over the past two decades has engaged in an internal struggle for power of the state.  This struggle has served to further brainwash the people who simply believe one side or the other, without considering what is at play and what is really happening.  This is about all is not what it seems.  

So I come back to where I began.  All is not what it seems.  The youth of Thailand today are all being brainwashed into action?  I am not so sure.  I believe in them and their cause.  Maybe that is too easy an interpretation but, at the same time, I am seeing youth protesting in numerous countries.  They are doing it because something has to happen in a world where there is a shortage of hope.  What I am seeing is powerful forces in their societies acting against them, wherever they may be.  These forces everywhere are saying their youth are being driven by outside powers or brainwashed as a way to explain them away.  

So the discussion all gets cyclical or mixed up.  This calls forth a firm base from which to start a decent conversation.  That base is not easy to identify when so much is used and abused by various forces for their own purposes.  

Trust the youth then.  Let them lead for now and see where it all goes.  At least, it could be no worse than what it is already.  Yes, "the youth are not always right, but the society which ignores them and beats them is always wrong." (Francois Mitterand, President of France, 1981 - 1995)