A good friend of mine and I were chatting earlier today when the subject turned to how so many countries and people are losing their identity.
This is a true problem that I’ve been seeing all over the world, and the main reason behind it is unfortunately Globalization. I’m no anti-globalization activist or anything, in fact, I’m totally for globalization, economically and industrially speaking, but we can’t neglect the negative effects it has on culture and society.
In this globalized world, cities are becoming clones of each other, and people are converging into fake stereotypes; gone are the unique cities that carry so much history and culture in every corner, lost are the enriching cultural differences and specificities that make a society uniquely what it is; London looks like Paris which looks like Madrid; Restaurants serving this or that country’s traditional food are drowned out by the huge fast food chains, beautiful traditional clothing is lost between the new bulk-made looks created by the big brands, people look alike, eat alike and dress alike whether they’re in New York, New Delhi or Cairo.
We’re losing one of the things that count the most: our identity, the uniqueness in us, that which makes us special and allows us to stand out from the crowd.
Again, I’m all for cultural exchange and value it dearly, and I, more than anyone else, treasure the notion of a global citizen, but still that doesn’t mean letting go of our unique cultures to adopt a unified fake money-driven one.