Gruesome reality

Scrolling down Instagram these days is not for the faint of heart. If it’s not some gruesome visual of animal cruelty, it’s a nude “outfit” as only Bianca Censori can pull off at the Grammys.

I used to think I was unshockable — and perhaps I still am, given that I don’t necessarily gasp out loud or cuss a mile when I encounter something insane (to my mind, at least).

Yet, lately, my barometer has spilled off the charts. It is not the kind of shock that would cause the Grammys to escort Kanye West and his practically naked partner out of the red carpet and straight into Page Six. It is more of disbelief at the kind of world I see from the screens of my computer or mobile phone.

There’s Donald Trump and Elon Musk in several reels that sent me laughing, yes, their faces like masks of pure conceit. What shocks me, however, is how someone who is believed to have professed hate on so many other humans and was actually pushing for racism and got the votes of the American public.

Then the blonde president again went to use “every presidential power possible against clean power” by issuing orders to “open up more American land and waters for fossil fuel extraction and started the process to yank the US from the Paris climate agreement” in the first two weeks of his second term, as reported in The Guardian this week.

That is not all of the Trump shockers that IG rattled off in a series of posts by various accounts, whether in the form of news updates or opinions. I can’t even begin to imagine what awaits within Tiktok, the Chinese social media platform that Trump wanted to ban then changed his mind when advised against it “for possible legal and political repercussions.”

From “national security threat” to “protectionist trade policies” to allegations of a “smash and grab forced sale,” to a possible vengeful act against the platform that carried “pranks against a Trump campaign rally,” the Tiktok controversy remains in ether for the most part.

The issue has been overshadowed by recent events that rattled our senses — plane tragedies taking lives in South Korea, in the United States and in our own country, the latest being the crash of a young pilot, Captain Julia Flori Po, daughter of businessman Archie Po. Described as the “favorite pilot of a number of politicians” using her father’s Lion Air services, Captain Po should have had many more years ahead of her had it not been for alleged engine troubles that led to her demise.

Someone recently wondered why plane crashes seem so much more tragic compared to other accidents. But the fact that these unfortunate events have happened one tragic incident after another — to people as young as the 25-year-old pilot; or the pediatric patient aboard that med evac jet in Philadelphia, who had just survived a life-threatening surgery; or to those skaters aboard that flight that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter — is worth a think, I say.

Whether we reflect on our own mortality — and, given that we will all meet an end, what do we do with the rest of our lives? — or perceive these events as portents to a world in fear, we must keep ourselves mindful and always seek the truth. Don’t let these social platforms tell you everything.