In the year Twenty Eighteen, do we know where we are or where we are going; do we even know who we are? Am I the only one excited about the 21st Century and yet scared to death of the future of the human race? Is this the best time to be alive or should we admit the fact that we have fucked up and need to go back to the basics? What is to become of the human race? There are so many questions in regard to what the future holds, yet little to no answer; this is the true “Nightmares in the Mirror.” As a human, we are vulnerable when we are not in charge of our own situation, being in the dark and not knowing is dangerous because it causes fear which leads to detrimental decisions. As the author of this article, I am not giving answers but asking questions and giving a review of my observations and leaving it up to the readers’ imaginations.
We are currently living in the digital world, the world of images and appearance. You can be anything you want to be in this world, you can show the world only what you want it to see either real or not. You can be flipping hamburgers at any of the fast food restaurants in the cities of America and yet with the tip of your finger, you can post and check in your social media that you are having a ball somewhere in Paris, France and people will react to it. It is fascinating and scary at the same time. We do not know what is real and what is not. Based on what I see on social media, at least 80% to 90% of my friends are all doing wonderfully in life. They are all very beautiful, they travel more than they work, and they drive very nice cars. In conclusion, they are living their best lives now! How true is that? We are living as though we do not have real-life issues. We have been hijacked by Filters.
There is something filtering a picture and another one filtering our whole lifestyle. My biggest concern is that everything is being filtered, but we are human beings having real human problems. These problems are not going away because we are filtering everything in our lives, in fact, we are just adding problems to the already existing one. You can be anything with a smartphone in your hand or behind a computer desk, but one-day reality will kick in and you will regret the energy and time invested in pretense instead of investing in something real and one which can actually add value to your life. For example, if you want to lose weight, the right thing to do is to eat healthier and workout, instead of choosing a certain angle when taking pictures just to deceive people.
I am worried if this is the best time to be alive. According to my thought, people are living longer due to advances in medicine, yet in pain due to genetically engineered food. Both of these are the results of advanced technology and perhaps greed. They feed us junk, we get sick, they stabilize us with medications, we live longer, and they get rich. Technology is supposed to be evolving in order to improve life, but nowadays, that is no longer the case. Everything is about money and the consumers are the victims. Are we in control of our lives or are we being controlled?
We should be realistic because life is real, pretense is exactly what it is, a flash in the pan. We cannot live a life pretending that everything is okay or by filtering everything, making things appear beautiful. We should know that appearance can be deceitful. What is vital is for us to be self-conscious and invest in ourselves; because billions of dollars are being spent by greedy individuals in researches in order to control the human race. We have been hijacked by reality. We know what is important but we do not do it due to lack of self-conscious. We have been hijacked by material things, such as brand names, social media, drugs, alcohol, and junk food.
Isn’t it fascinating? Why not eat healthily and exercise so that we can live long and healthy, instead of living longer and in pain? Why not be moderate with social media and invest more time with family and friends? Why choose to eat unhealthy food? Why not stay away from drugs and alcohol or become moderate drinkers? We know that mobile phones are the leading cause of accidents amongst teenage drivers; we are aware that drugs and alcohol cause lots of health issues, accidents, and violence. We know that social media is a distraction from reality and we also know that junk food causes all type of health issues, but yet we still do these things. This is the true nightmare in the mirror, we have the choice to break the mirror or look away, but we do not, so the question then becomes, why not?
-Written by Joel Kapat Alias Patrick C. Kagarama-
-Edited by John “Mak Rush” Munyampara -
Published by Pentagone Journale N.i.M|edition Vol2