Tempest

I wish President-Elect Rodrigo Duterte well. The last thing I wish for is that this country becomes ungovernable. It would be a waste if we went from hereon into a period of instability. And yet, the forces seem now so stacked against us we cannot help but wonder where this line comes from:

“Such a dark cloud as will not go away without a tempest?”

And it might be that this dark cloud comes from wanting too much too quickly; or perhaps it is only chance and fate, the Spratly Islands, China, the US. One surely cannot challenge every bad boy at the bar and then expect the night to not end in a brawl. And yet, here we are. And there he is. What can we do if the point of all this is simply to prove he is badder than everyone else? One must admit: It is rather an infectious theme for a movie or a novel even; but theme for the government we will have to endure for the next six years?

But it seems there is an idea making the rounds in Facebook that our new president-elect is our first “Fb president.” This claim may well be true. But the thing with Facebook – as my own kids tell me – is that it is the last place in the universe to find the truth. For that, you do Google. Facebook is fantasy land. Or rather, it is a universe where there is no distinction between reality and fantasy. I would go one step further: Here, there is no difference between the two, nor is there a difference between right and wrong, nor is there a difference between sanity and stupidity. So surmise, if you will, the kind of leaders we will be having if Facebook now becomes our main medium for electing them.

Indeed, the post-modernists did make what seemed at first a doubtful claim: That the truth is indeterminate. Here finally in Facebook is its most object proof. Which might be the reason they say, “the truth is out there.” It certainly is not in here.

And one might as well start from the premise that anything you ever put on Facebook you will live eventually to regret, or be embarrassed of. Which is why Facebook regularly reminds you of things you posted a year ago, even years ago. And, at times, you can only groan. I posted that? Ah, they are only teasing you; in a way reminding all of us how we must be careful when speaking in a public place. It takes a bit of imagination to see how public Facebook really is. It would seem as if you are dealing only with a monitor, a computer screen, a few “friends.” How can you imagine this computer screen is revealing you all over the world? Warts and all?

It must take a tempest to further the human imagination in this case. Such a tempest as to make you realize that what seemed to you a good idea to post, could be in another part of the world, in another part of the universe, in the run of time, qualify as the height of stupidity. And the stupidity was all entirely yours.

And such a powerful stupidity it was that could get the worst people elected to the highest offices of the land. Or lands, since the phenomenon seems to be in effect worldwide. Truly. Such a dark cloud as will not go away without a tempest.