this week. His prescience is remarkable. I so wish he could have been here to advise our world's leaders. I worked with scientists who did exactly that, keeping the nukes at bay during Reagan/Bush. I don't know who is left to counsel, or who would listen now.

Of course, anything Dr. Sagan wrote I gobbled up. I have many of his books and still watch videos of him regularly on YouTube.

I really miss Carl.

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

I believe that is in the collection of books I saved from my mom's estate. She was a free thinker.

Just finished a re -read of Hitler's First 100 Days and one of my husband's books - Mussolini: The Rise and Fall of Il Duce.

Maybe I need to pivot to a high vibration.

...if memory serves. Used this to cap off something I wrote 20 yrs ago.

"I worry that…pseudo-science and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive. Where have we heard it before? Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us---then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls. The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir." - Carl Sagan

I think I have a copy of that here somewhere. Will have search and read it again. (note my signature below)

It's gotten so bad that even scientific minded people seeking the truth can no longer find it consistently.

I have endeavored for all of my adult life to try to dispel myths and mysticism wherever I find it. In my circle of people I have watched in alarm as educated frineds or relatives have gone down rabbit holes. And it's not just rubes, I have seen freinds with post grad degrees succumb to nonsense about vaccines. I have friends with degrees in medical fields who have posted on and on about how 5G vibrates your cells at a frequency that harms them... A brilliant writer friend gave up writing about social issues and life in general and now writes exclusively about auras, astrolgy, and of course group tarrot card readings. She is literally making her most important life decisions based on the planets and stars alignments on her birtday.

So these people were susceptable adn theyey were exploited. Several of them did vote for Trump. The tarrot card reader has been a champion for LGTBQ rights in her lifetime and women's rights in genral, she voted fro Trump over vaccines.

And in a wider sense, the cynicism has been exploited. "Oh, government has always been corrupt, so this new corruption is better because it's in the open." "Oh, politicians lie, they all do, so Trump's lies aren't any different." We've propagandized half the country into thinking democracy no longer works.

This explains a lot about human behavior and obedience to authority figures. Videos can be found on YouTube also.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/milgram.html

“One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we’ve been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. We’re no longer interested in finding out the truth. The bamboozle has captured us. It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken. Once you give a charlatan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

― Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

That is so true for the millions who've fallen into the MAGA cult.

People who vociferously support the orange charlatan, embracing him as a saviour, rubbing his victory into the noses of those who used to be their friends, can almost NEVER admit to themselves or others they've been played for a fool and have been wrong about everything.

It's a waste of time trying to reason with them. Their mistake might finally dawn on a few when the FIND OUT part of voting for Trump really bites them in the ass, but most will find a way to blame their misfortune on anybody or anything else.

But the swing vote that tipped the election was not comprised of MAGA cultists. Many who are not obsessed by politics and news are essentially uninformed and easily influenced. When the consequences of this fascist regime bite THEM in the ass, they may very well swing the other way if Democrats play their cards right.

And IF we still have a semblance of free and fair elections in 2026.

He was a voice of sanity crying in the wilderness.

The Bachelor, The Voice, Dancing With The Stars, and stupid games shows are the staple of those who remain unconnected to what is going on around them. Some may be like one friend I have who fears depression from current events, but being informed is key. At least she watches Kimmel.

I read Cosmos twice back then. I had to to understand all he had to teach me..

Because the ignorant can be led like sheep, and the leaders can be just as ignorant and won't be called out for their ignorance specifically, but rather they are called out only as a reaction from opposing partisans.

The lesson: Trump and Musk need to be called out for their ignorance of history, and the domestic and international dynamics of the US government's roles in maintaining its power and economy, and then very simple explanations of the consequences. Trouble is without informed context even this won't work well.

Cosmos sparked such a love for science of so many gen X folks. His books inspired me and in this case scared me

I wish he were wrong but this was so prescient of today it is really scary