Finally saw Hidden Figures tonight (and you should, too.) It’s a great and inspirational movie.
But my cynical self was left with great grief. There was a
time when dreaming big dreams was part of the USA and that’s
gone. I am thinking of a button with Donald Trump’s duck tail and the
legend, “For this we gave up the earth and sky?” Because likely
we will. This administration wants to shut down NASA’s earth sciences program because
it produces evidence of climate change and ecological destruction. What
will be left of NASA after all the cuts and most of the research funding is gone
will not be much. Those labs and their staffs took generations to
build. If they are shut down, it will not be possible to rebuild them
without the kind of investment that we do not make any more.
Now, compared to surviving, this is perhaps not a big deal. We are going to have to fight just to prevent World War III and keep health care for our citizens. But the heart dies without dreams.
Trump is the death of dreams.
Very sobering thoughts. The post apocalyptic landscape of so many movies may suddenly be reality. I hope not. I had always suspected that human kind would go out not with a bang but a whimper. Maybe not now.
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