Another Exoplanet (Earth-Size, Habitable Zone) Found

Every time we get another reminder that we may be on the cusp of finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, a thought runs through my mind: It’s possible that these “people” evolved to be a lot like us, though without all the hate and stupidity.

We could be the “evil twin” of this sister civilization that has found a way to live  harmoniously with one another, without all the racism, war, and poverty.

Until the Trump era, the main characteristic of our species that I would have been embarrassed to present to an alien civilization is our brutality, which has only grown worse as time has passed; the 20th Century was by far the most barbaric in human history.

Here in the 21st Century, we have a world power being led by a war criminal, who is in the process of overrunning a neighboring country, by raping and murdering innocent people, bombing maternity hospitals, and so forth.  Worst of all, there  is nothing the rest of the world can do about it, largely because of nuclear weaponry and the prospect for incinerating the entire planet.

In addition, we have added something new to this brutality: the appalling stupidity that could be called the “cult of Trump.”  Here we have blind obedience to a man of no principles, no honesty, little intelligence, and, above all, no humanity or compassion for others.

But suppose Trump somehow goes away, perhaps via criminal prosecution.  Will that put an end to the cult?  Of course not.  Plenty of cults are large enough that they transcend the life of their leader.

The best we can hope for is some sort of awakening, where all this lunacy simply lifts, like a fog on a hot morning.  All of a sudden, tens of millions of Americans have a shift in viewpoint: science is real, Trump is recognized as a liar/conman, overt racists are ostracized, and mitigating the climate catastrophe is a priority.

Let’s get all this into place, and then proudly go make some new friends.