FOUNDATION – FALL OF THE AMERICAN GALACTIC EMPIRE

“The fall of Empire, gentlemen, is a massive thing, however, and not easily fought. It is dictated by a rising bureaucracy, a receding initiative, a freezing of caste, a damming of curiosity—a hundred other factors. It has been going on, as I have said, for centuries, and it is too majestic and massive a movement to stop.”Isaac Asimov, Foundation

 

“Any fool can tell a crisis when it arrives. The real service to the state is to detect it in embryo.”Isaac Asimov, Foundation

I read Isaac Asimov’s renowned award winning science fiction trilogy four decades ago as a teenager. I read them because I liked science fiction novels, not because I was trying to understand the correlation to the fall of the Roman Empire. The books that came to be called the Foundation Trilogy (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation) were not written as novels; they’re the collected Foundation stories Asimov wrote between 1941 and 1950. He wrote these stories during the final stages of our last Fourth Turning Crisis and the beginning stages of the next High. This was the same time frame in which Tolkien wrote the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and Orwell wrote 1984. This was not a coincidence.

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The tone of foreboding, danger, dread, and impending doom, along with unending warfare, propels all of these novels because they were all written during the bloodiest and most perilous portion of the last Fourth Turning. As the linear thinking establishment continues to be blindsided by the continued deterioration of the economic, political, social, and cultural conditions in the world, we have entered the most treacherous phase of our present Fourth Turning.

That ominous mood engulfing the world is not a new dynamic, but a cyclical event arriving every 80 or so years. Eight decades ago the world was on the verge of a world war which would kill 65 million people. Eight decades prior to 1937 the country was on the verge of a Civil War which would kill almost 5% of the male population. Eight decades prior to 1857 the American Revolution had just begun and would last six more bloody years. None of this is a coincidence. The generational configuration repeats itself every eighty years, driving the mood change which leads to revolutionary change and the destruction of the existing social order.

Isaac Asimov certainly didn’t foresee his Foundation stories representing the decline of an American Empire that didn’t yet exist. The work that inspired Asimov was Edward Gibbon’s multi-volume series, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, published between 1776 and 1789. Gibbon saw Rome’s fall not as a consequence of specific, dramatic events, but as the result of the gradual decline of civic virtue, monetary debasement and rise of Christianity, which made the Romans less vested in worldly affairs.

Gibbon’s tome reflects the same generational theory espoused by Strauss and Howe in The Fourth Turning. Gibbon’s conclusion was human nature never changes, and mankind’s penchant for division, amplified by environmental and cultural differences, is what governs the cyclical nature of history. Gibbon constructs a narrative spanning centuries as events unfold and emperors’ successes and failures occur within the context of a relentless decline of empire. The specific events and behaviors of individual emperors were inconsequential within the larger framework and pattern of historical decline. History plods relentlessly onward, driven by the law of large numbers.

Asimov described his inspiration for the novels:

“I wanted to consider essentially the science of psychohistory, something I made up myself. It was, in a sense, the struggle between free will and determinism. On the other hand, I wanted to do a story on the analogy of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, but on the much larger scale of the galaxy. To do that, I took over the aura of the Roman Empire and wrote it very large. The social system, then, is very much like the Roman imperial system, but that was just my skeleton.

It seemed to me that if we did have a galactic empire, there would be so many human beings—quintillions of them—that perhaps you might be able to predict very accurately how societies would behave, even though you couldn’t predict how individuals composing those societies would behave. So, against the background of the Roman Empire written large, I invented the science of psychohistory. Throughout the entire trilogy, then, there are the opposing forces of individual desire and that dead hand of social inevitability.”

Is History Pre-Determined?

“Don’t you see? It’s Galaxy-wide. It’s a worship of the past. It’s a deterioration – a stagnation!”Isaac Asimov, Foundation

“It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.”Isaac Asimov, Foundation

The Foundation trilogy opens on Trantor, the capital of the 12,000-year-old Galactic Empire. Though the empire appears stable and powerful, it is slowly decaying in ways that parallel the decline of the Western Roman Empire. Hari Seldon, a mathematician and psychologist, has developed psychohistory, a new field of science that equates all possibilities in large societies to mathematics, allowing for the prediction of future events.

Psychohistory is a blend of crowd psychology and high-level math. An able psychohistorian can predict the long-term aggregate behavior of billions of people many years in the future. However, it only works with large groups. Psychohistory is almost useless for predicting the behavior of an individual. Also, it’s no good if the group being analyzed is aware it’s being analyzed — because if it’s aware, the group changes its behavior.

Using psychohistory, Seldon has discovered the declining nature of the Empire, angering the aristocratic rulers of the Empire. The rulers consider Seldon’s views and statements treasonous, and he is arrested. Seldon is tried by the state and defends his beliefs, explaining his theory the Empire will collapse in 300 years and enter a 30,000-year dark age.

He informs the rulers an alternative to this future is attainable, and explains to them generating an anthology of all human knowledge, the Encyclopedia Galactica, would not avert the inevitable fall of the Empire but would reduce the Dark Age to “only” 1,000 years.

The fearful state apparatchiks offer him exile to a remote world, Terminus, with other academic intellectuals who could help him create the Encyclopedia. He accepts their offer, and sets in motion his plan to set up two Foundations, one at either end of the galaxy, to preserve the accumulated knowledge of humanity and thereby shorten the Dark Age, once the Empire collapses. Seldon created the Foundation, knowing it would eventually be seen as a threat to rulers of the Empire, provoking an eventual attack. That is why he created a Second Foundation, unknown to the ruling class.

Asimov’s psychohistory concept, based on the predictability of human actions in large numbers, has similarities to Strauss & Howe’s generational theory. His theory didn’t pretend to predict the actions of individuals, but formulated definite laws developed by mathematical analysis to predict the mass action of human groups. His novel explores the centuries old debate of whether human history proceeds in a predictable fashion, with individuals incapable of changing its course, or whether individuals can alter its progression.

The cyclical nature of history, driven by generational cohorts numbering tens of millions, has been documented over centuries by Strauss & Howe in their 1997 opus The Fourth Turning. Human beings in large numbers react in a herd-like predictable manner. I know that is disappointing to all the linear thinking individualists who erroneously believe one person can change the world and course of history.

The cyclical crisis’s that occur every eighty years matches up with how every Foundation story centers on what is called a Seldon crisis, the conjunction of seemingly insoluble external and internal difficulties. The crises were all predicted by Seldon, who appears near the end of each story as a hologram to confirm the Foundation has traversed the latest one correctly.

The “Seldon Crises” take on two forms. Either events unfold in such a way there is only one clear path to take, or the forces of history conspire to determine the outcome. But, the common feature is free will doesn’t matter. The heroes and adversaries believe their choices will make a difference when, in fact, the future is already written. This is a controversial viewpoint which angers many people because they feel it robs them of their individuality.

Most people don’t want to be lumped together in an amalgamation of other humans because they believe admitting so would strip them of their sense of free will. Their delicate sensibilities are bruised by the unequivocal fact their individual actions are virtually meaningless to the direction of history. But, the madness of crowds can dramatically impact antiquity.

“In reading The History of Nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities, their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first.”Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds

Many people argue the dynamic advancements in technology and science have changed the world in such a way to alter human nature in a positive way, thereby resulting in humans acting in a more rational manner. This alteration would result in a level of human progress not experienced previously. The falsity of this technological theory is borne out by the continuation of war, government corruption, greed, belief in economic fallacies, civic decay, cultural degradation, and global disorder sweeping across the world. Humanity is incapable of change. The same weaknesses and self- destructive traits which have plagued them throughout history are as prevalent today as they ever were.

Asimov’s solution to the failure of humanity to change was to create an academic oriented benevolent ruling class who could save the human race from destroying itself. He seems to have been well before his time with regards to creating Shadow Governments and Deep State functionaries. It appears he agreed with his contemporary Edward Bernays. The masses could not be trusted to make good decisions, so they needed more intellectually advanced men to guide their actions.

“The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized.

Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons…who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”Edward Bernays – Propaganda   

In Part Two of this article I will compare and contrast Donald Trump’s rise to power to the rise of The Mule in Asimov’s masterpiece. Unusually gifted individuals come along once in a lifetime to disrupt the plans of the existing social order.

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Uncola

Awesome comparison of current events with Asimov’s books and Strauss & Howe’s “Fourth Turning”.

When considering the Edward Bernays quote above, it does seem preordained that destiny has chosen a reality TV star, entrepreneur, construction magnate, and casino operater as POTUS for such a time as this.

No matter what happens next, at least we won’t be bored.

Looking forward to Part Two…

Dennis Roe
Dennis Roe

Good Lord, the irony of the academic oriented benevolent ruling class driving us into the Shitpocalyse abutment is too much. Strange days have found us.

BL
BL

Bernays perfected and implemented the “press release” and as the media is owned and controlled by his fellow tribe members, they have no trouble to this day sheep herding the willful goy. Until this changes, we will live out any plan they may force on us, turnings or otherwise. Our lives are a conglomeration of constant press releases at this point for the hopelessly brainwashed masses.

Axel
Axel

Yes, outstanding article. I always likened Strauss and Howe’s generational theory of turnings to Hari Seldon’s psychohistory. How about another excellent work of science fiction–Frank Herbert’s Dune. Also eerily prophetic of current middle eastern unrest.

prospector
prospector

Arrakis, dune, desert planet….
(keep repeating, until the spice flows)

PatrioTEA
PatrioTEA

Gloom, doom and depression set in when I was a youngster at the end of the fifties. I knew the end was coming with the election of Kennedy, that the public could be conned & manipulated by dark forces, and that totalitarianism would reign over the nation. It was confirmed when Goldwater was vilified and rejected by the voters. Reagan was but a momentary ledge in the fall to destruction of freedom and liberty. Trump was a brief, bright flash of light in the darkness that is again taking over with the failure to repeal & replace Obamacare. The tumbling down is now accelerating to free-fall.

“Psychohistory is almost useless for predicting the behavior of an individual. Also, it’s no good if the group being analyzed is aware it’s being analyzed — because if it’s aware, the group changes its behavior.”
Maybe, just maybe if the “masses” were enlightened of this could we forestall the coming doom. Then again, maybe the true-Jews, and those who truly follow Christ, will find a better world beyond this fatally flawed one.

Purplefrog
Purplefrog

The Remnant is found throughout Israel’s history. These are the “outliers.” The Remnant forms the foundation of the new/next society. See Elijah. “I have saved for Myself 6,000 that have not bowed the knee to Baal.”

This article is most excellent. The declension of Israel is another example of what is described here. I think will reread I&II Kings and Chronicals.

Dave
Dave

There is indeed a lot of darkness, but if you think “Trump was a brief, bright flash of light in the darkness” then you are horribly misguided as to what he is. No I’m not a Democrat and hated Hilary as well as the last few presidents. They are ALL creating a government for, and by and of big business and not the rest of U.S.

Mr Darcy
Mr Darcy

Six states–including my own–did not vilify or reject Goldwater. Also, the “failure” of repeal & replace is a blessing–and it’s not even in disguise. First of all, it was foolish in the extreme for Trump or the GOP to claim ownership of Obamacare and put their names on it before it could crash and burn, so when it does–which it must–it will still have that mulatto’s name on it. And beyond the purely political considerations, there is the fact–fact–that the gov’t has zero place involving itself in health care.

rhs jr
rhs jr

Turn The Tribe’s Paid Pied Piper Pressitutes off and think for yourself; if The Tribe can’t lie and deceive Goy into hating and fighting each other, the spineless worms will shrivel up like salted slugs; or like the aliens in War of the Worlds. Don’t buy any of their fake news lies or their Wall Street BS or their Madison Ave hot air.

Suzanna
Suzanna

rhs jr.,
we can agree, but that “we” may be less than 5%.

James the Wanderer

I read the Foundation trilogy as a kid also, and loved it too. Asimov, Heinlein, P.K.Dick, Herbert, they all were great masters because they hit universal themes with great precision and wit.
Sadly, much modern SF has been taken over by SJW idiots who think they can write. The Nebulas are now a waste of time, an indicator of what not to read. There are still a few standouts – I like L. E. Modesitt Jr., Larry Correia, David Weber, several others. But I am not interested in trash like Queer-alien misgendered invaders, endless spouting of how someone is oppressed by the patriarchy, or lit written by minorities which is only known BECAUSE it was written by a minority! I’d rather read Ringo’s Posleen books or Hammer’s Slammers by Drake (which has a wholly believable homosexual military aide in it) or anything else which is actually WELL WRITTEN and TELLS A STORY. Keep your SJW crap to yourself!

Axel
Axel

Ah, Hammer’s Slammers, by David Drake. And David Weber. Great miitary SF. I loved a few of their colaborative science fiction novels. Dont forget William R. Forstchen, who is a military historian, who also wrote military Sci Fi, and other, “predictive” fiction, including One Second After. Dan Simmons’ Hyperion and its sequel, Endymion, are also excellent.

BB

This is not going to end well for America or the rest of the world.We all know this debt fueled illusion is going to collapse in upon itself sooner or later. Then a hurricane of violence will hit our nation and this world . Total chaos is what I see in our future .I have no hope in this world system , almost none in my fellow man and very little in myself.M y only true hope is Christ Jesus being who he said he was.So far ( after much thought and fighting ) I’m still convinced he is the Risen Lord.

Jack Johnson

All the better for you! I’m sure that you will read all three of these excellent articles, and so then after you finish, perhaps you might take time to read Revelation 18.

Francis Marion

Wow. That brings back some memories. The Foundation Trilogy was one of the first Scifi selections I ever read. I have the original copy I bought at a used book sale when I was a kid. It is a 1974 printing that I think I paid about 25 cents for.

As much as I loved Asimov’s work and as much as I agree that the majority of people act and move like flocks of migrating birds there are always outliers. Villains and heroes I suppose, who alter the course of history.

More on that soon if I can wrap my head around it.

hardscrabble farmer

That snapshot of Hillary at her rally was disturbing. It is going to take a while for me to process the deeper meaning of that image and what it implies in terms of how I live my life. Those people- the corrupt, frumpy despot in the Mao-suit and second tier comedy club microphone, her retinue of off the rack Sears husky section wearing handlers of no particular gender that serve as a buffer between It and the self-involved and vapid sycophants with their I-phags that make up the crowd, utterly clueless to their ironic backwards facing pose sums up everything wrong with our time. It reminds me of those photos of some douche in gym shorts teasing an alligator in front of a crowd of tourists right before it bites his dusky arm off at the elbow.

Great article, too but that photo… wow.

ILuvCO2
ILuvCO2

For me, the meaning of that photo is: Never turn your back to the enemy.

thejerkstore
thejerkstore

I remember when I first saw that photo, imagine the collective narcissism in that gaggle of hens. Yikes. Who brings themselves to fawn over anybody much less a politician, disgusting.

LetsPlay
LetsPlay

Sorry to have to ask … what photo are you guys talking about?

Marc L
Marc L

Yes, I found the photo quite profound also; a perfect visual analog of our culture. So self absorbed, all they could do was turn their backs to the monstrous, false, criminal reality behind them and pose with it. “I don’t care what it does, as long as it’s me.” Quite deeply sickening because it is so true.

Toolman
Toolman

Man, I read Asimov 40 years ago. I remember that series. I’ll have to read it again with 40 years’ experience in life at my back.
Humanity seems to repeat itself in these cycles, but as a spiral, if seen from above. External things like tech change, but human nature, indeed, does not.
The Asimov Robot books are also a good read.
Great article.

Lawrence
Lawrence

Yes, I have also analogized Donald Trump to the Mule in the Foundation Trilogy.

Keyser Söze
Keyser Söze

Another key figure slightly before Asimov’s “Foundation” stories/novels was Keynes. When I revisited Asimov’s novels in the late 80’s and early 90’s it was because Asimov had recently published “Prelude to Foundation” (1988) and “Forward the Foundation” (1993). In those later novels, we get a biography of Hari Seldon that paints a not too kind reality about the notion of “psychohistory”–that it’s all bullshit–at least that’s my opinion decades after having read them. I was being force fed a steady diet of Keynesian economics in business school at about the same time those later novels came out and was still nostalgic for those first “Foundation” novels (side note here–look for “Foundation and Earth” if you want a nice little twist on the “Foundation” series–Asimov had some serious issues with his publishers in the 1980’s and that particular novel is sort of outside the “Foundation” time line but a fun read). In my mind and youthful delusion of saving the world, it seemed plausible to me back then that ideas like “psychohistory” and Keynesian economic (central economic planning, really) were not only useful, but necessary. My science fiction tastes later changed toward Dan Simmons (“Hyperion”) and more recently James Corey (“The Expanse”). The individual is important. Ideas like freedom mattered to me more. TV shows like “Firefly” endeared the notion of individual rights and freedom indelibly on my mind and made me laugh at the silly ideas of collectivism I’d loved before with shows like “Star Trek” (but I love both still–nostalgia can be fun and those Star Trek episodes are always entertaining). At roughly the same time, all of that Keynesian economics I’d been taught in business school started to look down right destructive and not nearly slightly as scientific as I’d been led to believe. I became passionate about ideas like Voluntaryism, business cycle theory, and the Ron Paul campaign(s); eventually realizing that participating politics in the U.S. empire truly is a waste of time and killer of your soul. The tree of liberty is gonna get watered soon, I do believe and that’s obviously not a preferred outcome for any sane person. I hold out some hope that humans can and are learning from their mistakes. We’re interconnected and communicating in ways that were never possible even a decade ago. Generations of apes removed from external threats like tigers still fear tigers, so it’s likely that much of this destructive behavior could be previously programmed in our biology–but the future is necessarily uncertain. Pray for peace, prepare for the worst. Thanks for the thoughts this morning.

BUCKHED
BUCKHED

I first read Assimov’s book “Time,Space and Other Things ” . His writings fascinated my teen-age mind. I followed Assimov up with Dick’s “Do Andriods Dream Of Electric Sheep” …the movie Blade Runner is based on this book.

The foundation for us has been laid by generations of folks who want a One World Gooberment. They are patient,slow moving and herding us into a pen,even though most don’t realize it . The question is whether or not the barbed wired fence can hold the Texas Longhorns that were herded up with the sheep .

Mike Murray
Mike Murray

The falsity of this technological theory is also borne out by the great works of writers from the past. Shakespeare, Sun Tsu, Machiavelli, Scipio, Homer, Marcus Aurelius, Sophocles, and dozens more, are all still relevant today. The nature of the human animal hasn’t changed in 10,000 years. We are still driven by the same forces.

A. R. Wasem
A. R. Wasem

By far the best “take” on Galactic Imperial Government is Keith Laumer’s “Retief” novels and stories – very funny as well as trenchant observations of bureaucratic behavior. Poul Anderson’s Future History series is also excellent as, of course, is anything whatever written by RAH. Asimov was fun as a pre-teen but doesn’t hold up that well overall (tho the early sections written under Campbell’s tutelage hold up better; same thing for Herbert’s “Dune” novels that were initially serialized in “Analog SF/SF). Of the three works mentioned The “Foundation” series is probably most pertinent to our current situation – regrettable tho that is.

Suzanna
Suzanna

Admin,
you have written another thought provoking piece.
It has always grieved me that humans don’t “evolve”
but that human nature is thoroughly ingrained.
There is much about the nature of humans that is predictable
and reminiscent of an actual herd.
The “old bloodline” families that come from the aristocracy mean
to prevail. Men invent weapons so they can test (use) them.
And they are using them. People protest “bathroom etiquette”
but the deaths of 200+ people during an apparent carpet bombing
rolls off their consciousness with barely a notice.
It will be the end of the luxurious lifestyle the USA leads that will
cause a “revolt.” Not too many go to bed hungry here, but that may
well change.
Thank you for your amazing work. Be well,
Suzanna

Hagar
Hagar

I shall dig through my book collection and reread the Foundation trilogy. BTW Admin, great article…looking forward to the second installment.

To all commenters: Excellent and insightful comments…Thanks.

Vangel Vesovski
Vangel Vesovski

Asimov was into central planning and assumed that given smart enough people, societal planning would be easy for the ruling elite. He should have read his Mises. If he had, he would have known that central planning can never work because the planners distort the pricing signals that are needed to coordinate investing decisions.

Eckbach
Eckbach

“Humanity is shocked at the recital of the horrid cruelties which the Jews committed in the cities of … where they dwell in treacherous friendship with the unsuspecting natives and we are tempted to applaud the severe retaliation which was exercised by the arms of legions against a race of fanatics, whose dire and credulous superstition seemed to render them the implacable enemies not only of the Roman government, but also humankind.”
Gibbon 1776 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

M11S
M11S

There’s also a book called The Wisdom of Crowds. But, it concludes they must be fully informed and make independent decisions to make decisions wiser than the wisest people in the group.. sounds about right on so many levels

Llpoh
Llpoh

Thanks Admin. I think Trump is more a jackass than a mule, but otherwise I quibble not.

Brian
Brian

“If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered.” –
Thomas Jefferson

The 8 year boom bust cycle is created by the banks, run by Jewish FED Chairman and women, not by some natural phenomenon.

Llpoh
Llpoh

Fucking morons everywhere.

The boom bust cycle used to be a one ore two year cycle. This was common for most of US history. Who was in charge then, I wonder? Must have been the Jews, I guess. Longer cycles have, somewhat, occured since 1970.

The Retard
The Retard

If we fall into patterns then where is the rise and fall of Adam’s critique that would of predicted “The Fourth Turning” and “The Rise and Fall of The Roman Emipire”?

This is psycobabble nonsense. You are just witnessing phenomena and writing about it.

richard feibel
richard feibel

WHILE THIS IS AN INTERESTING PRESENTATION OF THEORY ,I HOPE YOU ARE NOT GOING TO TELL ME THAT DONALD TRUMP IS THAT “”ONCE IN A LIFE TIME GIFTED INDIVIDUAL””,BECAUSE IF YOU ARE ,YOU HAVE DRANK WAY TO MUCH TRUMPAIDE .IT GETS YOU DIZZY AND MAKES YOU BELIEVE LIES AND FALSE PROMISES. SIC SEMPRE TYRANNUS R A FEIBEL

Joe_in_Indiana
Joe_in_Indiana

“Don’t let your sense of morality get in the way of doing what is right!” Azimov Foundation –>

I have read all 18-19 books that are part of the Foundation/Robot novels at least 3 times.

The above quote is most fitting.

NickelthroweR
NickelthroweR

Greetings,

As a child, I read everything written by Asimov, Heinlein & Zelazny. Between that and listening to Rush (the only rock band ever to pay serious homage to Ayn Rand), I rewired my brain in such a way as to inoculate myself against communism, collectivism and the cult of personality.

Samuel Brandenburg
Samuel Brandenburg

I’m a Jew. I find it interesting that so many comment these days on “the jewish problem” but nobody seems to offer a solution. I find this true not only here, but on other sites as well. Do you think it would be best to deport us, remove our voting rights, seize our property, forced conversions, imprison us, or kill us? What would work best? What do you have in mind?

Thanks.

Unspecified
Unspecified

Hi Samuel,

On another post here, I recently responded with some of the following perspectives to an Englishman named Stuart who stopped by to comment. Consider the following:

On this site we have a legal immigrant with Hispanic leanings, a female military veteran who has now taken up homesteading full time, a Boerboel-breeding Native-American from Australia, a house-jumping, second-generation German transient from New Jersey, a cat-loving Fed Ex driver, a Minnesota misogynist with quite the sense of humor, a bacon-loving retired government spook working on his golf handicap, some conservative Canadians, several Christians, a few atheists and a mountain-dwelling, maple-syrup-selling, hog-farmer, among many, many other regular commenters too numerous to mention here.

The topics often range from climate change to the religion of peaceful Mohommadian suicide bombers, bus drivers and head-choppers, to moon landing conspiracies to the Holocaust and, rarely, topics as diverse as Thalidomide and flippers, Frank Zappa or Andy Griffith.

Some here dislike Donald Trump, others are cautiously hopeful for him, and still others believe him to be nothing less than a divinely-appointed shepherd leading Americans into the Promised Land.

Although there are some who dislike and distrust those who are often referenced here as “da joos”, there are also several here who remain steadfast in their defense or, at the very least, demand a fair hearing.

In other words. Stick around. You will fit right in and, perhaps, we can see about getting some of your questions answered.

Samuel Brandenburg
Samuel Brandenburg

Hi Un,
Thanks. I think I owe you a response since you took the time to respond sincerely. I’m afraid I have no solution to “the Jewish problem” (which I define as rabid leftist intellectualism combined with the problems that result when a non-assimilated group maintains a high public profile.) On a personal level, it’s a big problem. I’m neither religious nor liberal and so am an atypical American jew. And my children aren’t Jewish (the main reason I personally reject the emigrate to Israel option which I think would be best for all Jews.) I’ve seriously considered converting to some Christian denomination because it would be a concrete sign not only of my desire to be seen as completely mainstream American but also as a rebuke to my Jewish brethren for their liberal faults. I seriously wonder however if that’s being disingenuous and disrespectful to myself and others because I’m not a believer, and because I think I’m essentially decent and moral the way I am. So there’s a group issue, for which I’d propose one solution, and a personal issue for which I’d like to enjoy another. I’ve reluctantly concluded that the two can’t really be separate for if they could, or were, the essential jewish question wouldn’t really exist. All this goes round and round in my head and brings me back to where I start no wiser for the effort. In any case, thank you for the hearing. I suspect what I’ve spoken about here is nothing new. I wonder if anyone would care to comment on the issue of conversion without any sincere affinity. I’m quite torn over how disrespectful that would be considered. For the most part, I just feel stuck.

Unspecified
Unspecified

I enjoyed reading your reply. I had a Jewish neighbor once and we would discuss these things. He died recently and I attended his Shiva service and burial.

For whatever reason, I am reminded of the following quotes.

The martial arts legend, Bruce Lee, once wrote:

“If you follow the classical pattern, you are understanding the routine, the tradition, the shadow — you are not understanding yourself.”

And the author and psychologist, Robert Kagen, once said:

“Successfully functioning in a society with diverse values, traditions and lifestyles requires us to have a relationship to our own reactions rather than be captive of them. To resist our tendencies to make right or true, that which is nearly familiar, and wrong or false, that which is only strange.”

For what it’s worth, I was “stuck” for awhile and this website / forum helped me.

Jack Johnson

Yeah, well Mr Brandenburg… I think we ought to invite you to dinner! How would that be? There are plenty of people who give the Jews a bad rap, I’m not one of them. I am however, a follower of Christ (another Jew), and there are plenty like me… Come find us.

James the Wanderer

There is no real reason that anyone in America should ever speak about their religion.
The Founders were Deists, mostly; their language speaks of God, occasionally Jesus, and rarely any other religious figure. They wrote the DoI and Constitution for everyone, and forbade discrimination based on religion.
Today, religion is used as a stage prop or symbol: any politician who makes a big deal out of their religion is mercilessly derided. Instances of failure are held up as typical (pedophile priests, Jim and Tammy Bakker, anyone who falls short). Instances of personal moral failure (gay, trans, communist, socialist, pedophile without religion, drug addict, booze hound, and every other kind) are portrayed either as sad victims, brave rebels or visionary; no one says that a gay man who changes lovers has BETRAYED that previous lover, the way a married man who has an affair or divorces to remarry has “betrayed” his former spouse. Women who have affairs or divorce to remarry are always “escaping an abusive relationship” instead of BETRAYING their former spouse.
But as it is now, I would vote for a politician who said “None of your business” when asked about religion, morality or sexuality before I would vote for one who answered. There are MANY things that should be private, and I would put those three at the top of the list. If someone is a just, moral and ethical individual, that will show in their ACTIONS, and if they are not (Clintons, Schumer, Pelosi, Graham, McCain, many more) it will as well.
We need to have privacy as individuals; the idea that the government is entitled to gather any information they want, at any time on anyone, is part of what helped decay this Republic into a democracy.

Samuel Brandenburg
Samuel Brandenburg

Thanks James. That was quite helpful to me. I appreciate it.

Mr Darcy
Mr Darcy

Th idea of raising a special group of men trained to rule–the philosopher kings–was Plato’s idea, not Assimov’s. “The Republic.”

zarathrustra
zarathrustra

fascinating comments to an interesting article,although the comparison between the mighty star spanning empire of Trantor,and the reality of an opportunistic ex-colony which pissed away its resources & advantages after mere decades is narcissism posing as hubris perhaps.
1945- 2025? maybe 2035? that’s 80- 90 years at most,about the same as the USSR lasted & CHINA under “Communism” will last; compare to life span of UK & French empires,Ottomans ,tsarist RUSSIA ;these modern empires,they just don’t build ’em like they used to…..polyglot multi-culturalism is like a cancer; its rotting & disintegrating the USA & unfortunately like many American trends it was mindlessy copied by euro-crat flunkies with similar disastrous results;oh well, guess we’ll just have to get with pogrom; to misquote an americliche…..

Anthony Parsons
Anthony Parsons

You state “I know that is disappointing to all the linear thinking individualists who erroneously believe one person can change the world and course of history.”

It’s my feeling that Asimov proved the unanticipated actions of a single person CAN change the world and course of history, not so much by the emergence of The Mule, but by the murder of Emperor Cleon.

Anonymous
Anonymous

Wow

Anonymous
Anonymous

Why is no one talking about this?

Anonymous
Anonymous

It’s incredibly

Anonymous
Anonymous

Holy cow

Anonymous
Anonymous

What do we do now?

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