I don't know if Asimov intended, but when I read the Foundation series it hinted at a stateless society, something mostly anarchic. That, in addition to a grand sociology, might be very upsetting to an entrenched nomenklatura—especially one that was nominally (notionally...) in favour of such a thing. Control freaks dread a crisis of rising expectations.
Thanks for the mention! Asimov said of Foundation once, "I took an empire that was Roman, cast it galaxy-wide, and they said 'Oh, what a brilliant young man this is!'"
Of course, Asimov did far more than that. His sociology was a purely materialistic one. If you read the books, it is present--an objective, rational, scientific analysis of what makes societies rise and fall, and how human nature, for lack of a better term, is just one many-splendored complication that always throws a monkey wrench into the best-laid plans of both rats and men.
When I first saw this cartoon two years ago, I immediately thought of Asimov's Foundation.
Given recent political developments in the US, Donald Trump could be seen as a metaphorical Mule. An unpredictable outlier throwing a spanner in the works.
Incidentally, Asimov fans tempted to watch the recent AppleTV series: don't expect anything resembling the original books except the most rudimentary scaffolding.
I don't know if Asimov intended, but when I read the Foundation series it hinted at a stateless society, something mostly anarchic. That, in addition to a grand sociology, might be very upsetting to an entrenched nomenklatura—especially one that was nominally (notionally...) in favour of such a thing. Control freaks dread a crisis of rising expectations.
Thanks for the mention! Asimov said of Foundation once, "I took an empire that was Roman, cast it galaxy-wide, and they said 'Oh, what a brilliant young man this is!'"
Of course, Asimov did far more than that. His sociology was a purely materialistic one. If you read the books, it is present--an objective, rational, scientific analysis of what makes societies rise and fall, and how human nature, for lack of a better term, is just one many-splendored complication that always throws a monkey wrench into the best-laid plans of both rats and men.
Not to mention random mutations.
When I first saw this cartoon two years ago, I immediately thought of Asimov's Foundation.
Given recent political developments in the US, Donald Trump could be seen as a metaphorical Mule. An unpredictable outlier throwing a spanner in the works.
Incidentally, Asimov fans tempted to watch the recent AppleTV series: don't expect anything resembling the original books except the most rudimentary scaffolding.
If we have to start civilisation all over again, this time without any mistakes, then I'm reserving priority places for cartoonists!
Enough reason alone to earn the USSR its fall