Resumo de Foudation-contemporary Issues & Sf

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Asimov?s ?Foundation?-Contemporary Issues Through SF

Isaac Asimov?s Foundation Series, includes Foundation
(1951), Foundation & Empire (1952) and Second Foundation
(1953) which comprise the basic trilogy that established
Asimov as the major SF writer. Gibbon?s account of the
decline and fall of the Roman Empire gave Asimov the
original idea of a science fiction story on the fall of the
Galactic Empire.
Foundation, the first volume in the series to be written,
tells the story of Terminus, the planet on the margins of
the Galactic Empire where the first foundation is located.
Asimov?s Foundation, the book as well as the entire series,
is not really concerned with hard science but with the
actions and reactions of human beings, their political
maneuvers and economic interests.
On a conceptual level, Foundation clearly perceives
feudalism and its concomitants, imperialism, military
expansionism, political intrigues and manipulation for
power as regressive, ?an evolutionary blind alley whose
time is over?. Religious revivalism may be used to serve
political ends but for a short period and it is finally a
self-defeating exercise. As Ankor Jael tells Hober
Mallow, ? any dogma primarily based on faith and
emotionalism is a dangerous weapon to use on others??In
some ways, it isn?t under our control any more?. Nuclear
power is sold to neighboring planets in the guise of mystic
religion, with a priesthood at various levels of non-
scientific education. The gods of nuclear power and its
priesthood cannot however ensure continued political and
economic stability for one planet or for the entire
Galactic Empire. Scientific and technological superiority
give the Foundation the ability to dominate its militarily
powerful neighbors through weapons far more insidious than
any of the military industrial complex of the Galactic
Empire can device: trade and commerce. The Merchant Princes
at the close of Foundation are more powerful than the
politicians and take control of the domestic, economic and
external policies of Terminus.
Asimov?s Foundation on an obvious level is thus a metaphor
for globalization, predicated on the ?USA? as an economic
superpower, base on technological advancement. The economic
model of ?laissez-faire? commerce is what succeeds in the
world of the text and is radically questioned within the
text.
Through the foundation series Asimov reworks his ideas
about empire, environment, the role of women and the
hegemonistic position of human civilization. SF works as
metaphor, commenting on actual conditions in the real world
and offering solutions which deserve to be taken seriously.
The issues of colonialism and capitalism are central to our
existence in a Third World country where global economy and
liberalization are the current mantras.
Foundation presents the reader with the alternatives of a
decaying imperial order, its poor cousins at Anacreon and
Korell, and the vibrant, non-monarchial capitalism that
emerges at Terminus. Historically, the 1940s saw the II
World War and its aftermath. This was also the decade that
marked the end of empires, whether British, French, Dutch
or Spanish. The old imperialism was clearly a spent force.
Monarchy itself as a viable system of governance gave way
to democracy.
On Anacreon we see the workings of monarchy. The divine
right of kingship is an assumption assiduously fostered by
religious authorities. Yet the permanence of monarchial
system in Anarceon cannot be ensured.
Asimov?s Foundation sees the empire-building project as a
dead-end. Empires based on military power could not survive
beyond the II World War because they were not economically
viable. Neither London nor Trantor could continue to expect
a ceaseless flow of wealth from marginalized colonies to
the coffers of the metropolitan center. The new world order
would take time to emerge and impose its own conditions.
The shift from a feudal, militarily aggressive imperialism
to monopoly capitalism is traced in Foundation.
The new imperial order must be flexible: the foundation at
Terminus faces crises whenever the governing authorities
turn the convenient strategy of the past into the dogmatic
policy of the present. The shift to trade, unsupported by
religion, is brought about by Hober Mallow, a Master Trader.
The difference between US industry and economy geared
towards dominance in the market-place and Soviet industry,
aimed at military superioirity, is brought out in
Foundation. The new imperial order is thus firmly based on
the consumer-driven culture of advanced of advanced
capitalism.

Asimov?s text does not presume that advanced capitalism is
the final solution. The text remains open-ended on this
issue because mass consumerism and money do not connote
Asimov?s ultimate vision of utopia. While SF does not
generally support military expansion leading to
imperialism, it also offers a pertinent critique of
capitalism.

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