Average lib: “I’ve never read a word of Marx, but…”
“Marx is just a propagandist and capital is a propaganda book” -turkish pseudo intellectual
Hari Seldon wishes he was Marx.
I read a few of those books and watched the show. I always got the feeling there was commentary or criticism about marxism in Seldon’s psychohistory.
I mean Seldon plan was just “establish secretive ubermensch society to rule humanity”, and it failed hard. Best part comes later is that Gaia is just communism and nearly all arguments against it are just slightly reworked Cold War anticommunist propaganda.
And ultimately, communism wins, though of course Asimov being idealist do that in idealist way.
Isaac Asimov was born in the USSR. Although his parents moved the family to the US when he was just three, I am sure there was a lot of lingering anti-communism. He was also offered US government positions at the height of the post-war Red Scare.
I read the Foundation series before I became a marxist; I enjoyed them but if I were to re-read them now there may be a lot of eye rolling. From what I remember Seldon’s psychohistory feels like an attempt at historical materialism without class struggle (I have no idea how much of that was intentional or not by Asimov but we judge art by its relationship with the reader/viewer).
I’d still recommend them though. We should read broadly.
