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A man like Asimov probably assumed that earthlings would develop a greater sense of community as civilization progressed. Also, in 1964 the US was a lot more li
by mullingitover 13y ago
A man like Asimov probably assumed that earthlings would develop a greater sense of community as civilization progressed. Also, in 1964 the US was a lot more liberal; LBJ and a massive democratic landslide had just taken control of the government and were on the verge of rolling out the Great Society programs. War on poverty, civil rights, social welfare programs, consumer protections, etc. He had no way of knowing that ongoing class struggle would push us back into this vast inequality, and rationalizations for it, that we're currently accustomed to.
- TDL 13y agoAnd the Vietnam war, escalation of the draft, escalation of the war on drugs... Those liberals way back when weren't as wonderful as many would like to believe.
- mullingitover 13y agoThe point remains, it was a more optimistic time. It was only three years after the first people had been launched into space, and it seemed that the sky was no longer the limit. Asimov had no way of knowing that so much of our potential would be wasted on killing each other instead of on building the future he envisioned.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- jedmeyers 13y agoWell, it turned out that the only people wanting to distribute wealth are the ones who were not creating it. By the way, for some reason, neither Asimov nor his estate released his works to the public domain for the greater good.