In Isaac Asimov's Foundation series, the first stage of the expansion of the Foundation to the rest of the galaxy was based on religion: the Foundation's influence would flow out of a religious and semi-mystical respect for the power of the Foundation, which in turn was based on their detailed scientific knowledge as opposed to the general ignorance of the surrounding planets. However, the second stage of the expansion of the Foundation was based on commerce: a new leader arose that understood that the power of religion was limited and fading, and conceived a scheme to continue pushing the influence of the Foundation through commerce. See Wikipedia:Asimov's prophecy for more context. If you're like me and don't take Asimov's words lightly, maybe we should start thinking on how to harness the power of commerce in favor of our vision, rather than fight it. Sophivorus (talk) 02:52, 5 March 2020 (UTC)[reply]
