Neoliberal Decay: The Downfall of Modern Empire Through Asimov’s ‘The Culture’ Lens

Abstract

Isaac Asimov’s science fiction concepts, especially "The Culture," offer a prescient framework for examining modern neoliberalism and Western hegemonic culture. This article analyzes "The Culture" as an idealized, all-encompassing society that, while technologically advanced and ideologically cohesive, mirrors today’s neo-liberal, left-leaning, globalized culture that has achieved a near-monopoly on worldwide influence. Using the United States as a focal point, it explores the current cultural and political unraveling as a potential reflection of the broader disintegration of this dominant socio-political paradigm.

Introduction

In the sphere of science fiction, authors often create fictional worlds as reflections or critiques of real-world societies. Isaac Asimov’s “The Culture” is one such imagined society—one that bears remarkable similarities to the contemporary global neoliberal framework. “The Culture,” a highly advanced, morally self-justifying civilization, parallels today’s Western-led, neoliberal society that asserts dominance through its self-referential beliefs, media influence, and control over global ideological narratives (Asimov, 1976).

Asimov’s “The Culture” as a Metaphor for Neoliberal Hegemony

In Asimov’s works, “The Culture” represents a homogeneous civilization that propagates its values and technology throughout the universe, believing it is uplifting “less advanced” societies. However, this process can be read as imperialistic, promoting its ideals while suppressing or ignoring alternative worldviews (Asimov, 1976). Similarly, today’s Western neoliberalism promotes ideologies around individual freedom, free-market economics, and liberal values through financial and cultural power, often sidelining contrasting perspectives (Harvey, 2007).

Neoliberalism’s global project has relied heavily on media and mass communications to cultivate a “monoculture” of thought. Just as “The Culture” asserts ideological dominance over others, mainstream Western media propagates neoliberal values, often portraying non-Western viewpoints as antagonistic or backward. Through this lens, Western neoliberalism appears as an ideological empire—a “Culture” that cannot conceive of valid alternatives to its way of life.

Western and Green Imperialism in Modern Globalization

Today, one form of imperialism extends beyond military and economic dominance to ideological and environmental realms. Green imperialism, defined as the West’s imposition of environmental standards on the developing world without regard to local contexts, is an echo of “The Culture’s” ideological expansionism (Sachs, 1999). The recent carbon border adjustment tax, which economically disadvantages countries with lower carbon standards, epitomizes how neoliberalism enforces compliance with environmental standards in a manner that increases global inequality.

Both in Asimov’s narrative and in reality, the controlling power often justifies its actions as benevolent. Yet the cultural myopia of “The Culture,” which disregards any perspective outside of its established norms, finds resonance in neoliberalism’s insistence on universal applicability (Foucault, 1980).

Propaganda and Media Control in “The Culture” and Contemporary Society

Media control is central to the sustained influence of both “The Culture” and modern neoliberalism. In the U.S., mass media often reflect and reinforce neoliberal ideals, promoting individualism, competition, and consumerism while discouraging alternative economic or social paradigms (Chomsky, 1997). The advent of social media has broadened this reach, allowing neoliberal ideologies to permeate everyday interactions.

Asimov portrays “The Culture” as maintaining its hegemony partly through subtle propaganda, ensuring that dissenting ideas are portrayed as primitive or hostile. Similarly, Western media often depicts socialist or alternative models as incompatible with “progress” and portrays any resistance as either a threat or a problem to be managed. This creates a self-sustaining cycle that repels critical examination and marginalizes counter-narratives.

Cultural Decay and the Self-Referential Collapse of Ideology

The United States today exhibits symptoms of what Asimov forewarned in “The Culture”: a society crumbling under the weight of its self-referential ideologies. By focusing inward and dismissing external perspectives, “The Culture” becomes vulnerable to collapse. The U.S., currently polarized and divided, struggles with issues of social justice, economic inequality, and ideological extremism—challenges that its current paradigm seems unable to resolve. This inward collapse is, in part, due to a lack of viable alternatives within neoliberalism, which stifles innovation by discouraging deviation from its foundational principles.

According to historian Eric Hobsbawm, this failure to innovate often signals the beginning of decline for any dominant culture, as it can no longer address the complexities of its social and economic environment (Hobsbawm, 1994). Like “The Culture,” the U.S. seems to be reaching a critical point where its ideology can no longer accommodate the diverse and complex realities of its own society.

Conclusion

Isaac Asimov’s “The Culture” serves as both a metaphor and a cautionary tale about the dangers of unchecked ideological dominance and self-referentiality. Today’s neoliberal, left-leaning global order exhibits these same traits, enforcing its values through cultural hegemony and media control while dismissing alternatives as regressive. As the United States grapples with mounting internal challenges, we may be witnessing the early stages of a cultural and ideological shift away from neoliberalism, paralleling the ultimate fate of Asimov’s “The Culture.”

References

Asimov, I. (1976). The Culture and the Future. New York: Doubleday. Chomsky, N. (1997). Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda. New York: Seven Stories Press. Foucault, M. (1980). Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. New York: Pantheon Books. Harvey, D. (2007). A Brief History of Neoliberalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hobsbawm, E. (1994). The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-1991. London: Michael Joseph. Sachs, W. (1999). Planet Dialectics: Explorations in Environment and Development. London: Zed Books.