In the beginning , the Universe was created . This was widely regarded as a bad mistake and made a lot of people very angry .

 Quis custodiet ipsos custodiet ?  (  Who shall guard the guardians ?  )  

"  Military victories or psychohistorical domination are meaningless unless they reflect the wishes of the populace . Contrary to common prejudice , the historical drag of the common people's interest nullifies every elaborate ruse of domination , sooner or later . An Empire , a Civil Government , or even Foundations , exist only to clarify those wishes . They either execute the popular will , or their time is short . "  

 Excerpt from : " De Principiis Imperii "   ( About the Principles of Imperial Leadership ) , by John LeTaunte , Decanus Universitas Carolus Magnus Siwennae .

We are in the year 12118 of the Galactic Empire , or 50. Foundation. Era ( F.E. ) . 

The  grip of the Empire , that had strived to , and on some levels did control the so - called " Human Civilization " , albeit on the level of the lowest common denominator , together for over 12.000 years , falters visibly . It's fundaments faltered long ago , but only viewable for the ones that could see . The fall  now becomes obvious and as usual , humans in the accustomed role of locking the barn when the horse is gone frantically look for ways out , but hardly asking the question what led to this kind of barn being built .

The Empire was never a real expression of human daring , it was the opposite of it . Frightened , basically all systems of structures domination of men above men during the Empire days emphasized to suppress the inheritant human capability to act surprisingly and chaotic , unbound by natural instincts . There are and were good reasons for  the damper systems against change . Humans are a killer race .

The problem is that this sort of " Containment " policy is doctoring around the symptoms .. not touching the cause of the malady . In human history there are , albeit few and usually forgotten , examples that forms of self - restriction can turn out to be decisive factors to positive developments . Remember , every planets ecosystem is a system of synergy and symbiotics striving to be stable , governed by the laws of thermodynamics .The problem is , humanity is not stable .

What situation do we find ourselves in today ?

 .  Many sectors of the Galaxy are already on their own , former Imperial Generals and Independent Lords try to enforce their own local rule . New Merchants associations have been founded . And .....the Foundations  are spearheading efforts to rebuild a new better and benevolent Empire , they say ,  ...  or are they ? Is mankind  trapped between a faltering system of Imperial dampers , resulting in twelve millennia of apathy , and the social experiments of a cabal of mental supermen to dominate humanity in the foreseeable future ?  Is our cosmic destination only the choice to be a puppet to either master ?     

  Major Update April 30 / 2004 : The former  four USO websites are now interlinked and all  reachable from here now :  The USO Main Site  /  The   Institute of  Philological History   /   The Galactic Who's Who and , recently re-edited , more fragments from " A String of Pearls " , LeTaunte's book - in - writing ..