It’s hard to believe, but after four years of speculation and campaigning, it will all (hopefully) be over in the U.S. tomorrow. We will have a new president.
Don’t worry. This isn’t a post about the election, at least, not exactly.
Like pretty much everyone I talk to, I’m upset about the election and the choice we are asked to make. While I have had conversations where people are genuinely enthused about a candidate, more often than not, votes seem to be based on who you don’t want to have in office.
I’ve been thinking about this a bit, and I’ve specifically been wondering if there is anything fiction can give us here, specifically science fiction.
There’s a famous saying that gets thrown around in all sorts of contexts: “Begin with the end in mind.”
The great thing about science fiction (and maybe even fantasy, although I haven’t encountered much that would qualify) is that it provides a vision of what the future could look like. What might a society of the future look like?
The obvious and low-hanging fruit is Star Trek (more the classic series and TNG than the reboot). Every episode, we see what it might be like to live in a society that has moved beyond the concept of money, a benevolent federation that seeks to explore and promote peace and dialogue.
It’s certainly not perfect, but the series explores the concepts and gives a reference point. Another great example is the foundation series by Asimov.
Sci-fi is rife with examples of futuristic societies, and I love the idea of looking at these fictional possibilities and think about how we can start to work towards them today.
Does anyone else have examples of well-imagined future societies that inspire them?
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