I have to admit, I had more faith in humanity than this. 

My idea of the future has always been defined by Star Trek. I’m old enough to have been briefly aware of the original series when it was the only series. I grew up with The Next Generation. I was enough of a Trekkie to have read the technical manuals and collected the trading cards. I stopped calling myself a Trekkie at a specific moment in the franchise’s continuity: when Torres hooked up with Paris in Star Trek Voyager. That’s exactly when I stopped watching, back in the day. Doesn’t matter, nevermind.

Trek imagined what humanity could achieve in the future, and it fixed an an idea in my mind that I would now describe as maximum realistic optimism. Humanity will organize, solve all the social ills and inequities, get in starships and explore the universe. Of course we will! Obviously, that’s just how it’s going to be.

Star Trek predicted something called the Eugenics Wars, which thankfully didn’t happen. In fact, eugenics was so firmly debunked that it seemed like no one would ever take it seriously again. I guess I assumed we were ahead of schedule. I no longer believe that, and I didn’t know how much was riding on that belief until it was gone. I didn’t know how far we would be dragged back into ignorance. 

I didn’t know what kind of person I was until I was nearly forty years old. And the kind of person I am has suddenly become very controversial. For a while there, I really believed things were getting better. I really believed there was a chance that we would avert so much unnecessary suffering.

I would’ve opted for Star Trek’s future, personally. We could be exploring the universe and wearing space pajamas, but instead we as a species have selected climate apocalypse as the genre of tomorrow. Fine. It’s just, I’m really more a space pajamas girl.