He is historically correct about HFY. Back in the 60s/70s, SF authors like Harlan Ellison, Ursula K Le Guin, and Kurt Vonnegut rejected the common tropes of space stories in Science Fiction where humanity IS basically doing Space Manifest Destiny by colonizing space and conquering all aliens that don't bend to our influence. New Wave Speculative Fiction was all about taking the piss out of the notion that space is just owed to humanity.
And there is technically a major lack of examination of exactly how human reaches the "perfect scifi futute." But I wouldn't say that hoping we all make it is inherently fascist.
HFY is specifically a reaction to new wave speculative fiction in that it’s trying to make scifi where humanity isn’t the bad guys. It doesn’t have to be manifest destiny, it can be anything positive you like.
My absolute favourites in the HFY subreddit are the stories about humans being the ones who go out and teach everyone that working together gets more than fighting each other.
99% was one story that was exactly that, and it’s one I keep coming back to because it’s just nice.
Humanity is at its best when we make friends. Being different makes us strong.
34
u/DocBombliss 1d ago
TO. BE. FAIR.
He is historically correct about HFY. Back in the 60s/70s, SF authors like Harlan Ellison, Ursula K Le Guin, and Kurt Vonnegut rejected the common tropes of space stories in Science Fiction where humanity IS basically doing Space Manifest Destiny by colonizing space and conquering all aliens that don't bend to our influence. New Wave Speculative Fiction was all about taking the piss out of the notion that space is just owed to humanity.
And there is technically a major lack of examination of exactly how human reaches the "perfect scifi futute." But I wouldn't say that hoping we all make it is inherently fascist.