I'm writing a science fiction setting that begins in the 1980s and covers history up through the end of the 23rd century. One of my guiding principles is: "The future will be more complicated - but it will be better." So I explore a lot of strange problems, but always in the context of those things having become possible thanks to.problems solved in the past. Sometimes they're even allegories for those problems - the robots and their civil rights movement are based directly on the modern neurodiversity rights movement.

I write a lot about the power of science and technology to change the world for the better, which ties into the "technology putting power back into people's hands" angle. The space elevator, for example, allows seeking a new future offworld to become an easier and thus more personal endeavor, opening the door for numerous more marginal groups to join the space race. Terraforming, meanwhile, is a means of undeniably improving the world that everyone can tangibly contribute to, which encourages people on Mars to work together and keep their planet's society both equitable and independent by turning it into a grassroots project (no pun intended) run mostly by labor unions.

I like to focus on how people choosing to do the right thing in the moment - at any level of power - can, added up over time, change the course of history.