Hard SF is essentially libertarian, not because all hard SF writers are necessarily advocating libertarianism, or even believing in it, but because hard SF is necessarily based on two fundamental premises:
I once read a short by the darling of the Marxist SF Infiltrators, Nora Jemisin. It was a slog. But it inspired me to dissect it in detail on my Wordpress blog (Good lord, five years ago!). It was supposed to be her "Answer" to Le Guinn's "The ones who walk away from Omelas" but she clearly didn't understand the point of the story. Instead, she constructed a utopia that could only be deemed such in her own imagination. The science fictional element was a device that would allow the users to communicate with an alternate universe, ostensibly ours. This was a danger to the utopia, since Jemisin's weird conceit is that to be exposed to an idea is to cause one to believe in it, which is why her Utopia has enforcers who track down users of the device and stab them humanely with a spear.
And yet, the people persist in finding out about something other than their paradise. They use this communicator. They are the libertarians, the free thinkers, and the Marxist's reaction is to snuff them out and consider it a good thing. That the Irony escapes them is probably merciful - their brains might explode otherwise.
People will often point to Star Trek as a socialist utopian future, however several key technologies were invented, without which this utopia would not be possible. Replicators removed all base need scarcity. Clothing and food are available to everyone at virtually zero cost. At this point, the survival imperative is removed from the equation, and people can work on things that interest them, do nothing, or create amazing works of art, all without worrying about the commercial imperative of the work, or the need to survive.
“The role of science fiction isn’t to convince, but to inspire.”
Wonderfully stated!
I once read a short by the darling of the Marxist SF Infiltrators, Nora Jemisin. It was a slog. But it inspired me to dissect it in detail on my Wordpress blog (Good lord, five years ago!). It was supposed to be her "Answer" to Le Guinn's "The ones who walk away from Omelas" but she clearly didn't understand the point of the story. Instead, she constructed a utopia that could only be deemed such in her own imagination. The science fictional element was a device that would allow the users to communicate with an alternate universe, ostensibly ours. This was a danger to the utopia, since Jemisin's weird conceit is that to be exposed to an idea is to cause one to believe in it, which is why her Utopia has enforcers who track down users of the device and stab them humanely with a spear.
And yet, the people persist in finding out about something other than their paradise. They use this communicator. They are the libertarians, the free thinkers, and the Marxist's reaction is to snuff them out and consider it a good thing. That the Irony escapes them is probably merciful - their brains might explode otherwise.
If you're curious, it's at: https://drmauser.wordpress.com/2019/01/30/message-received/
Occasionally I've thought about writing the answer to this answer, from the POV of the free-thinking underground.
People will often point to Star Trek as a socialist utopian future, however several key technologies were invented, without which this utopia would not be possible. Replicators removed all base need scarcity. Clothing and food are available to everyone at virtually zero cost. At this point, the survival imperative is removed from the equation, and people can work on things that interest them, do nothing, or create amazing works of art, all without worrying about the commercial imperative of the work, or the need to survive.