Babel Clash

Paolo, we’d all like to predict a better future.  The Grand Society or New Golden Age.  Environmental problems are fixed.  Diseases are cured.  Wars have ended.  I’m not sure if it is a realistic vision for some far future day or not.  My question is how does a predictive Science Fiction genre tackle an idealized future, even if that idealized future is logical or reasonable?

At the heart of storytelling is drama, tension and struggle.  In a world lacking scarcity issues, much of the tension is removed, and it becomes more difficult to tell a traditional story.  Unless the Utopia is an illusion or secretly corrupt, and that makes for good stories, too.  Assuming that the Utopia is real, is it still possible to infuse that story with danger and suspense without creating an outside source to threaten it?

Any comments from the Rogue’s Gallery of Babel Clash readers?  Can you recall any great Utopian Science Fiction visions where we see both a grand future and drama and suspense?

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