Octavia Butler’s classic futurist novel “Parable of the Sower” recently made the New York Times bestseller list for the first time. It depicts an America falling apart at the seams due to violence, economic decline, and governmental dysfunction. But despite the chaos, the protagonist, Lauren Olamina, spends much of her time thinking about space exploration. Faced with a dystopian Earth, she motivates herself and her followers to survive by dreaming of the stars.
Today, the U.S. isn’t quite falling apart yet, but a pandemic, social unrest, political chaos, wildfires and economic recession are hastening what was an already worrying national decline. As people desperately try to shore up the nation’s institutions, a few are taking a page from “Parable of the Sower” and dreaming big dreams about what the future could hold.
