1961 Analog published “Science Fiction is too Conservative” by G. Harry Stine. Turns out Harry was too optimistic. Then there’s the total garbage of Ayn Rand that was seized on by a generation of conservatives and led them to totally screw up the Social Contract.
No, science fiction authors don’t have some sort of magical crystal ball; what they (some of them) do have is the ability to write good stories based on interpolations of trends in society and technology, but their crystal balls are no better than anyone else’s.
