The Cyberpunk of the 80's was a backlash in response to the utopia promised by science fiction writers in the 60's and 70's that readers grew up on and ultimately would become disillusioned by, as they saw their reality fail to meet the unattainable standards that had grown to be their expectation.

Of course, in their frustration and desire to distance themselves, rotating 180 degrees as they traveled in the complete opposite direction, they too would also fall into a similar trap of generalization and overly simplistic definitions.

Because both utopia and dystopia are extremes that will never truly be able to describe reality as it is.

As we know today, technological growth especially in the last fifty years or so, has immensely benefited and impacted our world. Literacy, basic education, democracy, and vaccination rates have all steadily increased as child mortality, extreme poverty, and inequality correspondingly have decreased. Life on average has quite literally never been better than it is now.

Yet, at the same time, it's undeniable that a great deal of deeply rooted and structural issues exist today that technology in and of itself has not been able to solve. Yes, the world is getting better, but humanity still faces an innumerable number of existential challenges that we likely will continue to face in part for, well frankly, probably as long as humanity also continues to exist.

The Post-Cyberpunk genre, or Solarpunk, is an acknowledgement of this, accepting that our reality is one defined by nuance and complexity, showcasing a significant literary maturation, and in my eyes, a reflection of a corresponding development and growth in society that has been undertaken in parallel as well. Because, as I believe my generation has come to see, both hope and despair can and often does exist in equal propriety.

It's acknowledging the despair that's there, and also at the same time having the courage to seek out the hope that exists alongside it, that creates a possibility for a brighter future even in the midst of extraordinary adversity.