IMO the author is wrongly characterizing a lot of fundamental themes in sci-fi as specific to some conservative 70s American culture when they are actually fundamental ideas related to economy and technology, more like econ-fiction rather than science-fiction.<p>Just consider the list in the beginning: Space colonization, orbital habitats, life extension, artificial intelligence , virtual reality.<p>These are not arbitrary concepts that were uniquely dreamed of by some sci-fi authors because they had colonialism nostalgia. They are extrapolations of fundamental human economic desires. These quite fundamental economic goals include: Ressources, living space, intelligence, longlevity and entertainment. Sci-fi explores where we might go in search of these kinds of objectives. And it tells stories about what might fo right (utopian) or what might go wrong (dystopian) in this search, but just because a billionaire is clearly inspired by a dystopian-themed story doesn't mean that it's wrong to wish for the technologies in this story. The desire for such technological and economicak advancements is universal, the specific imagined story of how this might have dystopian effects is the part that's idiosyncratic to the sci-fi author.