I can’t find the exact quote, but Octavia Butler once said something along the lines of “It isn’t the job of the writer to predict the future, but to prevent it.”
Margaret Atwood, in reference to her recent book Oryx and Crake, which is largely about corporate control and genetic engineering run amok, said that she doesn’t write science fiction, but speculative fiction. Her novels are based on trends that she observes in contemporary society (and since then I’ve noticed several things come true, like plans for replacing streetlights with glowing trees and the engineering of spliced spider/silkworms for producing body armor).
James Cameron’s Terminator movies are easily a possibility with current military technology, particularly considering the number of robotic/unmanned weapons being developed, alongside the artificial intelligence programs.
Good sci-fi, I think, is good because it resonates with reality. I also have a theory that sick motherfuckers consume these stories and get the idea that these things are good ideas. All these things have truth to them. In other words, we’re pretty fucked if we freedom loving people don’t stick together.
Our best hope is that empire collapses before it gets much worse, and we have the sense to start living sensibly.