The author, Octavia Butler, said that she was writing “the history of the future.” This is a complex concept because it appears to be a contradiction in terms. How could the future already be written? In Butler’s view, you could accurately predict the next 30 years if you followed the current patterns in our society. Of course she did not want things to turn out like they do in the story, but to avoid these things a radically new direction would have to be taken. In your theory, what do we have to do right now to avoid the scenario Butler has created?