I missed out on the "Golden Age" but Anderson, Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke, Dick, Ellison, Heinlein, Herbert, etc. etc. were all very much alive and producing. I recall the straightforward fiction of Asimov say was, even then, sort of in disfavor, whereas someone like Ellison was in critical favor. Pretty much the majority was involved with exploring liberal and outlandish ideas (maybe the drugs back then.) I still recall a short story written by [someone who I can't recall] with the premise being a device that would allow a person to live through another's eyes and thoughts. The denouement was something along the lines of the protagonist using the device and seeing the world through his girlfriend's eyes, and then I think she did the same thing in reverse -- saw the world through his eyes. Which was interesting back then (and now, when I think back.)
In any event, I never thought of science fiction as all that conservative -- even Asimov was fairly liberal politically if I recall rightly -- and I am surprised to see that there is such a fight over liberal and conservative in the science fiction world. Although I haven't read it for years so maybe the old liberal is the new conservative and the new liberal deals with sheep love or some such.
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