History Main / TheFutureWillBeBetter

* A central premise of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise is that technology and science makes life better. There's no racism either; humans are finally getting along with each other. Not played entirely straight, however. According to ''Star Trek'', humanity will pass through a horrific WorldWarIII and its dystopian aftermath before reaching the utopian age in which the franchise takes place. It does work out in the long run, but there's a hefty dose of EarnYourHappyEnding.

* "Fate" in ''[[Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic Magi: Labyrinth Of Magic]]'' is a force that moves the world towards a better future for people in general. However, individual people can really get screwed over by Fate and suffer horribly. The main bad guys like to track these people down and give them the ability to fight Fate--to the detriment of everyone around them.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "Sarcophagus", Natalie and Curtis Grainger awaken after 1,000 years in stasis to find that Earth has benefited significantly from its alliance with the race to which the alien in the Neolithic burial chamber belonged. The two species live in harmony on Earth.

Compare IWantMyJetpack and WorldHalfFull, where someone longs for this to be true and where a person or group of people try to [[InvokedTrope invoke]] this respectively. GrassIsGreener likewise can deal with characters and their delusion that that place or time that isn't now and here is always going to be better when they get there.

* Music/Gorillaz have "Clint Eastwood" from their album ''[[Music/GorillazAlbum Gorillaz]]''

* With the very, very notable exception of the "Five Years Later" arc and a few other periods when it has dipped its toe into the DarkerAndEdgier pool, the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes is like this. Set a thousand years in the future, it's often been compared to Franchise/StarTrek's setting, but the LSH actually came first. Earth and a good chunk of the galaxy are a peaceful democracy full of sentient races that get along pretty well most of the time. It's not a perfect utopia, but it's pretty darned nice.

* Subverted in ''VisualNovel/AnalogueAHateStory''. Hyun-ae, an IllGirl, is made a HumanPopsicle because of this trope. Her family freezes her in the hope that someone will eventually find a cure for her condition. Then she's awakened a few hundred years later in a NoWomansLand.

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Contrast OlderIsBetter and NostalgiaFilter. Also related to SocietyMarchesOn.

* You can see this with the last novels of the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', the first books show a planet locked in medieval stasis dominated by bloodthirsty warlords, petty tyrants and mad priests with a huge mistrust between most races, nations and rigid social hierarchies, [[spoiler: in the last books of the series the Discworld is entering an industrial/modern revolution, wars, plague and famine are going extinct, racism, social and religious bigotry are in decline, freedom of press as well as mass communications are a thing and Ankh-Morpork as well as other major nations are becoming prosperous, cleaner, more efficient, secure and equalitarian societies, Creator/TerryPratchett gives the Discworld one last goddess, [[CoolTrain Iron Girder]], the personification of the Idea of Progress.]]

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1985'': TheFutureWillBeBetter: In "Profile in Silver", after admitting that he is a time traveler from 2172, Professor Joseph Fitzgerald tells UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy that his greatest dreams have been fulfilled. By the 22nd Century, humanity has eliminated tyranny, war and poverty and has gone to the stars.

* "The Future" by {{Music/Sparks}}. ''In the future fun is fun / In the future lots of sun...''

* Averted in the third book of ''Literature/TheIndianInTheCupboard'', when Patrick, a boy from the modern day, tells Ruby Lou, a cowgirl from the Wild West, about the future. He tells her all about the great improvements in medicine, long-distance communication, automobiles... but then she asks if there are any drawbacks and he admits the future has its own share of problems: pollution, overpopulation, and nuclear weapons.

* A central premise of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise is that technology and science makes life better. There's no racism either; humans are finally getting along with each other.
** Not played entirely straight, however. According to ''Star Trek'', humanity will pass through a horrific WorldWarIII and its dystopian aftermath before reaching the utopian age in which the franchise takes place. It does work out in the long run, but there's a hefty dose of EarnYourHappyEnding.

A trope OlderThanYouThink, that of a story that informs us the future will not be full of doomsday scenarios or nightmarish dystopias, but in fact the time when all troubles will be behind us. Or, at the very least, the future will hold less burdens than that of the past.

* The "Carousel of Progress" at [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disney World]] has the song "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" (which was also [[CoverVersion covered]] by Music/TheyMightBeGiants for ''Disney/MeetTheRobinsons'').

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

-->'''Spider:''' ''The future is an inherently good thing.'' And we move into it one winter at a time. Things get better one winter at a time. If you're going to celebrate anything, then have a drink on this: The world is, generally and on balance, a better place to live this year than it was last year.

[[folder: Literature]]

* Averted in the third book of ''Literature/TheIndianInTheCupboard'', when Patrick, a boy from the modern day, tells Ruby Lou, a cowgirl from the Wild West, about the future. He tells her all about the great improvements in medicine, long distance communication, automobiles... but then she asks if there are any drawbacks and he admits the future has its own share of problems: pollution, overpopulation, and nuclear weapons.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

[[folder: Music]]

* The song "The White Cliffs Of Dover" by Music/VeraLynn was written and recorded during the Second World War, when Lynn's assuration that ''"tomorrow, when the world is free/ just you wait and see"'' gave many Britons hope that the hardships of the war would be over one day.

* Music/BobMarley also wrote a lot of songs giving hope for a better future, ''"No Woman, No Cry"'' from ''Music/NattyDread'', being the most famous example, where he comforts a woman with the assuration that ''"everything is going to be alright"''. On the LiveAlbum ''[[Music/LiveBobMarleyAlbum Live]]'' this moment is even greater, because you hear the crowd cheer when he sings that line. ''"Hallelujah Time", "Get Up Stand Up", "Small Axe"'' and ''"Put It On"'' from ''Music/{{Burnin}}'' are songs that fall under this trope too. ''Positive Vibration'' on ''Music/RastamanVibration'' also has a positive message.
* Music/BobDylan's ''Music/TheTimesTheyAreAChangin'' sings about a society all kinds of inevitable upcoming social changes in society occur, but it's sang in a comforting and enthusiastic manner, so that the listener can hardly wait until they happen.

* Music/KlausNomi's "Total Eclipse" from ''[[Music/KlausNomiAlbum Klaus Nomi]]'' paints a bleak picture of the world succombing into nuclear war, but his song "After The End" from ''Music/SimpleMan'' has a more hopeful message for people on Earth after the nuclear explosion. Well, kind of:

[[folder: Theater]]

[[folder: Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'': In Serah's time of 5AF, humanity lives in tiny communities that eeke out a living while fighting off monsters. In every timeline after that, humans are doing better. 400AF is nightmarish but once the timeline is changed, a grand soceity has been developed where the greatest problem is slight boredom. Noel comes from a BadFuture but he went back in time to invoke this trope.

[[folder: Visual Novels]]

* The "Carousel of Progress" at [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disney World]] has the song "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" (which was also [[CoverVersion covered]] by Music/TheyMightBeGiants for ''Film/MeetTheRobinsons'').