The Speaker
Only one character appears in this poem and that is the speaker. Since the speaker is not explicitly described and does fulfill the role of a “character” in the traditional narrative sense, personality must be constructed allusively through context. All the traditional signifiers of identity—gender, race, age, nationality, etc.—must be abandoned in favor of what amounts to a psychological profile. The one thing that is clear beyond a doubt is the speaker is utopian.
The poem is little more than a portrait of an ideal future for humankind. Not that it is "an" ideal and very specifically not "the" ideal future. The vision of the future presented through this litany of advancements and evolution is one in which most of the biggest problems facing the world seem to have been resolved. One of the most notable improvements to be expected is the end of misogyny which fuels sexism. That the poem even includes this allusion to the long-awaited fulfillment of complete gender equity, it is likely—though by no means a certainty—that the speaker is a woman. The speaker will add just a little spark of snark to the utopian perspective. Addressing the issue of aging, the speaker’s vision of the future is one in which "popular consensus” has mandated that "we’ll” live longer. The "we” implies the democratization of health care rather than withholding of the best care only to those who can afford it.
The speaker presents a utopian future—but not necessarily what would be a universally agreed upon definition of utopian. One can extrapolate that the speaker holds liberal-progressive views that truly see all people created as equal. The ideal society outlined here runs counter to what an ideal future would look like among reactionaries, xenophobes, racists, misogynists, book burners, and religious extremists. In this political sense, then, the title could not be a more appropriate description of the utopian ideal envisioned by this particular speaker.
