The International Necronautical Society's 'Declaration on the Notion of "The Future"' appears briefly in the Nov/Dec 2010 issue of Believer magazine. [But see "Feeling the Future"] Though agnostic myself, I supply a soundtrack.
Then, of course, there's nostalgia for past futures, which, in certain ways, advances the ball:
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre..." [c'mon, you know it]