It's an interesting question, I think speculative fiction is most certainly escapism. A question that can be posed is of what benefit is escapism in the guise of speculative fiction. To which I would respond saying that it is of enormous benefit when you consider stress relief as well as the many things that it can teach us. Lord of the Rings for example is about World War II and Alice in Wonderland was about algebra. So not only can we learn about history from a first-hand perspective but we can also view modernity from the perspective of an outsider and therefore reassess and properly interrogate the ideas and opinions we hold about whatever issues are going on today. As a reader who is not endowed with the emotional understanding that many people are blessed with fiction in general certainly helps me navigate the world in deal with the people within it a little bit better.
RE: The power of speculative fiction