- "He... poured a hefty slug of bourbon. My God, there hadn't been any bourbon half an hour ago - not for twenty years! Grain had been far too precious with seven billion mouths to feed, to go for spirits."
— The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K. Le Guin
Her world is overpopulated, living standards have plunged, food is scarce so most people are undernourished, and there are too many people crammed into each apartment.
In reality today we have 8 billion people, living standards have risen, fewer people are malnourished, more live a middle class life, and bourbon - thank the invisible hand not of God but of the market - is plentiful.