Waking up from the American dream

Andrew L. Yarrow, in “Utopia lost” (Opinion, Feb. 25), describes the rosy forecasts about America’s economic future made during the 1950s and wonders what has happened to our sense of optimism. He ignores one forecast that turned out to be correct -- geologist M. King Hubbert’s prediction in 1956 that U.S. oil production would peak in the early 1970s. Hubbert was widely dismissed as an alarmist, but production in the Lower 48 states began to decline after 1970. Is it a coincidence that Americans’ happiness index peaked between 1965 and 1973?

Geologist Kenneth Deffeyes has applied Hubbert’s methods to world oil production and arrived at a peak production date of 2005. Any authors of “utopian dreams” better include a long chapter on alternative energy sources.

MARTHA VOGHT

Bishop, Calif.

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Yarrow does President Kennedy a disservice by quoting his inaugural address out of context. The entire quote is, “For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life.” Far from being a Pollyanna, as one would assume from Yarrow’s article, Kennedy was contrasting man’s technological advances with his recently acquired ability to destroy the planet. His speech was intended as a warning and had little to do with optimism.

KEN MCINTYRE

Torrance