Mannes 



Wasteland 



venge; for in exploiting their presence 

 we are diminishing our future. 



And what will we leave behind us 

 when we are long dead? Temples? 

 Amphora? Sunken treasure? 



Or mountains of twisted, rusted 

 steel, canyons of plastic containers, and 

 a million miles of shores garlanded, not 



201 



with the lovely wrack of the sea, but 

 with the cans and bottles and light- 

 bulbs and boxes of a people who con- 

 served their convenience at the ex- 

 pense of their heritage, and whose 

 ephemeral prosperity was built on 

 waste. 



QUESTIONS 



1. Comment on the statement that 

 Americans are said to be the most 

 wasteful people on earth. 



What might be the relationship be- 

 tween the "permanence" of a coun- 

 try's greatness and the conservation of 

 our natural resources? 



