Sensory Pollution (113)

Some years ago I had the opportunity to take a number of trips into the Florida Everglades and, as a naturalist, totally loved it. But one thing that worried me down there was how shallow the groundwater in Florida is and how easily polluted. For some reason the pollution there sticks in my mind as the archetype for the following mini-rant.

The analogy is that our mind, at least our mental "surface" water, is also easily polluted. As a kid I grew up with five-and-ten-cent stores all around. There were also expensive things, of course, but all of the little stuff was priced low. Those days are gone. Everything today is offered at a premium price, as if it were the keystone or missing ingredient, the pearl of great price. The obvious result is that now it is much more expensive just to live. There are no five-and-ten-cent stores and even the dollar-stores that replaced them often have things that cost more than a dollar.