Up, then down (cont)
Growing knowledge and wealth increase the options available to
individuals. Personal needs and wants outweigh communal concerns, but
eventually even communal goods become affordable. Despite increasing
population and personal consumption, U.S. environmental pollution has
mostly improved since 1970, when per capita income exceeded $15,000
in 1998 currency. A consensus of opinion set the direction,
technology and wealth provided the means.
Source:
U.S. Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1996, CDROM,
U.S. Census Bureau, 1997, esp. table 374, spreadsheet
version. Supplemental data from Historical Statistics of the
United States: Colonial Times to 1970, U.S. Census Bureau, 1976.