many Americans still seem to harbor the pioneer attitude that resources are unlimited and can never be used up. That was the attitude, understandably, 200 years ago — that there was so much land, so many forests and so many buffalo that people would never even put a dent in them. The attitude was, exhaust the soil and move on; cut the trees and move on; slaughter the game and move on. Well, oops, we've run out of places to move on to.

We know better now, or do we? Coal and oil are also limited, though it might not seem so. Topsoil is certainly limited. The thing to remember is that the rate of consumption has increased and will continue to increase. And since consumption produces pollution, pollution will increase. In the past, people often said that God will solve their problems. Today, people tend to believe technology is the new God that will solve their problems.

I am of the opinion that the original God has better things to do than worry about individual fates on a fifth-rate planet spinning around a third-rate star in one of several billion galaxies. I believe he leaves us free to choose our actions and free to suffer the consequences or benefits. As for technology, it is as false a god as Isis or Neptune.

The college boys and old professors who work for the foundations funded by big corporations are always telling us there is plenty of space and plenty of resources. It never seems to occur to most of them to look at the source of their paychecks. Some do, perhaps, but just don't care. Many people, it seems, believe that if they can just make it to the cemetery in a comfortable style, it doesn't matter what happens to their posterity.

I've read that the Iroquois confederation tried to make decisions based on what effects they would have seven generations later. Well, they obviously failed, because they picked the wrong side in the American Revolution and were virtually wiped out. But it is not a bad idea. Even if people would think only two generations ahead it would be an improvement.

Some years ago, I read a review of a book by a Japanese man who advocated what he called "elegant poverty." I've never been able to find an English translation and now no longer even remember the author's name. His idea, though, was a good one — to combat the mountains of trash, one should buy less stuff but get items of good quality that would last and could be passed on from generation to generation.

That's the exact opposite of our throwaway lifestyle, but our throwaway lifestyle won't sustain us. The highest point in Florida today is a garbage dump in southeastern Florida that looks like a mountain. Oh, I forgot, today we use the euphemism "sanitary landfill," as if a trash dump could ever be called sanitary.

Global disasters rarely happen overnight, except in the case of gigantic volcanic eruptions or hits by big meteors or comets. The trend lines, however, point toward a dark future. If you're a teenager, you ought to think now about joining the preservation army and fighting for a decent life 40 years down the pike. Don't rely on the older generations. We're the ones who messed it up.

(Write to Charley Reese at P.O. Box 2446, Orlando, FL 32802)