Answer: So much, and for so long, in the mere pursuit of worldly objects, we seemed to have given up professional excellence and cultural ideals. Our Gross National Product, now, is over $800 billion a year, but that Gross National Product counts air pollution and tobacco ads, and ambulances to rid our roads of carnage, if we judge the United States of America by that.
Special locks on our doors and prisons for the criminals who smash them are counted. The degradation of the redwood and the disappearance of the chaotic sprawl of our natural wonder counts.