Please take this statement using Marilyn Monroe as simile in context: it was uttered by one of the first environmentalist Prof's at my university in the very early 70's.

It was in response to a question from the hall after he had finished his lecture on the dangers of pollution with a slide showing the Cuyahoga River, which dissects Cleveland, Ohio, on fire.

"How could the American people let this happen?"

His response: "Because the American people treated the continent like Hollywood treated Marilyn Monroe -- like a whore always ready for the taking."

That rocked my little world then and still does today.

Thanks for the early childhood history too.