Is Old Gold?

Old is said to be gold in historical terms. But old, even historically, isn't always "gold".  When conversing with a  British friend recently, she rather scoffed at our country's one hundred fiftieth birthday. She remarked that such a low figure didn't jibe with her, since her country was very much older. I stayed silent but it was difficult. I knew that both her country and mine, if countries belong to anyone, were both on earth at the same time even though ours had not, as yet, "been discovered". Old is gold and there are those, then and now, who seek to put that gold to use. Where are the true natural forests in Europe and other historical "ancient" countries? Over the centuries, they have been razed to use as shelter, fuel and industrial construction. Their stones and rocks and trees  have been sought to contribute to industrial ends. Man, the most clever of earth's creatures finds ways to use everything and anything for comfort and convenience. After achieving that purpose, all else is discarded in  places where no one may look at it. Places that make it easy to forget what is really happening. The waste goes into the sky, into the ground or under the waters. When one commodity goes dry, Man finds another way to solve the need, through his Science. Man's need is to make its life easier and more convenient especially when monetary values are at stake. And usually the end result is that someone is making a great deal of money. And while that thought may seem jaded and cynical, it is a truth, and not a nice one to look at. It seems the more Man invents things that are "better", it becomes less and less common knowledge and takes more and more elements out of earth to support the inventions. We need energy and resources to support our comfortable lives,  and where do we get them? Water, minerals and air plus human energy is the answer. Our reasons for raping the earth as we do, to make our lives more convenient becomes the fodder for political in-fighting and positioning, while the innocent earth continues to give up more and more of its resources. We wonder why the hills of ancient countries are bare and the field stones gone and the waters are found mostly in pipes and man-made lakes and canals all waiting to be spilled over dams to supply the energy from which it sprung. I was shocked to learn while travelling, that a lovely old village with stone homes and cobbled streets and that the caves abounding all around were dug by the populace for removal of what I stood on and admired. In my own time, not more than three decades ago, a mountain, disappeared barge load by load, the gravelly substance scooped out and away, to supply construction in another country. Once green and tall, there remained a bare brown, flattened field on the Aborigine property, its life now on roads and concrete towers. It had been a green and lovely  place to hike and drink pure stream water and enjoy wildlife and florals, while eating mushroom and berries. All gone in less than three decades. Going to the desert last winter, I saw a forest of windmills, huge turning wheels ugly against the blue sky and dry yellow hills. The great blue lake I stood above, was made by Man. Is there enough gold left? Is it too late?