Trash

I watched an old movie the other day - it's not going on the list of ten best, by the way.  It was called Act of Vengeance with Robert Ryan, and it was made in 1949.  A lot of the scenes were shot in downtown Los Angeles - almost next to Angels' Flight as it happened.  (Refer to the archives for more on that interesting LA landmark.)

What I also noticed in the film was the enormous amount of trash blowing around on the streets.  Now I know that things are not exaclty pristine in that area of town, but they are a heck of a lot better than they used to be.
I think we often believe that matters are getting worse in life, but trash is one way of seeing an improvement.  The above picture is always a possibility, particularly after rain, but more and more things are a lot tidier around Western societies.  Does anyone remember the Keep Britain Tidy campaign in the 60's.  I think it worked.