I wonder if you looked around your home how many things you would find that are 1) "petroleum-based" products, or 2) "Made in China", or 3) how much of your food is "genetically modified". In the '60s we commonly referred to people who were phony, unauthentic, or selfish and self-centered as "plastic". Now, we are living in a "plastic" society - from the people who fall victim to the big pharma and big chemical companies, to the products we use on our bodies and in our homes, to the food we eat, and medicines we ingest to "bandaid" a problem rather than find the source, or a cure.
In just a few short decades it seems the common folk of society must have been asleep, not paying attention, or just plain lackadaisical and uncaring about who was running the country and how they made this happen. Power, greed, and money drives the most well-intentioned person to knuckle under and fall victim to big pharma and big chemical companies. How did we allow this to happen?