After a Gold Rush

Vine, composite charcoal, charcoal pencil on news print. Original dimensions: 24x18 inches. The picture used was taken on the drive to Kahalu'u where my parents live, just off Likelike highway.

The title alludes to the song "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young and, like the song, the drawing constitutes my attempt at a warning against further harm to the environment.

At the time of the song, (1970) the threat of nuclear war with the USSR was, in my opinion, the likely cause of the apocalyptic world described (references to "burned-out basements" etc.).  In my drawing, that threat is still relevant, though more mundane threats such as the sheer volume of fossil-fuel producing vehicles on the road is represented in the fore-ground.  In the song, a group of humans leaves earth on a "silver ship" to fly "mother nature's seed to a new home in the sun."  In my drawing, this ship exists also, though the individuals escaping the ravaged planet earth are represented by a dollar sign, the sign of the Illuminati and a crown-wearing figure; symbols of wealth, power and influence.  Would the poor, or even middle-class be able to escape a planet destroyed by the rich and powerful?