[LaserJock]

I see what you're saying, but I'm a bit more optimistic. I think profit making opportunities will proliferate in this new world. They'll just be brief. Agility will be the key to long term success. It may be that we're seeing the beginning of the end of the age of great empires - nations as well as businesses. The age of the empowered individual or small team is emerging. If this is true, then nations filled with industrious people who value personal responsibility will prosper. This could be very good for the U.S. - if we don't let government infantalize us first!

[Albion Wilde]

The age of the empowered individual or small team is emerging. If this is true, then nations filled with industrious people who value personal responsibility will prosper.

I'm with you on that. Small farms, workshops, small kiosks or roadside stands -- we had it once. Very much hope we can have it again in some fashion. Communes not for sex, but for common skills and small-scale local production. I see a great future, at least for designers, in 3-D copying.