re : "Self-sufficiency--subsistence--is poverty" && "Given that progress is inexorable, cumulative and collective if human beings exchange and specialize, then

re : "Self-sufficiency--subsistence--is poverty" && "Given that progress is inexorable, cumulative and collective if human beings exchange and specialize, then globalization and the Internet are bound to ensure furious economic progress in the coming century" globalization? If you want to further the notion that ideas should have sex with each other, then you want to break down power hierarchies (state, country, global unions) that prevent freedom. globalization is centralized control whereas internet is decentralized. I wouldn't couple these two things. The Eloi were not very self-sufficient and had everything they wanted. I'll gladly incur some poverty to escape an Eloi existence.