What is a Holistic Economy?

I feel that the economies of North America are undergoing a major shift, due to the influence of the Internet, open source software, 3-d faxing, the upsurge in small business startups and holistic health practices.

I am seeing it everywhere around me. In my wife's family, there are four siblings, all married. Four men, two of us are in-laws.

Six years ago, every one of the four men was pulling in a paycheck. Today, only one still has "a job." My brother-in-law in Cleveland was laid off 3 years ago and hasn't found a job yet. My brother-in-law in New York was laid off last week. And I decided to start my own business in 2000 and have never wanted to go back to cubicle life since, despite a failed startup in 2002.

Baby boomers are getting laid off. And when they do, they see it as a perfect opportunity to change their life. My New York brother-in-law is probably going to start a business. I'm sure he will. The Cleveland guy decided to stay at home and be a Mr. Mom, and I think he really loves it. Videotaping all the kids' soccer games, playing chauffeur, all that stuff.

The small business revolution (or should I call it the self-employed revolution?) is taking over.

Where is the job security of the "big company job?" United Airlines just defaulted on their pensions. Will this be the last time a big corporation defaults? No way. This is a precedent and every other big organization (including IBM, where my New York brother-in-law used to work) is going to be jumping on that in a millisecond.

So what the hell is job security? I'll tell you what. It's relying on your own skills to do sales and marketing and delivery, and building something up for yourself. Using your own value system, your own blood, sweat and tears. And lovin' every minute of it.