It is an uncertain moment, a scary moment. It is the kind of moment in history when, to summarize in the words of Alfred North Whitehead, familiar patterns fade, familiar solutions fail, and familiar options disappear. Of course, the books and periodicals. that are warning society about the removal of jobs, "the end of work", and wage decreases only serve to increase public anxiety - a slow-motion variation of shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theater. These alarming forecasts are largely simple projections of the past two or three decades of workplace trends. However, in the absence of plausible alternative explanations for the gloomy economic news of the past 15 to 20 years and the gloomier prospects implicit in the projections of those trends.