Alvin Toffler and Heidi Toffler

Alvin Toffler and Heidi Toffler are among the world’s best known futurists, and are the authors of such books as Future Shock and War and Anti-War: Survival at the Dawn of the 21st Century. In the following viewpoint, the Tofflers argue that the world has evolved from one of agrarian and industrial societies to one including technological societies. The Tofflers’ opinion is that a “group of societies that increasingly do the world’s economically relevant ‘knowledge work’” is developing, and that America can protect its vital interests in the future by understanding this change and planning strategically.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. Why are nations becoming less important, in the Tofflers’ opinion?
2. What is the paradox produced by &ldquo...