President Barack Obama has repeatedly said what we now need is a knowledge-based economy. The industrial revolution has come and gone. We are witnesses to that fact: Chrysler and General Motors are fading fast. They're history.

Other facts: We are fast running out of oil; we have pretty much depleted this country of its metals wealth; and wood is being replaced by man-made building materials for the most part. While there may be more oil in other parts of the planet, it's become a weapon of wars and rumors of wars.