But perhaps everything we have said up to this point is of little but historical interest. Today, developments are afoot which have the potential of radically recasting the entire analysis we have presented. Today, old-fashioned laissez-faire, in the guise of a ‘new economy’, is once again turning things upside-down and melting that which is solid into air. The globalization of markets is intensifying competition and putting pressure on social models to conform to a standardized norm. As a result, many of the arrangements we have previously relied on for protection have come under severe pressure. It is possible to exaggerate these changes, to be sure, but it is also possible to extrapolate from current trends. Doing this, the results are nothing short of alarming. Today, families, associations and states are all changing, weakening and eroding. But if such trends persist, what is going to happen to us? Who or what will protect us in the future?

A first task is to assess the damage done, and a second task is to figure out what, if anything, we can do about the situation. Even if the damage is substantial, there would be no emergency as long as substitutes are readily available. The question is what these substitutes would look like and whether they are likely to do their job. Who knows, maybe we will even be better off in the future than we were in the past?