The nation-state will devolve like an unwieldy conglomerate, but probably not before it is forced to do so by financial crises.
Some conglomerates, such as AT&T, Unisys, and ITT, have split themselves into several firms in order to function more profitably. Efforts to contain violence will also devolve in ways that depend more upon efficiency than magnitude of power. As this technological revolution unfolds, predatory violence will be organized more and more outside of central control. Microprocessing reduces the size that groups must attain in order to be effective in the use and control of violence. It will also precipitate transition crises, including a possibly severe economic depression that will reduce the unearned advantage in living standards that has been enjoyed by residents of advanced industrial societies throughout the twentieth century. Equally, in the future, one of the milestones by which you measure your financial success will be not just now many zeroes you can add to your net worth, but whether you can structure your affairs in a way that enables you to realize full individual autonomy and independence. This will leave individuals far more responsible for themselves than they have been accustomed to being during the industrial period. 
The fact that not everyone attains an equally vast fortune does not mean that it is futile or meaningless to become rich. But this does not negate the advantages of financial independence. At first, only a handful will achieve full financial sovereignty. Genius will be unleashed, freed from both the oppression of government and the drags of racial and ethnic prejudice. The brightest, most successful and ambitious of these will emerge as truly Sovereign Individuals. For the first time, those who can educate and motivate themselves will be almost entirely free to invent their own work and realize the full benefits of their own productivity. The good news is that the Information Revolution will liberate individuals as never before.
The coming transformation is both good news and bad. The most obvious benefits will flow to the “cognitive elite,” who will increasingly operate outside political boundaries. An entirely new realm of economic activity that is not hostage to physical violence will emerge in cyberspace. This widespread revulsion often comes into evidence well before people develop a new coherent ideology of change. Whenever technological change has divorced the old forms from the new moving forces of the economy, moral standards shift, and people begin to treat those in command of the old institutions with growing disdain. 
This is a situation with striking parallels in the past.
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