The 'Average Worker' Is Dead

There's a new buzz-phrase making the rounds these days: The death of average. A kid who does decently well in school, and does what she's told, is no longer guaranteed a job. And the average worker who does everything his employer asks shouldn't expect to keep his until retirement.

"The recession is a forever recession," said Internet marketing pioneer Seth Goodin in an interview on the Canadian talk show "George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight." Something bigger is going on; the industrial age, which lasted 80 years, is now coming to an apocalyptic end.