Tracy,
>>Actually, at one time they did.
I guess that's my point. As industries mature and ideas move beyond the true "invention" phase, specialization occurs and practitioners narrow their focus. In 2005, few surgeons expect to manufacture their scalpels or perceive value if offered the ability to do so.
Regards
j.R
"... They ne'er cared for us
yet: suffer us to famish, and their store-houses
crammed with grain; make edicts for usury, to
support usurers; repeal daily any wholesome act
established against the rich, and provide more
piercing statutes daily, to chain up and restrain
the poor. If the wars eat us not up, they will; and
there's all the love they bear us."
-- Shakespeare: Coriolanus, Act 1, scene 1