Going against the trend is also no guarantee of success. Most market busts are followed by a short recovery, then a second hard fall. Both social and political trends can be reversed, and superseded, by experience and new technologies. Bellamy's Utopian Socialism became Lenin's Worker's Paradise, while the capitalism built by J.P. Morgan did indeed trickle down, in time, to today's world of freeways and Costco for all. Early 20th century visions, dominated by big machines and mechanical technologies, look quaint beside the real present of PCs and networks.
Evolution offers the most important Clues.
Yet we know that change can come from anywhere, and that innovations now seen by only a few of us will radically realign everyone when brought to the whole market. So did the idea of a successful freelance journalist who seldom left the comforts of his home. I'll claim no credit for making today's world come about - I simply saw the Clues and went for it. That's what we should all do. We need to seek out the Clues that show us the future we want and then take the risks that might get us there.