Is 3D printing part of a larger trend toward local sourcing EVERYTHING? The answer is going to have to be yes over time, because the cost of energy (read "oil") will go up so high, that only those items not physically available at a location will be shipped. For the earth, and with human ingenuity, the only things not capable of being produced locally are raw materials like metals and fuels.
But what can be produced locally, if given the right incentive? Food, energy, consumer goods, services. 200 years past, farms could be isolated by 100 miles of wilderness, and they would have to create everything on their own. In the future, we may have to return to that. Admittedly it will be a slow process, but moving certain manufacturing and production facilities back from the outsourced nether will be beneficial as the cost of fuels keeps climbing.
Local sourcing.... not just a made-up phrase anymore.
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