CONTINENTAL DIVIDE

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So are these guys in it to improve the world or make money? "It's one of those situations where they coincide," Bellenson says. Sasson won't get sucked into highfalutin moral speculation, commenting only on the excitement of the intranet. America's high-tech culture has indeed combined doing well and doing good--getting rich and making the world a better place--with more success, probably, than any similar-size group of people in the history of the world. And for biotech, especially, the miracles are just beginning. If the citizens of this Other Beltway wish to believe they're doing more good for the world than their counterparts in the Washington Beltway, they can make a good case.

But the moral equation is not so simple. The Washington Beltway is full of people who went there with the intention of making the world better, by their own lights. They may have failed at this or abandoned it, or their vision of a better world may be faulty. But some form of idealism is part of what brought them to Washington, and often some of it remains. That counts for something. A comically touching example of Washington idealism is the group that might be called celibates of the church of greed: denizens of conservative think tanks who have selflessly devoted their lives, at moderate incomes, to lightening the burden of taxes and regulations on those who've chosen a more self-interested path--including those inside the Other Beltway.

That Other Beltway, by contrast, gets part of its flavor from the naive egocentrism of brainy teenage boys. (Bellenson and Sasson are not good examples. Check out the Website of software billionaire Paul Allen if you want a taste.) Inside this Beltway some grownups in their 20s and 30s are still obsessed with Captain Kirk. If they have any political interest, it's a lingering passion for Ayn Rand. And this Beltway's spectacular success keeps it, and them, every bit as isolated from the rest of the country as the Beltway at the other end of Highway 50. Neither Beltway has a monopoly on virtue. Each could be improved by knowing a bit more about the other.