  A glorious achievement of twentieth century Physics is the identification of
the building blocks of nature. A related triumph a deep understanding of the
forces of interaction. In particular, it has been possible to understand the
four fundamental forces of nature in an elegant and unified mathematical
framework. The paradigm for this unification has been the principle of gauge
symmetry.
  A new approach to achieving further unification relies on Supersymmetry. This
is a symmetry which relates particles of integer spin with those of
half-integral spin and also dictates the allowed interactions among these
particles. However, no data exist pointing to the presence of this symmetry; it
may indeed be of no relevance to nature.
  In this paper the gauge principle and unification attempts are briefly
reviewed, and then Supersymmetry is introduced. The notion of "broken" symmetry
is discussed, which may explain why the symmetry is difficult to observe at
presently accessible energies. But a badly broken manifestation seems to remove
much of the original appeal and elegance of the theory. We here propose two
alternative views of the status of Supersymmetry from fundamental standpoint.
There is a good reason why it is indeed a fundamental symmetry, despite badly
broken. The alternative is that it is an organizing principle, somewhat like
valence. This makes it valuable as a signpost to new Physics.
