History , to a massive documentation of “the breakdowns of 
civilizations,” he begins by saying: “One of the most 
conspicuous marks of disintegration, as we have already 
noticed, is . . . when a disintegrating civilization purchases a 
reprieve by submitting to forcible political unification in a 
universal state.” Disintegration and reprieve, alike, are the 
consequence of ever faster movement of information by 
couriers on excellent roads.

     Speed-up creates what some economists refer to as a 
centre-margin  structure. When this becomes too extensive for 
the generating and control centre, pieces begin to detach 
themselves and to set up new centre-margin systems of their 
own. The most familiar example is the story of the American 
colonies of Great Britain. When the thirteen colonies began to 
develop a considerable social and economic life of their own,