social metaphor, bridge, or translator, money—like writing—
speeds up exchange and tightens the bonds of 
interdependence in any community. It gives great spatial 
extension and control to political organizations, just as writing 
does, or the calendar. It is action at a distance, both in space 
and in time. In a highly literate, fragmented society, “Time is 
money,” and money is the store of other people’s time and 
effort.

     During the Middle Ages the idea of the fisc  or “the King’s 
purse” kept the notion of money in relation to language (“the 
King’s English”) and to communication by travel (“the King’s 
highway”). Before the advent of printing, it was quite natural 
for the means of communication to be regarded as extensions 
of a single body. In an increasingly literate society, money and 
the clock assumed a high degree of visual or fragmented