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06635_Field_TCUM T200.txt
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1996-04-10
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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,