Understanding McLuhan/Understanding McLuhan (1996)(Voyager)[Mac-PC].iso/pc/mcluhan.dxr/06761_Field_TCUM T326.txt

Text File | 1996-04-10 | 942b | 16 lines

     Money in one of its features provides a natural transition
to number because the money hoard or collection has much in
common with the crowd. Moreover, the psychological patterns
of the crowd and those associated with accumulations of
wealth are very close. Elias Canetti stresses that the dynamic
which is basic to crowds is the urge to rapid and unlimited
growth. The same power dynamic is characteristic of large
concentrations of wealth or treasure. In fact, the modern unit
of treasure in popular use is the million . It is a unit acceptable
to any type of currency. Always associated with the million  is
the idea that it can be reached by a rapid speculative scramble.
In the same way, Canetti explains how the ambition to see
numbers mounting up was typical of Hitler’s speeches.

     Not only do crowds of people and piles of money strive
toward increase, but they also breed uneasiness about the