Under electric conditions there is no past, there is only an all-at-onceness, like Expo: everything is all at once, all the cultures of the world at the same moment. So history ceases to exist: that is, history as a kind of perspective, over-the-shoulder, retrospect. This is meaningless. Today, any child can go to any part of the world, by one means or another, and inspect the archaeological remains or the cultures of any part of the world. There is no question of history retaining any of its former authority…