The Limits of Association 99 



phenomena which are found in the association of 

 cells are paralleled by the phenomena of the 

 association of individuals. It is vital circulation 

 which forms societies, just as it forms biological 

 organisms. 



Within the human species vital circulation con- 

 sists in the exchange of services and takes on three 

 principal forms — the displacement of men, the 

 displacement of goods, and the transmission of 

 ideas. The displacement of men is illustrated by 

 the hundreds of thousands of tourists who go from 

 America to Europe each year, and by the migratory 

 labour which has become so striking a phenome- 

 non of modern industrial life. The displacement 

 of goods constitutes commerce. The transmission 

 of ideas may take place through material objects 

 (books, reviews, newspapers, letters), by means of 

 men (preachers, lecturers, professors, etc.), or by 

 means of electricity (telegraph, cable, telephone, 

 wireless) . 



The limits of association are determined by the 

 limits of interdependence, and these limits are 

 determined by the vital circulation. From the 

 point of view of concrete reality the whole world is 

 a unity in modern times and the entire human race 

 forms one social organism. The failure of the 

 wheat crop in India or floods in China raises the 

 cost of living all over the world. A scientific 

 discovery or a cure for disease made in the uni- 

 versities of Germany or Japan becomes available 

 almost instantly to the scientists of every nation. 



