Virginia Postrel
Virginia Postrel
Virginia Inman Postrelis an American political and cultural writer of broadly libertarian, or classical liberal, views...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth14 January 1960
CountryUnited States of America
best depend letting others people rising specialize standards trade whether
Rising living standards - whether in a village, a region, a nation, or the world - depend first on specialization: on letting people concentrate on what they do best and trade with others who specialize in other things.
age audience cinema create emotional function golden good graphic medium print serve whether
Cinema isn't just a good medium for translating graphic novels. It's specifically a good medium for superheroes. On a fundamental, emotional level, superheroes, whether in print or on film, serve the same function for their audience as Golden Age movie stars did for theirs: they create glamour.
against few housing individual jeans mass philistine reflect sources taste whether
A world of few choices, whether in jeans or mates, is a world in which individual differences become sources of alienation, unhappiness, even self-loathing. If no jeans fit, you'll feel uncomfortable or inferior. If no housing developments reflect your taste for unique architecture, you'll write screeds against philistine mass culture.
companies crummy dump lousy viewers whether
Viewers don't care how big media companies are. They care whether they can dump those they don't like, whether because of lousy service or because of crummy shows.
central depends drives gather knowledge progress sort surprise
Surprise drives progress because innovation depends on the sort of knowledge no one can gather in a central place.
makers policy science scientists studying worried
Even before Sputnik, scientists and policy makers worried that not enough Americans were studying science.
children freaks less tube
Like the 'test tube babies' born of in vitro fertilization, cloned children need not be identifiable, much less freaks or outcasts.
cuts human including indeed
Habituation is indeed a fact of human psychology. That's one reason we like novelty, including different cuts of jeans.
became life radically ubiquitous urban
Before it became a ubiquitous part of urban life, Starbucks was, in most American cities, a radically new idea.
cannot offer science
Science is about exploring the unknown and cannot offer guarantees.
approaches government medication patient reasonable singapore sound states threaten tolerant united until
The United States government approaches patient choice in medication as Singapore does free speech: its pronouncements sound reasonable and tolerant until you threaten its prerogatives.
art complex dare episodes evolving existence great hollywood joy mere pathos playful produce proves stories terrible themes wrong
The mere existence of 'Buffy' proves the declinists wrong about one thing: Hollywood commercialism can produce great art. Complex and evolving characters. Playful language. Joy and sorrow, pathos and elation. Episodes that dare to be different - to tell stories in silence or in song. Big themes and terrible choices.
afford art best dying flourish free freedom grand life living opportunity room science supposed
Religion, art, and science flourish best in a free society. True, freedom does not afford much opportunity for grand gestures. It has little room for martyrs. But life is not supposed to be about dying well. It is about living well.
possess response
Glamour is not something you possess but something you perceive, not something you have but something you feel. It is a subjective response to a stimulus.