- Virginia Postrel
Virginia I. Postrel (born
14 January 1960 ) is an American political and culturalwriter of broadlylibertarian , orclassical liberal , views. She is best known for her twonon-fiction books, "The Future and Its Enemies " and "The Substance of Style ". In the former she explains her philosophy, "dynamism ," a forward-looking and change-seekingphilosophy which generally favors unregulated organization through "spontaneous order ". She contrasts it with "stasis ," a philosophy favoring top-down control andregulation and a desire to maintain the present state of affairs.Virginia Postrel was editor of "Reason" from
July 1989 toJanuary 2000 , and remained on the masthead as editor-at-large through2001 . Prior to that, she was a reporter for "Inc." and "The Wall Street Journal ". She currently serves on the Board of Directors of theFoundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE). From 2000 to 2006, she wrote an economics column for "The New York Times ". She also appeared on the last episode of the third season of Penn and Teller's "Bullshit! ".Postrel writes the monthly column "Commerce & Culture" for "The Atlantic".
A proponent of lifting bans on payment for
organ donation , Postrel recently donated a kidney to an acquaintance of hers namedSally Satel . SeeList of notable organ transplant donors and recipients and [http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2006/11/postrel_on_styl.html Econtalk podcast where Postrel discusses donation] .Diagnosed with breast cancer
On
September 20 ,2007 , Postrel wrote on her blog, "I havebreast cancer and startchemotherapy next Friday. Despite an aggressive type of cancer, my prognosis is good, thanks largely to themonoclonal antibody drugHerceptin . The research behind my specific regimen is described [http://www.uclahealth.org/body.cfm?id=122&action=detail&ref=322 here] . Yet another reason I'm extraordinarily happy to be back in L.A." [http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/archives/002629.html]On
February 5 ,2008 , Postrel wrote on her blog, "I had my final chemo round a week ago yesterday. The Herceptin regimen takes a year, with a dose every three weeks, but it doesn't knock me out the way the chemo does. Now I have to see lots of doctors to figure out the next step, which is most likely more surgery. As today's WaPost reports, a lot of women in my position opt for a double mastectomy, even though the evidence suggests that such extreme measures aren't necessary to save your life. What the article doesn't say is that surgeons--or at least my (female) surgeon--recommend the double procedure to avoid future paranoia. It's not always the patient's idea and, regardless of the surgeon's preference, it's culturally easier to go all-in (or all out) than to be cautious about surgery." [http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/archives/002717.html]Bibliography
* "The Future and Its Enemies: The Growing Conflict Over Creativity, Enterprise, and Progress", Free Press, (
December 1 ,1998 ) (ISBN 0-684-86269-7)
* "The Substance of Style: How the Rise of Aesthetic Value Is Remaking Commerce, Culture, and Consciousness", HarperCollins,September 2003 (ISBN 0-06-018632-1)External links
* [http://www.dynamist.com/ Postrel's website]
* [http://www.dynamist.com/weblog/index.html Dynamist Blog]
* [http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2006/11/postrel_on_styl.html Podcast featuring Postrel] Postrel discusses style onEconTalk .
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.