Following George's recommendation below. I looked up Amazon reviews of "TheFuture and Its Enemies" finding this tidbit to share...
Virginia Postrel is, of course, the editor of Reason magazine, which was at one time a libertarian magazine but in the past 15 years has drifted into the Forbes Magazine camp and out of libertarianism altogether (defending,among other things, the Gulf War, NAFTA, and forced dosing of the public with the toxic drug fluoride through the water supply, all of which would beanathema to genuine libertarians). Unfortunately because of her magazine'spast libertarian credentials, this book is taken seriously and has had a poisonous effect in those circles, steering them in directions which will lead to a totalitarian Big Brother society run amok if followed to their logical ends. Thus does libertarianism become its polar opposite.
Most here will not agree with this, but so far I have found both attitudes very prevalent:
1.. I am a libertarian, I want freedom, I want to explore and embrace andaccelerate the future that I want.
2.. Once I have found it, it is only natural and right that it should be imposed on everybody, and we will find ways to take care of those who will not come along. We are people of insight, integrity and good will.
Please take it as just a reflection from a newbie.
John
----- Original Message -----
From: george_p_dvorsky
To: wta-talk@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2002 11:20 PM
Subject: [wta-talk] Postrel: The Future & its Enemies
I am currently reading Virginia Postrel's book, The Future and its
Enemies: The Growing Conflict over Creativity, Enterprise, and
Progress" (1998). Although I'm only two chapters deep, I can
confidently say that this is a must read for Transhumanists.
George Dvorsky
Received on Thu Oct 17 05:49:56 2002
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