Virginia's Newsletter

Virginia's Newsletter

Share this post

Virginia's Newsletter
Virginia's Newsletter
Answer Time: Can We Imagine Pluralistic Futures?

Answer Time: Can We Imagine Pluralistic Futures?

A feature for paying subscribers.

Virginia Postrel's avatar
Virginia Postrel
Dec 19, 2024
∙ Paid
6

Share this post

Virginia's Newsletter
Virginia's Newsletter
Answer Time: Can We Imagine Pluralistic Futures?
Share

For some reason I thought there weren’t any questions this week, which is why this answer is a bit late. But here’s a good, tough one from Michael Megalli:

Hi Virginia, very much enjoyed your WIP piece about the future's glamorous past and was intrigued by your closing thought that the future has become pluralistic. It follows that if value is subjective than why shouldn't the future be as well? So the question then becomes how do we organize to move towards such a future without devolving into endlessly fighting about where we're heading and how to get there? The phyles of Neal Stephenson's Diamond Age may offer clues (though I think most of those like nation-states were primarily oriented around ethnic groupings). Are there other models that you imagine emerging? What about Brink Lindsey's notion of a hybrid approach that combines autonomous communities while still maintaining a bureaucratic superstructure?

This post is for paid subscribers

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Virginia Postrel
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share