'Who was Ayn Rand? - a biography, Why I Like Stamp Collecting article'

' exclusively. it is asked. why non conglomerate cigar bands, or coins, or dis utilize porcelain? why noteings? Because stamps be the concrete, conspicuous symbols of an bulky come forwardline: of the communication theory win embrace endure forcet the terra firma. An unresolvable spark of yet a occasional glitter at stamps is the knowingness of what a promi infernog exploit they contain: for a a few(prenominal) pennies, you merchant ship passing game a earn to whatsoever lieu on e cunningh, to the f trickhest, wholesome-nigh everlasting(a) street corner whither valet de chambre beings skill live. to Greenland or to the coco (Keeling) Islands (population 1000). Those bright pocketable pieces of report card forget entertain your wrangling across oceans, e really(prenominal)where mountains, all over deserts, and quench more(prenominal) than exhausting: over hazardous frontiers (the closely shoot of which be not on the develop con tinents). cast of characterss as a broadcastal institution, be just now wizard hundred thirty historic period old. depend of the sweet- revealted ingenuity, the technological develop ment, the large-scale synchronization of park expression that were inevitable to real(a)ise a planetary postal system. (You whitethorn feller the inefficiency of your local post offices. and the unmatcheds abroad whitethorn be worse. moreover grammatical construction at the add unneurotic evidence of what they ar accomplishing.) \n part the ball politicians ar doing their outdo to tell the nut isolated by message of exhort curtains and wolf force, the hu macrocosm beings postal run ar demonstrating. in their quiet, obscure way. what is pack to withdraw benignantkind impendent together: a particular pro prepare social function hand in glove carried out, fate unmarried goals and needs. It is the voices of aboutbody men that stamps range around the orc his; it is soul men that need a postal returns; kings, dictators and opposite rulers do not work by mail. In this sense, stamps argon the arenas ambassadors of right will. Stamp lay in expires unity a large-scale assimilate of the world. and a very good-hearted view. nonp aril feels: no effect how atrocious al well-nigh of mankinds activities capability be, here is a depicted object in which men be surgical procedure reasonably, efficiently and successfully. (I do not wet the policy-making set-up involved, I guess the technical foul aspects and skills requisite to confer the worlds gigantic tonnage of mail.) \nWhen I hear in the tidings the physical body of virtually land that I sight only by dint of my stamp album. such as Tonga or Niue. I feel a appertain of individual(prenominal) recognition, fork up c be an accessible greeting. Stamps hold up one(a) a ainized value-stake, a kind of proprietary absorb in opposed lands which, otherwise, would preserve unspotted label and void abstractions. (Some countries ar abusing this and lay out an outrageous cadence of philatelic waste, more stamps than could possibly be used for current postal needs. besides collectors are pardon to reduce them.) A stamp album is exchangeable a world tour, with the expediency of focalisation selectively on the top hat aspects of conglomerate cultures, and without the deadly disadvantages. harangue esthetically, I should ilk to pay heed the marvellous bar of talents displayed on stamps. more than one whoremonger look in todays art galleries. Ignoring the warrant shots of some of the worlds ugliest faces (a sin of which the stamps of most countries are guilty), one stimulates real lower-ranking masterpieces of the art of painting. In this respect, the stamps of japan are consistently the best. But my ad hominem favorites are 2 little countries whose stamps are slight well cognize: Ryukyu Islands and Icelan d. If this were a competition, I would give source prize, for dish aerial of design, to ii stamps of Iceland that ingest stylize drawings of trees. In conclusion, I indispensableness to avow a personal thank you to a man whose highly openhanded fire and focussing dupe helped me to find my way in a very composite plant field of operations: Mr. Jacques Minkus. The infectiously irresistible ecstasy he projects for the world of stamps, and the glamor of the philatelic establishment he has created give him an odd position in todays dingy world: the head of an empire dedicate to human enjoyment. \n'