July 06, 2010

Postal Service Death Throes


So just heard that postage stamps are to go up AGAIN to 46 cents. So tell me, who corresponds via letter anymore? How many still pay bills by mail? I realize many of us receive bills by mail; but is that necessary? All I get in the mail any more are sale bills and credit card offers. Hell, people don't even get their welfare checks anymore they get it on their "benefits card". I have said it before and I will say it again. There is a reason we do not use the pony express: we have the telegraph. There is a reason we do not use the telegraph: Bell invented the telephone. There is a reason we more and more do not use land lines: motorola invented the cell phone. There is a reason we don't light our homes with kerosene: electricity. There is a reason that we don't do wagon trains: passenger trains. There is a reason the government subsidizes amtrac: planes and cars and unions. And there is a reason we keep dragging this dead carcass of a post office behind us: government type unionized jobs. It is not because it is efficient, profitable, well loved, or necessary. It is 18th century technology. Lets put it out of it's misery.



One last thing to think about, in my earliest memory of canned soda they cost 50 cents and a stamp was 22. A can of soda in a machine can still be found for 50 cents.




When I was in high school you could get a double cheese burger fries and a large drink at Mickey D's for $3.16 and a stamp was 28 cents. Two days ago I got a mcdouble small fries and large ice tea for $3.22; stamps cost 44 cents and soon to be 46.

Just something to think about.

UPDATE:  at least one other person agrees with us...http://ladydi-quickwit.blogspot.com/2010/07/post-offices-slow-and-inefficient.html

-Kook
via iPhone

Comments (4)

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In addition to the post office, can anyone explain why we have public schools, they don't work at all either, department of education, DMV, TSA, or even Homeland (in)security? All things, provided we have a means to send children to private schools, that wouldn't be missed or even noticed was missing. Ok, we would notice TSA missing, unless you're Muslim, because we wouldn't be unnecessarily being harrassed anymore.
Here in crack cocaine USA, a very popular use of food stamp cards is in exchange for drugs. People simply trade the cards for their drugs then claim they lost their cards and for the first 2 times in a year, they get their cards reimbursed, with their benefits restored. After that, they get new cards only. If I were a betting type, I'd bet that more food stamp benefits go initially to drugs like crack or heroin or meth and then to food than not.
2 replies · active 769 weeks ago
I can unequivcocally tell you that a higher % of food stamp cash is spent of frozen and pre-packaged convenience foods than not. I can tell you I have seen, and lil cousin has seen lots and lots, of energy drinks and candy purchased with food stamps.

When I was a little kid My G-ma dealt a lot with folks on food stamps, I remember her talking about people buying cars with the original paper ones.
But my favorite is from when I worked as a butcher in high school; had a woman buy 2 lbs of bologna in thick slices and then chunked every week or so. I commented one time that she sure ate a lot of bologna, and she said "I can't stand the stuff, but food stamps wont pay for cat food"... I kid you not.
They changed from paper stamps to credit type cards to prevent fraud. In doing so, they made fraud easier. Food stamps can be used for medication. With the rise of "pill mills" practically anyone can use them to buy narcotics. While food stamps can't buy cat food, is bologna any better? I have a cat that has a "taste" for raw meat. It won't touch bologna. That should tell you something.

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