You ever wonder what Tom would be like if he were black?

[JLawson]

The woes of the USPS as well as the advantages and disadvantages of privatizing the service have long been the source of debate and will remain so for quite some time.  In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of this debate is simply that our preferred means of communication has changed so dramatically due to technology.

Taking full advantage of the Internet, paperless technologies (Adobe PDF, etc.), and encryption have enabled banks, insurance companies, corporations, and government agencies to fundamentally change forever the manner in which they conduct business.  We are asked to go "paperless" at every turn.  Printed books, newspapers, and magazines are disappearing at an amazing pace.  Children in many schools are given laptops instead of textbooks.  Millions of emails are generated daily for both personal and business purposes.  Human events are captured and posted to YouTube and Facebook for the world to see.  Our lives are enriched by digital media in ways that were unimaginable only a few years ago... and this trend is not slowing down.

The notion that we must spend billions of dollars to save an institution that is desperately trying to provide services that fewer people want just doesn't make sense.  If the USPS can evolve to meet the digital needs of our nation then fine... if they can't then we must consider the economic implications of subsidizing a dying industry.

[tombogan03884]

With all his easily disproved blather FQ got one thing right, in the late 1700's when Franklin set up the Constitutionally mandated Postal service, it was indeed a matter of National Security, it's way stations assured timely transmission of Government and business information .
As for public sector unions, they pose a conflict of interest with out actually serving the needs of the workers.

[fightingquaker13]

With all his easily disproved blather FQ got one thing right, in the late 1700's when Franklin set up the Constitutionally mandated Postal service, it was indeed a matter of National Security, it's way stations assured timely transmission of Government and business information .
As for public sector unions, they pose a conflict of interest with out actually serving the needs of the workers.

I'm an analog guy in a digital world Tom. Maybe I made a mistake watching "Revolution". Maybe I'm just an old fart who touched his first computer in college. Whatever the cause, I like ink on paper. Screw Ebooks, I'll either buy them or check them out of my library (and for the record, how many members have library cards? I'll post on a seperate thread, so don't answer here). The point is, having that infrastructure to move paper and goods from point A to point B is priceless, and once its gone, its gone forever, just like our industrial base. People said we can buy steel, and house  hold goods, and ball bearings and auto parts from overseas cheaper. They were right. But what happens if those overseas sources dry up tommorow (quoting my OP, because we can't pay the f....k light bill?), then what? How easy is it going to be to recreate that infra-structure of trained machinists and electricians and all the rest of it? Buying cheap is great, but there is always a down range cost. To me, the USPS is a line in the sand. We will not privatize, internationalize and out source what was one of our flagship achievements. It looks good on paper today, but when the SHTF tommorow, who will think it was a good idea?
FQ13

[Timothy]

I bet you have "The Postman" on the shelf somewhere, don't you?  Maybe the movie?

[fightingquaker13]

I bet you have "The Postman" on the shelf somewhere, don't you?  Maybe the movie?

The book yeah, the movie? I did say I was an analog, ink on paper guy right? Kevin Costner made two good movies, and that wasn't one of them. I'll pass.
FQ13

[Sponsor]

[Timothy]

The book yeah, the movie? Kevin Costner made two good movies, and that wasn't one of them.
FQ13

Were they both baseball movies?

I still like Bull Durham...

 

[fightingquaker13]

Ok, three good movies. I was thinking of "No Way Out" and "13 Days in September", but "Bull Durham", that  was a good one.
FQ13

[santahog]

Guys, I loathe (especially public sector) labor unions. It's publicly paid extortion.
If you can make the case for privatizing the Post Office, you can make the same argument for the military.
I'm not prepared to question the wisdom of what they saw fit to include in Constitution. Kick the plug out of the wall and the mail will still run, eventually. The Chinese buy Fedex and what do you have? Security?
Hugo Chavez and the Saudis sell us our gasoline. How is that working for us? Russia sells Europe their heat. It's the same principle. Bad idea..
I'm sorry, but it's in the Constitution for a reason..

Talk about learning lessons for B movies.. Remember Battlestar Galactica? Everything was wired. No analogue/non-network communications.. I'm not suggesting cyborgs or zombies, but think about it..
I know it sounds like a stupid comparison, but a real version of that could play out today.. Kinda the same reason we have to guard our emotions here, to some degree, lest the Secret Service pay us a visit.. You don't need a warrant to search email. Reading paper isn't done by some computer at the NSA. You (still) have to show cause to open it. (I know the OSS and all, but you get my drift here..)
We need the Post Office..

[fightingquaker13]

+100 Santa!
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

I'm an analog guy in a digital world Tom. Maybe I made a mistake watching "Revolution". Maybe I'm just an old fart who touched his first computer in college. Whatever the cause, I like ink on paper. Screw Ebooks, I'll either buy them or check them out of my library (and for the record, how many members have library cards? I'll post on a seperate thread, so don't answer here). The point is, having that infrastructure to move paper and goods from point A to point B is priceless, and once its gone, its gone forever, just like our industrial base. People said we can buy steel, and house  hold goods, and ball bearings and auto parts from overseas cheaper. They were right. But what happens if those overseas sources dry up tommorow (quoting my OP, because we can't pay the f....k light bill?), then what? How easy is it going to be to recreate that infra-structure of trained machinists and electricians and all the rest of it? Buying cheap is great, but there is always a down range cost. To me, the USPS is a line in the sand. We will not privatize, internationalize and out source what was one of our flagship achievements. It looks good on paper today, but when the SHTF tommorow, who will think it was a good idea?
FQ13

Sounds great FQ, except that the Govt postal system will be one of the first to collapse since it is so dependent on automated sorting, air transport and all those little vans, cut off the gas or electricity and it dies instantly and we're back to trying to work up to the pony express.
In fact, kill the electric grid and we instantly go back to having no communications beyond yelling distance, we would be technologically behind the Sumerians and Aztecs since they had established systems of runners.