The Young Turks recently did a video on how to save the US Post Office. If you don’t already know, the post office is losing a ton of money, and has been for quite some time. Many have discussed the possibility of privatizing the post office. Until very recently, I also believed the Post Office ought to be privatized. I later read an article in a magazine (it was a “green” hippie-type magazine, I forget the title) on how on other countries keep their post-office going: by adding a service to the post office: small, short-term loans. This loan service subsidizes the cost of delivering mail, and it has the added bonus of being a better option for low-income households who would otherwise go to a payday loan place. Pay-day loan places suck. They charge around 250% interest annually (sometimes more). If you ever feel tempted to get one of those loans: don’t. You are selling your soul to the devil and it will be all but impossible to get free. If you need money: apply for a credit card, beg a relative or friend for a loan, overdraw your bank account, rob a bank, donate blood plasma, whatever. Just don’t go to a fucking pay day loan store.
Last but not least: if you feel tempted to privatize the post office, look at how much Fedex and UPS charge to deliver a letter: it’s around ten bucks at the smallest, and in some cases much more.
