You've got mail

Considering the extraordinary volume of mail that the post office handles each day it is nothing short of a miracle that most of it gets where it should go and generally on a timely basis. But recent experience suggests that something may have changed in a service that has until recently been apolitical and above reproach. The first incident concerned a letter I sent to a business in Canada. Due to its importance I paid $20. to send it by registered mail expecting no more than 7 days for it to reach its destination. As of this day, over 27 days later it is still in process.

Now given the tension that exists between the US and Canada, one might suspect anything transiting the borders would be subject to extra scrutiny--although that begets the question why after hundreds of years of largely friendly --and sometimes more than neighborly relations we find ourselves estranged? Well we all know why--because our leadership declared Canada a target for a form of colonial appropriation. How would we as a nation regard such a declaration, even if proffered on benign terms? It is of course only one of several sovereign nations which our government has declared targets of opportunistic takeover--without equating our behavior with Russia's undeclared war on the Ukraine and China's ambitions for Taiwan. Who would think in this day we would see the kind of might is right, covetous ambitions we fought against in two world wars and countless other declared and undeclared military adventures?

But I digress. Back to the subject at hand--the mail. And at this juncture, one might well ask how did a conversation about mail become a political discourse? To be clear, I did not make it political, our government did. How? By violating more than one principle we once held sacred. You see, the mail is one of those things that despite wars and cataclysmic natural events has functioned --without regard for the hostilities, delayed but generally held as one of the international agreements that should withstand incursion by governments--notwithstanding censorship and spying. But in the age of instant communication and transaction the relevance of the mail has fallen prey to the same disintermediation that afflicts so many other once critical institutions. It is now being targeted by the administration as a source of vote manipulation and we will likely see yet another executive order banning voting by mail added to gerrymandering as the favored instruments of voter suppression.

My second run in with the US Postal system occurred this week. A package meant for me was not delivered. I was notified by tracking information that it was to be delivered, and on the appointed date waited with anticipation. The postman came and went--no package. To be crystal clear, I was home all day, my office overlooks the front door where packages are left, and our faithful guard dog, Lewis, who has a growling relationship with our mail carrier alerted me only once to his arrival. Nevertheless the Post Office has declared the package delivered and even notes a time. Yet that time has no relationship to when the mail was actually delivered that day and our postman has no recollection of having delivered a package that day.

I dutifully requested a search for my missing package and within 2 days was told it was delivered. In response I requested that the search continue, though I have little reason to believe the package will ever turn up. Now here is the thing. UPS, FedEx, and other services all provide proof of delivery--a picture, a GPS barcoded computer entry, something tangible. Not the PO. We are meant to take their word for it and there is no appeal unless the package was insured. To whom do I turn? The sender? They did their job. So, I am left in that no man's land without appeal and my only recourse is to ask that the charges related to my purchase be credited as I did not receive the merchandise.

Is this a breakdown of government? In simple terms, yes. Now I am not laying entire blame on the USPS. Their financial woes have been well documented and we have all seen the cost of postage routinely rise. But the lack of basic tools and clear responsibility for doing the job they are paid to do lies with the government, a government which I am quick to point out has been largely critical of the service and along with schools, and almost any other institution our tax dollars are meant to support, wishes to see it privatized. How better to make this case than to tie the hands of managers, create policies that result in delay and obstruct delivery, and allow the system to fail. Just another example of progress toward our nation's vaunted greatness.

It seems rain, snow, sleet or hail may not keep our mail from reaching its destination--that is only mother nature. But we never reckoned on a government so bent on converting every function and institution in our society to a pay as you go opportunity, converting us into ATMs for the oligarchy.

Some may regard this as a screed--a howling into the wind over two seemingly unrelated events that have nothing to do with government intervention. Or perhaps you think me over reaching for something to write about. So be it. Drop me a note if you feel I've overreached--I'm sure it will get here some day.