An Alarmist View of the USPS

I have had several events dealing with the United States Postal Service in the past view months. This gives me pause as I wonder how this same issue will affect Mail-In Ballots for the November 5th Presidential election?

Let's discuss the recent events first. As you know I believe everything that happens to us is through design. How we drive, what we see and hear, even where we go has in some sense been designed by man and his attempts to manipulate nature.

I related earlier about a box of books I sent to my daughter in Memphis.  The box arrived, the books didn't. It was only after trying to duplicate the lost shipment I was told they were insured and she could file a claim for them. NOWHERE on the "I'm sorry" label she received did it say that. Let's say that is lack of design. We can get the box there but not the contents! Another time I received back the packaging I mailed sans item. 

Then letters from Memphis which took 2-3 days to get here, took 10 days, then 12 days, then 17 days.  The latest letter didn't arrive at all. There is clearly a pattern here. 

Then finally a letter, actually a bill, mailed to me this month from Rancho Mirage, CA, 8.3 miles away, a 15-20 minute drive from Palm Springs, CA took 12 days to get here. TWELVE DAYS! Even the Pony Express in 1849 was faster from St. Louis!

Tossed mail

The USPS used to be one of our proudest and sacred institutions. Stealing mail was a first class crime!
Founded in 1750, before our Republic, even our Revolution, its first Postmaster was Benjamin Franklin, headquartered in Philadelphia. It continued to evolve, until 1792, into a Federal institution. It reached over 750,000 employees before the Internet gutted its revenue. Now it's the home of catalogs (a 100 a month) and junk mail pleas for money 0over 200 a month) at, I might add, very cheap rates. We pay over 70 cents a first class letter while they pay 10¢. No wonder they lose money.

Trump Appointed DeJoy in 2020

The current Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy, a Trump appointee with a tenure of 10 years, has made no qualms about his intention to:

1. Privatize the Post Office. If he had his way it would go to UPS or FedEx. Stock options?

2. Do everything in his power to cripple the post office.

 We saw some of his efforts in 2020 where processing centers were closed, equipment mothballed, even collection boxes removed to make it harder to just send mail. Then bags stuffed with mail-in ballots were found hidden in corners, hidden in trucks, even dumped in gullies outside of town.

If they experimented with this in 2020, imagine what they can do now? In California EVERY registered voter will get a mail-in ballot. We can mail it in (probably not a good idea this year), take to secure boxes scattered around the city or, take in to humans in voting polling places, open three days BEFORE the formal election day. Unfortunately the poor folks of Georgia are not so lucky. It is even a crime there to give a person water as they stand in long lines because of limited polling places.

I believe that if there's a national election for President, Senator or Congressman (woman), ALL states must follow the same rules  If states want to manage their own banana republic style elections for state offices, fine. Federal office elections should hew to the same standards in EVERY state.

What every Republican election denier doesn't seem to realize, is,  their candidates were on the same ballot as Donald Trump and if they won their seat on that ballot and Trump didn't, where is the fraud? Think about it. If they won how could there be fraud? No court in this land has found any evidence of fraud. Unlike more than a few elections in our past, 2020 was probably the most honest election in our history.

Avoid your ballot looking like this!

So, prepare yourself Democrats and Republicans. Your vote will be the most watched than in anytime in our history. Make sure YOUR vote is counted!

Thank you for reading my blog. I invite you to take the time to read earlier blogs where my emphasis is to explore the ways art and design affects our daily lives ... and always has. I share with you what inspires me with the hope that it will inspire you as well. Comments are always welcomed! 

Be sure to check my ETSY store ... KrugsStudio.etsy.com. I am adding many new and exciting, collectible birdhouses and craft items. Many of the items talked about here will be for sale there!