Depreciating the United States Postal Service

Ben Franklin is given the credit of commissioning the first post office service in the colonies as part of the Second Continental Congress. In 1789 the U.S. Constitution empowered Congress " ... establish a post office and post roads". Years after that several competitors vied for the first class letter business only to run up against the monopoly protecting United States government. After a fierce battle with The American Letter Mail company, Congress passed a law prohibiting private citizens from carrying mail.

Today, the U.S. Post Office has less relevance, costs more and solicits tax dollars from the public coffers. It's time to open up the gates of competition and allow FedEx, UPS and anyone who wants to go into the letter carrying business to do so.

We also have a real opportunity to create a new industry. The Post Office has recently lobbied Congress to reduce the delivery days to 5 or 4 days a week. Congress should comply and allow private companies to bid on the other 2 or 3 days. I think that if this were done it could ultimately provide the kind of competitive service that is currently non-existent within the government monopoly.

I'm not against the U.S. Post Office. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a USPS hater, I just believe that it can be better. Free and open competition is always the road to better products and services. This is an opportunity to make a good thing better and we shouldn't pass it up.

You'll never silence the voice of the voiceless

The title of the blog is also the title of a song by Rage Against the Machine. It is a song written by Zack de la Rocha, the bands writer/vocalist, about the unjust imprisonment of Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal was convicted of killing a Philadelphia police officer. The case is controversial. But I don't think that Mumia is "voiceless". He had opportunity to represent himself during his trial and was convicted on the eye witness testimony of five witnesses. Since his conviction he has also written and published books.

Who are the true voiceless

I am an advocate of choice, because without choice there is no liberty. But when only one person gets choice and the other gets subjugated, that is the true oppression of the voiceless. Last year, in this country there were 38,639,842 abortions. Let's say for the sake of argument that 10 percent of those abortions were for life preservation - I am a firm believer of the right of self-defense. That still leaves close to a staggering 35 million unborn children killed. These are the true voiceless. Unborn men and women, who never got a chance to defend themselves, or even plead for their lives. These millions weren't sent to their deaths on the testimony of 5 but by the consent of one. Women, who will never be mothers and men who will never be fathers, so that someone would not be inconvenienced. If that seemed cold and harsh, well that is nothing compared to the way those millions were dispatched.

Who's to blame?

Ultimately, the guilt falls on the killer. But would such a thing be possible without the cultural attitudes that exalt selfish behavior over responsibility? Every time we promote the sensual or expedient over responsibility, we reinforce this destructive cultural attitude. "If it feel's good do it!" ignores the consequences of short-sighted actions.

What about zygote?

Is it a human being? Of course it is. Everybody knows it. In the pit of your selfish, self-centered heart, it's undeniable. It's always a baby  until you don't want to face the responsibility of your actions. Oh, it would interfere with my "career goals". The very idea that you might be the one responsible for someone's sole survival is maybe scary. But that is no excuse to deny your responsibility. The debate is a distraction and a justification for irresponsible living. Only humans seek to euthanize their own. Nature's model shows other creatures nurturing their young. Oh, sure, there are examples of animals eating their own for food, but killing for convenience? How do you justify the destruction of innocent life in this manner? You can't! So, you make up fables, and manufacture fake "scientific evidence" in the attempt to sooth your conscience.

The Consequences

The consequences are the denial of the value of individuals, their lives and rights to life. How can you be against the mass murder of war and not hate the mass murder of abortion? How can you voice your support for justice, when so many never get a chance to be heard? How can we voice our opposition to the cruel despots of other countries, when we deny the most basic of human rights to the most helpless in our society. You will never silence the voice of the voiceless.

"Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss ..." - The Who

Now that we have entered the age of Obama, one thing will change - we can now move past the race issue to more important issues. What other changes will Obama bring? Nothing much. Unlike some of my other libertarian and democrat friends, I will be very surprised if Obama does much different than McCain or Bush. Why would he? He made no promises outside of the obscure promise of "change" — and that could mean anything.

The War in Iraq

Obama, contrary to the proclamations of the so-called peace movement, made no promises to end the war. So far the only thing written in stone is Obama's statement about beginning a withdrawal in 2011. But that's a good 2 years away and anything can happen in that time. Previous Obama declarations are to bomb Pakistan. So much for our peace candidate.

The War on Drugs

Obama has made clear that although he thinks that it is counter productive to victimize medical patients prescribed Marijuana, he will continue with the expensive, failed policies of his predecessors.

Economy

Obama, like his mentor, G.W. Bush, is a Keynesian, so he will continue to try to spend us into prosperity. If billions of dollars in spending wouldn't help the U.S. economy, maybe trillions will?!

Epilogue

It's early, he's young, and maybe he will learn. I cross my fingers in hope.