We all know that our beloved U.S. Postal Service has one foot in the grave and the other on a BP oil spill, slowly being sucked into yet another black hole created by technology.
And, according to CNN Money: The troubles at the Postal Service have been chronic. Back in 2002, President George W. Bush appointed a commission to study the USPS and recommend reforms. The commission did not recommend privatization, but four years later, Congress passed the biggest changes to the USPS in three decades with legislation that capped postage-rate increases at the rate of inflation and called for the Postal Service to cut its infrastructure. This was before the recession hit, though, and the downturn has only accelerated the changes that need to happen.
Okay, that ain't gonna work (not that I'd trust anything being "privatized" these inept greedy days) and we are now faced with the very real dilemma of an American institution going belly-up for the first time in the more than two centuries since Benjamin Franklin was appointed our first Postmaster General in 1775.
Well, the solution is obvious, isn't it? Bring back the old Pony Express and be done with it. It's not as silly as it may sound. Consider the following natural order of what will follow:
- Enormous new job opportunities ~ all those riders going off in S0 many directions, now THAT'S job creation! Not to mention all those new dirt roads that will have to replace our crumbling 'infrastructure.'
- A plethora of new businesses ~ diners, pubs, boarding houses, stables for the horses, etc. = jobs. The list is endless.
- Economically and ecologically terrific ~ no oil, less pollution, and horse manure is good for growing crops, so it's a win-win...waste not, want not!
- And, best of all, we'd be saving a magnificent animal from being destroyed because they are "no longer relevant" (except for uber-congested New York City's tacky 18th Century 'carriage rides' and the very latest unspeakable idea, being served up as dinner. "HORSE MEAT: IT'S WHAT'S FOR DINNER!" Not in my home, thank you very much.)
- Oh, and then there's also the animal lovers ~ we get to pet and give treats to our sweet four-legged postal worker on a regular basis.
