Today, Los Angeles Times columnist David Lazurus makes a well-intentioned effort to come face to face with people working in the junk mail industry, to hear about how the economy is effecting them, and to consider whether or not he can have a sliver of sympathy for the culprits behind one of the most annoying and wasteful facets of modern life.
Nope—he still thinks junk mail sucks:
On one side of the building, a group of about a dozen women were hand-stuffing envelopes with brochures for a high-end clothing company. On the other side, a machine was stuffing envelopes with pitches for one of those sneaky “mortgage protection” firms that try to look like they’re a government agency. A huge stack of brochures for a cruise-ship line stood nearby awaiting processing.
It was the junk mail heart of darkness.
It’s a great article, but we particularly enjoyed the part bolded above. As my colleague Corinne mentioned this morning, the U.S. Postal Service’s heavy subsidies for junk mail virtually guarantee that Americans receive a large quantity of highly misleading offers regarding our homes and finances.
This system is not an innocent bystander in the economic collapse of this country. In fact, it’s yet another example of a bloated system designed to benefit a very small number of people while doing nothing or worse for the rest of us.
Oh—and vote in the poll!
