tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post8980584133479698709..comments2024-02-10T12:12:06.028+00:00Comments on The Real Blog: Post offices: only connectDavid Boylehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11410159311875228620noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-27444088317216883522008-02-19T17:56:00.000+00:002008-02-19T17:56:00.000+00:00I too have puzzled over why so many people don’t s...I too have puzzled over why so many people don’t seem to ‘get it’. The awareness of the connected deep structure of society just doesn’t seem to be there and everything flows from that. <BR/><BR/>An analogy I have used to help myself think through this is just how impossible any meaningful understanding of chemistry would be without first understanding the nature and properties of the various elements – the deep structure. Without this, one would be reduced to merely commenting on apparently random phenomena. So it is with Post Offices and the rest. <BR/><BR/>My tentative conclusion is that it’s down to a longstanding failure of leadership in the top echelons of the ‘Liberal Tendency’ (and especially therefore the Lib Dems) to expose the deep structure and make the case. <BR/><BR/>This is very strange because what has been neglected is all classic Liberal stuff – people, power, influence etc. We need to rediscover this territory fast or we’re just spitting into the wind. <BR/><BR/>Incidentally I very much agree that you’re heading in the right direction in your final paragraph. A question I often ask myself is “Why should we make the World safer and cosier for big corporations at the expense of everyone else?” to which, of course, there is no good answer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-25602382266242344092008-02-18T10:49:00.000+00:002008-02-18T10:49:00.000+00:00This is the research I was talking about (it's rea...This is the research I was talking about (it's really about Manchester):<BR/><BR/>http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/z_sys_PublicationDetail.aspx?pid=235David Boylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11410159311875228620noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4169740113013066976.post-87499227306721069402008-02-18T10:00:00.000+00:002008-02-18T10:00:00.000+00:00Do you have a link to that research, as it sounds ...Do you have a link to that research, as it sounds very useful.<BR/><BR/>I find this a difficult subject to grasp, as I rarely use Post Offices. (Certainly, I don't use them for posting mail.) Thus I don't have the direct experience to fully understand why others place such value on them.<BR/><BR/>From talking to pensioners, some of the utility they gain from Post Offices is as a de facto Social Club; the process of collecting their pensions provides an opportunity to meet and chat with their friends.<BR/><BR/>As an aside, the following are all activities for which I have at some point in my life used the Post Office, and my current method of doing the same act:<BR/><BR/>- Getting Proof of Posting for an Open University Assignment. (Now sent online)<BR/>- Tax Disc for Car (Now done online, with computer check of insurance and MOT)<BR/>- Buying stamps (Now bought in any newsagent, or printed using Smartstamps)<BR/>- Sending a Parcel (Now done more cheaply using FedEx pickup or Mailboxes Etc. franchise store)<BR/>- Buying a Postal Order (Now I'd use Paypal or a debit/credit card)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com