I was at the post office the other day to get passports for the family. It turns out that they had a signup sheet with only 25 spots on it for the whole day. I got there 13 minutes after they opened and I was 21st on the list. I waited for 3 hours just to be able to hand in the paperwork. I didn't walk out with a passport, just handed them the paperwork.

And no, if you have a kid under 10 with you, you can't do it online. You have to show up in person with both parents.

Funny, we just did the same with our two kids. We called the post office and they encouraged us to make an appointment, which we did. We showed up on time, and waited less than 5 minutes. They walked us through completing the paperwork and had us out in minutes. A couple weeks later (yesterday) the passports arrived.

That's a better job than Comcast or Blue Cross ever did for me.

It's almost as if, the federal government is a vast machine with a few malfunctioning parts which doesn't mean its bad as a whole, over generalization of its specific shortcomings being unproductive. Its almost as if...we need to improve it instead of bitching about how we don't need it

Same, and the post office photographer even had a great technique for getting an infant to look at the camera and not smile.

The one is San Jose is even worse. You have to show up 2 hours before the Post Office opens to get a spot.

Lesser evil in comparison to having no healthcare for so many people who need it the most.

Just curious, have you ever heard of lodge practice?

It was a huge source of medical care for the poor and working class well into the early 1900 (serving ~1/3 of the population), but was strangled by the AMA and the centralization of unions: http://www.freenation.org/a/f12l3.html

I think it’s particuarly interesting because it was completely absent from all my previous education about medical systems. I only recently learned it existed, and it’s changed my views significantly. (I.e. I’m no longer of the opinion that switching to full government management is a good target, but rather, the government should stop propping up and providing corporate welfare to the systems which strangled mutual aid societies.)

No, I hadn't. Thank you for that.

Good to hear! Here’s also a fascinating news clipping from a 1910 issue of the New York Times. It really helps to get a feel for the rhetoric of the era, “Physician Condemns Practice for Lodges”: https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1910/11/06/105...

Meanwhile, the US has worse and far more expensive healthcare than all of those "socialist" European and Asian countries. But don't let the facts get in the way of your opinions.