Your opinions please. Elderly 70 and over. Paper Bills and Paper Financial Statements | Page 5 | Your stories | Discussion forum

doug said

That's an illusory pipe dream. Not everyone is cut out for a PhD in mathematics and the sciences. Unless you're proposing universal basic income to sustain the populace to pursue creative endeavours, which I'd be in favour of, while automated robots, automation, and a handful of highly trained technicians and specialists sustain us, it won't work. It is, as I say, an illusory dream of the ivory tower economists and academic elite.

Cheers,
Doug  

An exaggeration of monumental proportions. There are hundreds of ways to reduce the need for unskilled/manual labour in a vast array of industries by simply applying more automation and technology resulting in even more productivity. This has little to do with advanced degrees and more to do with improving blue collar skills and where and how to engage improved blue collar skills.

Automating our ports like what is done in many countries around the world is one example. Factory building houses in a controlled environment rather than stick build is another example. Getting rid of letter carriers for more central distribution of mail is yet another.

Canada has been falling behind its OECD peers in GDP per capita growth by all measures, and especially so in the past 10 years. The only way to correct it is to substantially improve productivity (GDP output) per hour worked, and that means getting rid of inefficient old horse and carriage ways of doing things and embracing change.

Added later: There continues to be a major transition towards digital communications and digital payments and that transition has been accelerating the past 10 years, and especially since the 2020 covid pandemic. There is no stopping that freight train and when/as Canada adopts new financial payment systems and open banking in the next few years, that transition will continue. It behooves all of us to help get our senior elders introduced to at least basis digital solutions before they get left completely out in the cold.

Payments Canada and Moneris have research out that essentially say a total cashless society is unlikely. The links below are a worthy read on the trend.

https://www.moneris.com/en/about-moneris/news/canada-drop-in-cash-transactions-by-2030
https://www.payments.ca/canadians-report-love-hate-relationship-cash-reveals-new-payments-canada-study

Discussion in this thread of a cashless society is not in keeping with the thread subject of paper vs electronic delivery and communication, so maybe this discussion could continue in a new thread. However, the common element is the unstoppable trend to more digitization in almost everything we do.

North America, especially Canada and the USA is far behind much of the rest of the world, especially OECD countries in digitization (a similar study was done on global cheque writing and both Canada and USA were laggards).

AltaRed said
Payments Canada and Moneris have research out that essentially say a total cashless society is unlikely.

There is NO way to have cashless society.
How do you think all those 'no tax, cash deals' would be made?
And to have cashless society some kind of app has to be made. And do you think government would NOT have access to all your transactions???
Or cashless society will go back to barter to avoid nosy gov...

"but in reality, bike lanes interfere with vehicles that actually generate economic activity."

A lot of people use bikes to deliver meals, documents, packages, go to business/medical appointments, shopping, etc. Plus bikes are much more environmentally friendly than gas power vehicles.

I have both a car and a bike. When I use the bike I actually create more space on the road for the car zealots.

Some politicians like our Premier love cars because they generate tax revenue.

wrayzor:

Off topic, I know. So I'll contribute - I receive a mix of paper and electronic statements/bills. I do like receiving paper for bills to serve as a reminder to pay (not my only reminder). But not getting the paper during the postal strike(s) was no hardship. If paper went away, it wouldn't bother me. And no, I don't believe that taxpayers should be funding the mailing of private enterprise's bills and financial statements.

I found the mail strike a HUGE inconvenience in getting my billing and banking info! I spent quite literally HOURS on hold with outfits, and often had to have agents read lists of things I had to check! And, as is often the case, I found errors for them to correct. In one case, the delay cold not be rectified and cost me interest.

Here is a circular argument. If more current car drivers switch to riding bikes, then there would be more room for those car drivers who refuse or are unable to ride a bike.

If more care drivers switch to walking then there would be more room for those car drivers who refuse or are unable to ride a bike.

Why do so many cars have only one occupant? My neighbour takes his car everywhere, even a short trip to the local LBCO. I fear he will soon lose the ability to walk (the old "use it or lose it" theory).

savemoresaveoften said
... why should I help pay for a service I don't use ??  

Really? To me this typifies the kind of myopic thinking that makes these conversations either devolve or going into so many tangents; determining what is 'right' for others based on what is 'right' for us, some based on what 'offends' me or I dislike, emotion-based arguments, like climate change alarmism, ... often due to the lack of connecting ALL the dots, or using self-focused or narrow focused lenses.

There is no perfect solution... it is about balance and finding a reasonable solution to fit the situation and times.

HermanH said
If more drivers switch to bikes, then economic activity continues to be strangled by inefficient methods to move goods and services. Reducing the flow of traffic and restricting it to the fastest pace of the slowest commuting cyclist is economic suicide.

The selfish mindset is pretty typical of the cycling community. Strangling the economic prosperity of an entire city for the benefit of a few is a small price to pay for some.  

Very well said. If those who insists on more bike path and less car lanes can for once be less selfish and acknowledge it is 2025 and population have grown leaps and bounds esp in the GTA, cars and public transport are the main means of getting from point A to B, not a bicycle.
As to why cars are the main means of transportation, it is because this is Canada and it is a big piece of land ! Also we have potentially 6 months of snow covered roads, where are those cyclists ? Oh they are in a car or bus !

savemoresaveoften said

Very well said. If those who insists on more bike path and less car lanes can for once be less selfish and acknowledge it is 2025 and population have grown leaps and bounds esp in the GTA, cars and public transport are the main means of getting from point A to B, not a bicycle.
As to why cars are the main means of transportation, it is because this is Canada and it is a big piece of land ! Also we have potentially 6 months of snow covered roads, where are those cyclists ? Oh they are in a car or bus !  

Let's add bike lanes to the 4xx highways....