[avra]

> This elderly woman, looked to be in her 70s, might lose the roof over her head, due to being unable to log into her Google account, because she lost her old phone and with it, her phone number.

I think the real issue is outside of Google's reach. You shouldn't have to lose the roof over your head just because you don't have access to your emails. Sure, it sucks that Google doesn't care if these people lose their access to Gmail. But I don't see how Google has a greater responsibility than the state/government in this.

[hermannj314]

We don't want to address the real issue that a democratic government of 350 million people is slow and ineffective, so we demand that private industry make up for the failings of our government.

I dont think it is unreasonable for the 22 trillion dollar a year, 250 year old institution of the US government to solve the problem of why it is denying welfare to its own citizens.

Or maybe the US government monopoly should be broken up into smaller governments to foster a spirit of competition in the marketplace if it can't meet the needs of its customers.

[EricE]

>Or maybe the US government monopoly should be broken up into smaller governments

You mean state/local governments? Federalism? It's how the country started by as each decade passes we willingly cede more and more and more control to the horror of a central government our founders were set on avoiding. It's been nice to see some recent trends back towards states rights and downsizing the federal government - I hope for all of our sake the movement picks up steam.

[eli]

I agree that social services should be administered in a way that helps people succeed instead of constructing barriers to benefits...

But is your position really that losing access to your email isn't a big deal with real-world consequences? Forget government services, nearly everything you do online requires access to an email address.