Autonemesis

So what? Some things are best handled this way. There's nothing inherently bad about a government mandated monopoly. No one seems to mind that the military is a government mandated monopoly. Try setting up a competing military service, see how far you get.

Abacus

So I can send letters to my dear little grandmother.

Zar

Oh, heck, why not just privatize the whole government? Maybe have Ted Turner take the job of running the show, now that he's free.

Grad Student Humanist

Great point, KB, and it's what I always mention any time a conservative starts railing about abolishing the postal service and letting UPS do the job.

Let UPS first show that it can get my letter from here in Mississippi to Hawaii or Maine for less than 37 cents and then we can talk.

Krieger

If we ran the government like we run business there would not even be elections!

Autonemesis

Forget that. The rates I quoted were for Zip Code 90069 to 90027, or about 5 miles as the crow flies. Let's see if UPS can get a letter across town for 37 cents before we ask them to take it across country.

Loren Pechtel

Originally posted by elwoodblues
What the heck do we still need it for?

It's entirely possible (and cheaper) to pay bills through the internet. Many companies are already doing this.

I don't know about you, but I haven't sent but three or four actual letters since I got online. A postcard, a thank-you note, and a couple other things. The vast, vast majority of my communication is by email, phone, or fax.

95%+ of my non-bill mail is junk.

So, why do we still have this government-sanctioned monopoly?

Sorry this is short, I'll write more later; gotta get to class.

For the *MOST* part you're right. However, there are still plenty of non-technical people out there.

Also, I wouldn't say my mail comes anywhere near the 95% figure you give. There's magazines and there is the weekly ad pack from the local supermarkets. While it's an ad and part of it goes straight to the trash, the majority of it gets looked over.

On a personal level, I've sent a few letters to people I didn't have e-mail addresses for and I've received a couple of letters from those who aren't in the on-line community. Maybe 1/year, though.

Loren Pechtel

Originally posted by pz
Off the top of my head, because you aren't most people. Most people do most of their communication through quaint, old-fashioned media like mail.

For another, physical media are more easily verified. A cancelled check is pretty good evidence that you actually paid your phone bill, while an electronic transaction is invisible bits and vapor.

That electronic payment of the phone bill will result in a line on my bank statement listing the phone company as the recipient, though. A check won't.

There's *ONE* routine bill I don't have totally automated--the sewer. By prepaing a year at a time you get a nice discount.

For some things, the value is as much in the instantiation as in the idea. Try sending your sweetie a birthday gift by e-mail, for instance, instead of a box of chocolates, some flowers, or a tangible, hand-written love letter. You'll find out.

Those are packages, though--UPS, not USPS most likely. Only the letter will go by mail.

At the time I was writing such I never handwrote them, they were always typed. The thing is, back then her English left a lot to be desired and it was easier for her to read a typed letter. (I also triple-spaced it to allow space for her to translate it before reading.)

Besides, I guess I have an unusual sweetie. She wouldn't approve of a box of chocolates and is very opposed to flowers. (Flowers don't last. Does a love-gift of flowers say that the love won't last, either?)

theyeti

Absolutely. There are two major differences between a government run "monopoly" and a private one:

1. The voting public ultimately has control over a government run buisness.

2. The government run business is non-profit, or at least does not exist soley to maximize profits.

Given the profit motive and no accountability to the public, private monopolies will engage in price-gouging and service cuts, whereas a government run monopolies must satisfy the voters, and are run by people who are interested in something more than simply making a buck. This is a rather major distinction that libertarian types don't acknowledge when bitching about government "monopolies" (yet they don't seem to have a problem with private ones, go figure).

Of course this doesn't mean that I think that everything should be run by the government. There are however "natural monopolies" that either must be run by the government, or must be heavily regulated by the government. Common examples include water, sewer, the roads, and power lines. The postal service probably doesn't fit here, but it is one of those things that can be done more efficiently by the government rather than having dozens of smaller private companies duplicate the necessary infrastructure many times over.

There are other issues to consider as well, such as security. Would you feel safe if your mail was delievered by some tiny company that you never heard of, especially after the antrax scare?

I hardly see how things would be any different if the USPS was dismantled. Private companies would have to take up the slack, probably with even more waste. If you're saying that people should do their transactions online in order to prevent waste, then I agree, but they shouldn't be forced to just because there is no snail-mail alternative.

theyeti

Sakpo

Simply put, sometimes we still need or want words printed on real tangible paper. Moving these pieces of paper about is a necessity for a healthy United States. The USPS is by far the most effective way for most people to move their pieces of paper about.

Today I got a letter of reccomendation from an instructor of mine, which I needed so I could physically include it with an application to a university program. For various reasons I won't get into here he couldn't give it to me personally so he had to send it. Canada Post was by far the most cost efficient and practical way for this to be achieved. It happened in Canada but it could have occured in the United States just as easily.