THE PRIVATIZATION OF EVERYTHING

[HowHasItComeToThis]

PERHAPS THEY COULD ELIMINATE THE JUNK MAIL FIRST.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

http://finance.yahoo.com/expert/article/economist/30830?count=30&start=66#dtk-cmtscnt

Privatize the Postal Service (for Starters)

by Charles Wheelan, Ph.D.
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Very Good (232 Ratings)
3.0344832/5

Posted on Tuesday, May 1, 2007, 12:00AM

The United States Postal Service has announced that the price of a First Class stamp will rise to 41 cents this month.

I don't have a problem with that. My complaint is much bigger. I don't understand why the post office still exists.

First-Class Incompetence

Forty-one cents to send a letter anywhere in the country doesn't strike me as extreme.

I'm much more bothered by the long lines at the post office, the clerks who snarl at me, and the letter carrier who brings me Greg Albion's mail about every third day.

Who is Greg Albion? And if I'm getting his mail every third day, who's getting mine?

Community-Building USPS Style

SNIP

[whistle]

1. None of that happens to me from USPS and $0.41 is certainly

...a big jump from $0.03 back in 1947. I can live with that and still keep the postal service as a public utility. I sure would not want the likes of a Rupert Murdock owning the US mail service.

[Cassandra]

2. I get along very well with the postal workers in my PO.

They are very nice to me, say hi by my name (and I may not remember theirs) and are happy to chat with me a bit about weight loss and Democratic politics. This is because I'm nice to them and treat them as the people they are. The people who get snarls are often the ones who arrive at the counter with attitude (or follow someone else with attitude).
It's not that I don't remember the days when they all seemed like lazy, snarling creeps but I remember that in those days, I walked into the PO expecting an argument (they also got a new manager, who sets a better tone).

[EstimatedProphet]

3. Is there a media blitz going on today?

within 5 minutes I have read stories about how the post office should be privatized and how the president is above the law. What's going on?

[Mendocino]

4. Some numbers on the USPS.

Bulk mailers pay for junk mail, not the consumer. Mailers know they are getting a great deal, advertising through the USPS, otherwise no one would ever get junk mail. It doesn't cost you money to get mail, only to send it. These days the average household spends about $70 a year to mail letters. So all the mail you get in a year costs you around $6 a month, or 20 cents a day. So someone drives to or in some cases walks to your house, 6 days a week, and brings you your mail for 20 cents. That is a deal.

A typical carrier delivers around 3500 pieces of mail a day with 99.5% accuracy, so 3483 pieces are delivered correctly, all while walking, driving, contending with extreme weather, and a constantly changing data base (forwards, holds, expired forwards, multiple names at one address etc.) I think few people could, for example type out 3500 words daily on a keyboard without making 17 typos. All while sitting in one place, indoors in comfort. People only really notice the mail when there is a problem, not the other 99 out of 100 times when there isn't.

I for one, prefer that one person, a career USPS employee, fairly compensated, deliver my mail. Privatization would lead to having several people with likely constant turnover, bringing the mail.(and how would having multiple carriers ever reduce costs?) I trust my letter carrier, I wouldn't want 5 or 6 people, hired at dirt wages with no bennies, knowing I'm away on vacation with an empty house.

The USPS may not be perfect, but it is the most efficient postal system in the world. Charles Whelan PHD should check out of his Ivory Tower and get his hands dirty. Or are his hands already dirty from counting money?