“What’s next to disappear from our sidewalks and street-corners?”

it definantly wont be the whores.

I don’t know about anybody else but 25 letters a day seems like heaps to me. as its not likely that its only going to be 25 people posting 1 letter everyday but a hundred or more people posting a letter once a week.

Whats next to dissapear of sidewalk and street corners?
How about Sidewalk and Street Corners!

The US govt is as corrupt as any other corrupt govt on our planet. Iv’e seen two house where the usps driver either told the howmeowner to move their old mailbox or just flatout refused to deliver the mail. Rain or shine my ass. The usps is just another exmple of a govt job gone to shite as it seems they all have. The ‘govt’ doesn’t care & the workers only work for the pay & don’t care either.
Even so they are the most efficient mail service in the world but sadly are not a service as they were meant to be, but simply another us govt bowl of shite.

Soon they will be replaced with wooden pallets! Nice for walking the dog or jogging…

One spill and you will retire from both activities….

curmudgeon

doubledoh said, “The goddamned govt has no right to monopolize mail service in the first place. Let there be competition.”

Dear doubledoh,

We live in a COUNTRY not a COMPANY.

All the talk of privatizing government functions is great UNTIL PRIVATE INDUSTRY SCREWS YOU.

Then you’ll go running to YOUR (goddamned) GOVERNMENT to save your butt, because the private company providing government functions won’t give damn about you.

Be careful what you wish for.

street lights will be out soon with the heavy use of web 2.0 linux embedded head lamps. you think i am kidding dont you, you will all see.

MR said, “Libertarian capitalists on one side, disgruntled socialists on the other!”
———————————
Dear MR,
I appreciate your post. It is thoughtful and meant to add value to our conversation. In that spirit, I would like to make a few friendly comments in reply.

1) Labels (libertarian, socialist, etc) take away from any serious discussion because they carry too much meaning. Everyone has their own interpretation of a what a label means and whether it is positive or negative. All one has to do is read a blog or letters to newspapers to understand the negative impact of labeling. Much better to avoid them.

2) IF I was one of those you labeled a “disgruntled socialist”, let me tell you just a little of my background.
Enlisted in the US Army at 18 years of age, served as an air traffic controller. Worked in offices, then business equipment system sales for a gigantic company. Worked as a salesman for small business equipment dealerships, then became a partner in one. Worked in the software industry. Started several reasonably successful businesses in other fields, including IT, internet sites, graphics, business system consulting (analysis and recommendation type consulting). Sold them and retired for a while. Now the IT manager for a business owned by my nepwhew. I’m not a socialist – I’m a capitalist. Not a stubborn dog – old maybe :))

3) The USPS has to change to meet changing conditions, and over the years they’ve gotten better at it. I have nothing against FedEx , Airborne or UPS being in the market. I use them every day, along with the USPS. The opportunity cost/benefit choice is mine. Governent should not remove that choice, and that includes taking away the corner mail boxes.

4) There are some services that governments simply must provide. We take them for granted to such a degree that they become invisible, and therefore, undervalued. If they disappeared we couldn’t function or have the opportunities we have now. Everyone takes all the credit for their own success; but they could not have achieved the same successes in countries that didn’t offer the same environment – including certain government services.

5) Grandma and grandpop will be dead in the long run, as you say; but you will be grandma/grandpop then – and alive. I hope we don’t permanently run out of old folks, don’t you?

6) When talking about the benefits of deregulation, I ask that you read history (and the daily newspapers) to learn why these regulations were passed. They didn’t come about in a vacuum due to mistaken ideological goals. They usually came into being due to an abuse of some sort – they were needed. There has to be a balance, but, in the end a person has to count on the government for protection. Where else can one go? Look at any industry: legitimate insurance claims denied, auto safety, Enron, spinach, etc.. The list is long and the need will never go away because conditions change and human nature unfortunately doesn’t.

7) About tax breaks. I love them and take all I’m entitled to; but the constant harping about taxes is a political tactic, and misleading. US citizens and US corporations, pay among the lowest taxes in the developed world. Not low enough? Compared to what?

What’s the price per gallon of bottled water? “In 2004, total U.S. consumption of bottled water 6.8 Billion gallons, an 8.6% advance over 2003?s volume level. That translates into an average of 24.0 gallons per person.” (Source: Beverage Marketing Corporation)
I don’t hear people complain about it because it is not a tax. They pay HOW MUCH?? for WHAT?? (pardon me but WTF!!!)

We live in a country – government has legitimate service providing functions that must not be evaluated by profit or loss, or privatized – we need taxes – get over it. PS: you hate waste and so do I.

My thanks to anyone who got this far.

Although, I didn’t identify with the two paradigms listed, I do know quite a bit about mail and electronic marketing, and from that perspective did want to defend the USPS.

Basing perceptions of the viability of the USPS on the mail that is sent using the blue boxes would be like saying that Western Union would not be able to survive without its telegram business.

The USPS is more proactive in strategic planning, farther along in implementing online technology and more consistently efficient in executing to its plan than many private companies taxpayers have had to bail out.

Having worked with direct mail for the last couple of decades, I can say that there have been major changes in the USPS strategy as I most recently commented on last January in my blog.

Focusing on the small package market with flat rate priority mail and special seller services has been very effective in capturing the revenue, not from the bill paying that is replaced by online payments, but from the more profitable package business generated from Online ordering that is growing in use.

The USPS has not stood still as the electronic world has developed, either. The USPS leverages technology in its marketing and uses a combination of Online and traditional direct mail, as well as advertising in trade publications like DM News to make small to medium sized businesses aware of the advantages of shipping USPS.

Adding electronic services to its market offering and providing supplemental services to other carriers such as Airborne are two more ways the Postal Service has expanded the number of revenue streams from which it can draw profits, now and in the future.

If USPS were allowed to operate without the constant challenge and constraint of Senate budget machinations, it would be profitable.

in order to help save your local postal box you need only to look towards your magazines. Take all the prepaid post cards that fall out and instead of recyicling them, deposite them into your local postal box

In fact, after 9/11, they removed the boxes on my street citing ‘safety reasons’…like a terrorist would be so put out that he couldn’t toss anthrax in my box he would just give up rather than do the extra 4 blocks to the post office.

The boxes have been disappearing since 9/11 around here. I suspect it’s always been about the post office saving money even back then.

I get the feeling that the next presidential election will focus more on the post office and its fucking blue boxes way more than any other issue.

Who knew that the USPS could insite such emotion and debate from people.