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United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

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Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#101

Post by tsotha »

freehunter wrote: post #76
tsotha wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The big sell of the postal service is that it costs the same amount to send a letter from San Francisco to Los Angeles as it does to send a letter from the bayou in Louisiana to Honolulu, Hawaii. That's not a big sell if you're sending a letter from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I don't see any reason for rates not to reflect costs - why am I subsidizing other people every time I send a letter?

1. You always know how much a standard letter will cost, no matter where it's going. If you're mailing 100 letters to 100 locations, they all cost the same. Standard exemptions apply for rate changes every few years and for heavy items. 2. Based on the cash flow of the USPS, you're not subsidizing anyone by buying stamps :)

>1. You always know how much a standard letter will cost, no matter where it's going. If you're mailing 100 letters to 100 locations, they all cost the same. Standard exemptions apply for rate changes every few years and for heavy items.

Computers can figure this stuff out pretty quickly. People who mail 100 first class letters to 100 locations already either use an automated stamping system or they take the letters to the post office.

>2. Based on the cash flow of the USPS, you're not subsidizing anyone by buying stamps :)

Well, okay, but how do you think they're going to plug that hole? I'll be paying for it eventually, either through income taxes or through higher postage rates.

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#102

Post by hammerdr »

tsotha wrote: post #100
rubidium wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because, in theory, you care that they can vote and mail in their taxes at a reasonable price, even from places that are economically unfeasible to have a mail delivery system. Whether you actually care is up to you, but the US government has decided US citizens care. It's similar to the gov't money that was paid to run telephone lines to rural areas (ref: freeconference.com article from the other day).

>Because, in theory, you care that they can vote and mail in their taxes at a reasonable price, even from places that are economically unfeasible to have a mail delivery system. "A reasonable price"? A reasonable price, in the long run, is what the service costs. And there aren't any areas that are economically unfeasible to deliver mail - just not for less than a dollar. I'm okay with people out in the sticks paying…

In the ideal libertarian world, there is a free movement of peoples. People are free to move from one location to another in order to best optimize the system. This is great in theory but breaks down in practice. There are physical, bureaucratic and psychological barriers that keep people in one place. For instance, my father's family is largely from rural Indiana. We have had a family farm for several generations. In fact, my family has a road named after it (Hammer Road) because it was mostly occupied by members of my family that had lived there for so long. There are members of my family that will inherit that land and for several reasons will continue to farm that land for generations to come.

My family has every right to vote and do so proudly. A callous wave of the hand and saying "they should pay their own way" in order to be an equal citizen in this country is .. well, elitist, immoral and just plain wrong.

P.S. If you want to give everyone free internet or free phones (with the appropriate legislation to make contracts entered over said mediums binding, of course) then do away with the USPS. Until then you're going to have to pay for everyone's right to be a full citizen of this country by subsidizing the postal service.

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#103

Post by a_a_r_o_n »

gerggerg wrote: post #6

Mail theft exists. In fact it's one of the leading causes of identity theft. And computer viruses? Any one ever been delivered anthrax through email?

On the other hand, my email provider has never decided to just throw away my mail because it was too lazy to work its entire shift.

Which absolutely does not characterize the majority of postal workers, but it's happened enough to make the news.

There's no structural reason for any email employee to cause my email to not be delivered, but there is that structural possibility for a demotivated postal worker.

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#104

Post by tsotha »

hammerdr wrote: post #102
tsotha wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Because, in theory, you care that they can vote and mail in their taxes at a reasonable price, even from places that are economically unfeasible to have a mail delivery system. "A reasonable price"? A reasonable price, in the long run, is what the service costs. And there aren't any areas that are economically unfeasible to deliver mail - just not for less than a dollar. I'm okay with people out in the sticks paying…

In the ideal libertarian world, there is a free movement of peoples. People are free to move from one location to another in order to best optimize the system. This is great in theory but breaks down in practice. There are physical, bureaucratic and psychological barriers that keep people in one place. For instance, my father's family is largely from rural Indiana. We have had a family farm for several generations. I…

>A callous wave of the hand and saying "they should pay their own way" in order to be an equal citizen in this country is .. well, elitist, immoral and just plain wrong.

There sure doesn't seem to be any shortage of people with their hands in my pocket who get indignant when I point it out. There's nothing elitist, immoral, or wrong in saying people should pay their own way. People of sound mind and body shouldn't be freeloading off their fellow citizens. I realize there's a certain lifestyle people enjoy when it comes to rural living. That's tough.

Before automation something like 95% of the population was involved in agriculture. My family was all farmers, if you go back far enough. And yet they all ended up moving where there was work when farming wasn't working out. What makes your family so special that you think I ought to be paying to maintain their chosen lifestyle?

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#105

Post by Ihadtocomment »

xinsight wrote: post #66
hammerdr wrote: post #16

This is something that is very close to my family so I have a bit of experience with how the Postal Service is going. The big sell of the postal service is that it costs the same amount to send a letter from San Francisco to Los Angeles as it does to send a letter from the bayou in Louisiana to Honolulu, Hawaii. In this, physical mail is the big equalizer. The USPS is also required to deliver mail to even the most re…

I think you're missing the OP's point. He isn't suggesting ending postal service, but coming up with new and better services instead of trying to scare people away from email. For many people, the post office is just an incredibly slow, junk mail delivery system. If you care about the USPS, I'm surprised you don't agree with the OP that new ideas are needed. (One idea i'd like to see is a registered email service, so…

Slow it isn't. Go ahead and try having UPS or FedEx deliver a letter across the country in about 5 days--for $.41.So let's give credit where credit is due. USPS is screwed by the changes and they are doing what every business does, try to look better by a combination of making themselves look better and making their competitors look worse.

I am not sure if USPS will manage, they have to do certain things by law, so the Feds will probably end up subsidizing them.

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#106

Post by sp332 »

beambot wrote: post #49
extension wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nearly all my mail ends up at addresses from my past. If it wasn't for e-bills, I would never receive (my own) bills. And I have received mountains of mail from countless former tenants at every place I've lived, mail they will never see. The post doesn't seem very reliable to me.

USPS needs to implement a form of indirect addressing. The basic premise: Assign recipients a unique ID. The physical address is then a single indirect lookup (ie. from a database, which can be altered by the recipient ad nauseum). For obvious reasons, SSN as a unique ID is out. Given the (relative) portability of phone numbers, these might be a good option. Alternatively, allowing users to employ their email address…

a database, which can be altered by the recipient ad nauseum

They already have this, of course. You can send USPS a change-of-address form and they'll send mail addressed to you at your old address to your new address. https://moversguide.usps.com/icoa/icoa-main-flow.do?executio...

Re: United States Postal Service tries to compete with Google using fear

#107

Post by beambot »

sp332 wrote: post #106
beambot wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

USPS needs to implement a form of indirect addressing. The basic premise: Assign recipients a unique ID. The physical address is then a single indirect lookup (ie. from a database, which can be altered by the recipient ad nauseum). For obvious reasons, SSN as a unique ID is out. Given the (relative) portability of phone numbers, these might be a good option. Alternatively, allowing users to employ their email address…

a database, which can be altered by the recipient ad nauseum They already have this, of course. You can send USPS a change-of-address form and they'll send mail addressed to you at your old address to your new address. https://moversguide.usps.com/icoa/icoa-main-flow.do?executio...

I did this just last month. The postal worker informed me that the forwarding only lasted for a period of one year -- that's not a very good long-term solution.
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