It never fails to amaze me how indignant some get when the US Postal Service raises the rate of a first class stamp. The Service is currently attempting to raise the cost of delivering a letter within the United States to 46 cents.Let's say you live on the west coast and a letter delivered to someone in New York, in two or three days.
You could deliver it yourself, by car, by train, plane, or motorbike. To do this, you'll want to factor in the cost of the gas for the car or bike, or the train or plane tickets. If you travel by car or bike, you'll want to factor in meals and also the cost of wear and tear on your vehicle.
Lastly and perhaps most importantly, you'll want to factor in the cost of your time - time you could be spending earning money or doing something else you want to do, instead of hand delivering one letter cross country.
Or, you could pay someone 46 cents - less than the price of a candy bar - to do it for you (saving you, in the process, somewhere between a lot of money and a whole lot of money).
Where's the contest?
14 comments:
YOU STOLE MY POST IDEA!!!
But you did a nice job of it, Michael. :-)
Looks like I delivered it first. Thanks, Mark!
Ouch! Punny guy....
Your last line is ironically the problem. Services should be subject to free market forces like everything else, but in this case, the government has it locked down. Thus there is no chance for competition, nor any real limit to how much they can charge. If they decide to raise it to 50 cents or a dollar instead, what's to stop them (other than public outrage)? Now, for 46 cents, your average Joe's complaints of a few pennies for what little mail he sends is hardly worth worrying about, but for organizations that have no competitive options for keeping costs down, a penny can mean the difference between jobs gained and jobs lost.
Tony, there is nothing to stop you from shipping via FedEx or UPS or any number of other privately held shipping companies or delivery services.
Your anti-government rant is misplaced and downright wrong in this instance.
To Radio Nowhere I say...Yes there is something stopping Tony from using a private company, it is the U.S. Govt.. FedEx does not deliver mail, they are a parcel delivery company, and their rates are reflective of heavier package delivery. Which, by the way, they and every other private company do better and less expensive then parcels delivered by the Postal system.
Agree with Irish: I will admit upfront that I am no expert on this subject, but as far as I know there are no alternatives for first-class mailing in this country. Were I to find out that I can do mass mailings of letters on the cheap, it would change my outlook considerably. (Btw, I have worked for companies large and small and have seen the effect of these hikes. A single mass mailing can run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, and when a company is already constrained by budget issues, someone is either going to get the axe or someone is not going to get hired. Another side effect can be decisions to not do mailing, which in turn affects sales, which in turn affects the job market.)
Secondly, I am not "anti-government," which to me would be an absurd position to take. I just like competition and the free market.
There is nothing to stop you from sending something in a FedEx letter envelope. (http://fedex.com/ag/tools/package1.html)
I don't really care about the costs involved with mass mailings. It's a part of doing business, so suck it up or don't do it. THAT is "the market" at work.
Sounds harsh and it is.
As to what is to stop them...Um...Congress? They have to get rate increases approved, y'know.
And it is very apparent to me that you didn't bother to really READ and consider what Michael has written here. You would be hard pressed to find a better deal on mailing a letter, a bill payment or junk mail than the USPS. Were that not true, then the Market would have answered that need. That's how Market's work. They respond to needs...
Wow - Sounds like Radio Nowhere is is about to blow a frequency! He is clearly out of touch with Reality. Please name for me the private company that I can go to to mail a letter, or mass mail commercial letters, and save my company money. Increased cost of business forced upon a company without an competitive alternative, IS NOT FREE MARKET!Maybe you should move out of your parent's basement, stop reading comic books, and get a reality check.
Irish, I do not respond to Ad Hominem attacks. Should you elect to discuss this in a fashion that doesn't include being insulting, fine. If not, then you can play by yourself.
I personally respect Michael too much to turn his blog into a brawl.
I didn't say anything attacking your character, Radio, so feel free to address me if care to. I do believe Irish's arguments are correct. Perhaps he comes from a business background like myself. It has been my observation that people involved in business tend to have a general distrust of power and bureaucratic interference. They understand that government is a chief abuser.
As I've already noted, government has its rightful place, but I don't believe it is "anti-government" to distrust it. "Question authority" is a reasonable, even necessary, attitude, no matter what faction is in power. Your remark about Congress seems to imply that you put a lot of faith in that institution. I do not. Both Republican and Democrat flavors have devolved into cesspools of corruption as soon as power-grabs were realized. In part this has to do with base philosophies, but it is more about the power itself. Even a little reading of history bears out that reality.
Also, no businessman (entrepreneur) would accept the sort of "suck it up" conditions you have asserted as being somehow immutable. If they weren't always looking for the best way to reduce expenses while increasing profits, they wouldn't be in business for long. Nor would there be many jobs left.
I personally don't spend a lot of time worrying about stamp prices, but I have seen what government taxation and forced prices do to real people. It is the PRINCIPLE of what the post office represents that is a concern. And Congress has OFTEN demonstrated that it doesn't give a hoot about the real people it is supposed to be serving.
I don't know about you, but I favor a FREE market economy -- regulated against fraud and other crimes, of course -- but truly free. That means that if I want to start a business of delivering mail for have the price of a competitor, I want to be free to try (even free to fail, for that matter). And I truly hope, being a big fan of Michael, that when his work finds a huge market, his profits are not crushed by arbitrary government intrusion.
Well, Mr. Nowhere...Do not let my lame attempt at getting under your skin drive you away from an honest debate. It is more fun to debate someone when they are frothing at the mouth, than it is while drinking tea and eating cake. Besides, you started the personal attacks, when you accused Mr. Tony of using "ANTI-GOVT RANTING" after he revealed to you his ambition toward a free market society. As a matter of fact, that little display of emotion revealed more about you and your preconceived notions about govenments place in the market place. If you will not listen to me, then listen to the voice of reason represented by a gentleman (Tony), who appears to be much more qualified on this subject than I am. I believe you represent a minority of people in this country, who embrace more trust in government than your own fellow man. A minority that is very vocal and intimidates anyone who would disagree with their big-government agenda. Profit is not a dirty word. It is an integral part of our U.S. economy. I hope you profit in whatever it is you do, so you will spend your money, so someone else will have a job. The botton line is, the more a company has to spend on the cost of goods and services, the more that company will have to charge the buying public, and the less competitive that company becomes. If they are not able to make the targeted profits, they will have to reduce costs by either becoming more efficient (which is sometimes very difficult and costly, especially for smaller companies with smaller resources) or by reducing their staff, or both. Oh, by the way, I still want to know what other company there is that I can use to deliver my mail, if I do not want to take yet another rate hike in postage. Name for me a company, that I can hire, to deliver my mail door to door, that you think would help me avoid this new rate hike. I know you keep mentioning FedEx and UPS, but they are not permitted to deliver the mail, only parcel packages. The answer is nobody else can deliver mail but the agency of the U.S. Postal Service. This means in the arena of mail delivery, there is but one choice, a monolithic, lazy, behind the times organization, that has not kept up with the needs of the American Public, that needs more money to keep limping along and providing the same poor quality service they get by with, year after year. Mark my word, they will stop Saturday service soon, even with a rate increase. And when was the last time the U.S. Congress said "no" to any serious request for a rate hike from the Postmaster? Place you trust in God and the almighty dollar and your fellow man to allow freedom to reign, and money to flow in this country. Read any good comic books lately?
My apologies to M. Neno for the muliple postings. My connection status stated I was disconnected, so it appeared I was not sending my rantings.
Again, please forgive the multiple postings. It was not my intent.
No problem! I deleted the multiple posts.
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