10 Reasons to Abolish the US Postal Service
6. Private Companies Can Replace USPS
One of the most common defenses of the Post Office is the belief that its service is cheap specifically because of its government mandated monopoly. Although their rates steadily increase a little almost every year, you can send a first-class letter anywhere in the continental United States for only $0.46. That does sound like a pretty good deal…until you realize that that price is artificial. By federal law, it’s illegal for anyone to offer lower postage for first-class mail.
The famous case of Lysander Spooner, who actually did try to out-compete the Post Office in 1844, comes to mind. And despite government threats to lock him up, he succeeded. Spooner was able to use cheaper and more innovative means to transport mail and earn a profit while only charging 5 cents, compared to the Post Office’s rate of 12 cents. That may sound like a trivial amount, but just imagine a similar scenario in your personal life. Suppose you were stuck using the services of a business like, say, Comcast, and then some upstart company began not only offering more channels and better customer service but did it for 60% less? That’s what Spooner achieved, until Congress literally outlawed competition to the Post Office in 1851. Since then, we’ve been stuck with arbitrary rates and an unaccountable bureaucracy that only looks good because we having little to compare it to. Could modern carriers, like FedEx or UPS or DHL do it more efficiently and for less? Most likely. Unfortunately, by law, they’re not even allowed to try.
