A Misguided Idea
The Rand Corp. just came out with a study this week advising against giving private courier access to mailboxes, noting that doing so could well jeopardize the security and safety of the mail.
Besides, Rand says the public doesn’t really want it.
Hasn’t anybody learned anything in 20 years? Or the past seven?
The last time this idea was brought up seriously was IN 1988, when the U.S. Postal Service raised rates by 25% and direct mailers were clamoring for a lower-cost alternative to the USPS.
Back then, a few companies tried to make a buck as alternative couriers but they died out pretty quickly.
Of course, now in the post-9/11 world, why would anyone want something that not been pretty safe and secure since before the founding of the Republic?
A misguided money-making opportunity, for sure.
Right now, the entire world is suffering or is about to suffer from unregulated greed and so far, nobody knows quite what to do about it.
The USPS has been successful largely because it is so highly regulated—the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act notwithstanding.
And the mailing industry knows this.
October 24th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Could this be a last-ditch Bush administration attempt to screw up still another facet of American life and commerce?
Giving every (or any) Tom, Dick or Harry access to a locked box containing checks, merchandise and private information and sentiments — precious stuff heretofore accessible only by a traceable postal worker and the recipient — is a recipe from the Devil’s Cookbook.
It is not only a formula for inspiring postal theft, encouraging identity theft, nurturing distrust, and tearing yet another jagged rip in the fabric of American society, but also a violation of the first rule of economics:
If it ain’t busted, don’t fix it.