> From: Moose <bylzbbfr@xxxxxxxxx>
>
> I suppose several
> here were aware that "junk" mail and commercial delivery heavily
> subsidize first class letter rates, but I don't think the general
> public
> knows.
Yea, right. Sending crap no one wants that goes directly into
recycling (or more likely, the landfill) for 18 cents a piece somehow
subsidizes mail sent for 42 cents. But that's what the USPS tells us,
so we believe it.
Let's face it: it's a direct business subsidy. I have lived in MANY
countries that have MUCH LOWER volume of junk mail, and they still
manage to deliver first-class mail for comparable or slightly higher
rates.
Switzerland manages to do it for 74 cents (85 rappen), while allowing
anyone to choose to not receive junk mail by putting a simple sticker
on their mail box -- while also running one of the world's most
inclusive public transportation system. (You can literally take public
transportation anywhere you can send a letter, literally hopping on
mail delivery vehicles in some areas.)
Here in Canada, we pay just 39 cents (C$0.50) for first class, and we
have the right to refuse junk mail. So we actually pay LESS than the
US, with NO junk mail. Sorta belies the argument that junk mail
subsidizes First Class, no?
I'd gladly pay the extra 32 cents that it costs in Switzerland when I
mail a letter if it meant there was essentially no junk mail. But that
wouldn't be the American Way, where "free speech" is interpreted as a
Constitutional right for businesses to clog your mailbox with trash at
just 24% of what it costs to send junk mail in Switzerland and only
46% of what it costs to send junk mail in Canada.
"We'll lose money on every piece, but we'll make it up in volume." :-)
:::: Production from local resources for local needs is the most
rational way of economic life. -- EF Schumacher ::::
:::: Jan Steinman http://www.EcoReality.org::::
--
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