Can I stop receiving mail?

read The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon.

I stopped receiving mail four years ago-I just don't have a mailbox at my residence. Nothing in The Constitution mandates that you need to receive mail.

Wilford Brimley? Have you been stealing Quaker Oats products, or are you referring to his character in "The Firm". Granted he did play a pretty good villain. I'm a big fan of casting against type. Robin Williams does great villains/unsympathetic characters (Insomnia, One Hour Film). But I digress...

Getting back to the OP. If you convert all your bills to online bill pay, and sign up for the Direct Marketing Association's "no mail" list, eventually about all you'll receive is the occasional junk mail, and annual privacy statements, notices of rule changes and soliciations from your financial institutions (bank and credit card company). I probably average about 1-2 pieces of mail total per day, and zero telemarketing calls (on the DNC registry; no land line).

The USPS is supported by itself and receives no tax money from the government. There is no monopoly since any carrier can deliver the mail if they want. Go to UPS and ask them to send your bills in, they can do it, I would guess it would cost you more than the cost of a stamp though.

you can use whoever you want.

government? wrote:

There is no monopoly since any carrier can deliver the mail if they want. Go to UPS and ask them to send your bills in, they can do it, I would guess it would cost you more than the cost of a stamp though.

you can use whoever you want.

You are wrong. Other carriers are prevented by law from competing with the USPS for first class mail. They can compete on overnight delivery and other services and this can get a bit fuzzy in practice at times, but they cannot compete for the everyday delivery of mail.

SVC wrote:

Getting back to the OP. If you convert all your bills to online bill pay, and sign up for the Direct Marketing Association's "no mail" list, eventually about all you'll receive is the occasional junk mail, and annual privacy statements, notices of rule changes and soliciations from your financial institutions (bank and credit card company). I probably average about 1-2 pieces of mail total per day, and zero telemarketing calls (on the DNC registry; no land line).

DMA charges a buck just to be taken off the list. What a crock.

Seriously? That's news to me. They didn't used too. That's pretty sleazy, not to mention clever. :)

What about your lifetime subscription to Runner's World?

write an abusive letter to yuor mailman

Actually, monopolies can be more efficient in some circumstances than competitive markets. These are called natural monopolies. I would argue that the USPS is one of these natural monopolies. Seriously, 41 cents to send a letter across country is pretty damn cheap. If left first class mail to a competitive market, I bet you would see this price go up.

However, it does seem like you should be able to not have a mail box. Although, this would make things much harder on tax collection.

Good question.

Many Men wrote:

Actually, monopolies can be more efficient in some circumstances than competitive markets. These are called natural monopolies. I would argue that the USPS is one of these natural monopolies. Seriously, 41 cents to send a letter across country is pretty damn cheap. If left first class mail to a competitive market, I bet you would see this price go up.

It costs the same 41 cents to send that letter across town. This is not efficient, rational pricing. Two of the greatest wins for consumers in my lifetime have been the deregulation of long distance telephone service and the airlines. I wish they would allow competition in the first class mail delivery business. I bet overall prices would fall substantially.

Oh yeah, we could all retire a year earlier saving a few cents on each letter we mail!

Tell us with a straight face how it'd make a serious economic impact in your life and you're not just abstractly irritated that the free market principles you hold religiously dear aren't being followed with 100% purity.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

It costs the same 41 cents to send that letter across town. This is not efficient, rational pricing. Two of the greatest wins for consumers in my lifetime have been the deregulation of long distance telephone service and the airlines. I wish they would allow competition in the first class mail delivery business. I bet overall prices would fall substantially.

On the other hand, the deregulation of the Savings and Loan industry was a monumental failure.