{"article":{"id":76597,"heading":"The post office is a forced monopoly.","author":" judith mpls","created":"2003-08-11 13:52:35","modified":"2003-08-12 17:30:39","last_modified":"Wed, 13 Aug 2003 00:30:39","article":"<p>The post office is immoral.  It is based upon force.  The State uses force to get us to accept their \"service\" so they can feel safe and secure in their jobs.  We pay for their insecurity.  Let them do it freely and we will pay them freely.  Why force me to pay for their \"service?\"  The tax system is also based upon force.  The State teaches us all that force is okay.  They use force against us daily.  Thus we have abused people - that abuse others around them.  Everyone is abused by the State.  The State uses force to abuse everyone, so you have a bunch of abusers out there.  It is not the family that produces abusers - it is the State.<\/p>\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":" The post office is a forced monopoly.  So is the railroad system, except for James Jerome Hill's railroad.  ","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2003\/08\/76597.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":76752,"heading":"No force here","article":"No one forces you to use the mail.  If you feel strongly about this, then by all means, send your letters via UPS or FEDEX or some other courier service.  In truth, the post office is what is called a &quot;natural monopoly,&quot; where one organization can provide the service or good much more efficiently than multiple organizations.  Contrast this with utilities that have a government-granted monopoly.  Others are legally barred from competing in the same marketplace.  When the phone companies, for example, were forced to compete, they lost a lot of business to competitors who provided the same or better service for less money.  No one prevents competition with the US Postal Service, but there is no way a competing firm can provide competitive service and costs.","author":"Sisyphus","parent_id":76597,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2003-08-12 17:30:39","modified":"2003-08-12 17:30:39","fileurl":""}]}