-----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 7:01 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Mpls digest, Vol 1 #1250 - 14 msgs
>In the case of junk mail, to what degree does the cost of junk mail >production and delivery incorporate the cradle-to-grave environmental costs >of producing, transporting and disposing of the material? To what extent is >the cost of distribution subsidized by other classes of mail or the U.S. >taxpayer in general? What are the social costs -- unquantifiable though >they may be -- to the 95% of junk mail recipients to whom the mail is an >irritation or a violation, and who are forced to bear the inundation? To >what extent is the ease of catalog ordering supporting addictive buying >behavior by those who cannot afford it? If these costs -- and others of >which I surely am not thinking -- were internalized by those who send the >junk mail, would it still be cost-effective? This does not even begin to >address the bigger, more controversial market failure issues that look to >the preference-distorting consumption-promoting messages that dominate our >society at every level. To all those who have never mailed a first class letter in Minneapolis, I apologize. If there were no junk mail, the only profitable division of the United States Postal Service, the cost of a first class later would be more like 70 cents than 37 cents. Asking someone to send a letter three to five thousand miles for 37 cents is unrealistic. Asking a corporation to have twenty collection offices and hundreds of pickups points throughout the city is also unrealistic. Frankly, in twenty years, there will be no United States Postal Service. UPS or FedEX or somebody else will be responsible. Do you really think then that you will get deliveries six days a week, that a Post Office will be within a mile or two of where you live? Dream on! It absolutely amazes me how inconvenienced some folks are when they receive a piece of mail in to which they are not interested. They liken it to assault and battery. Given that garbage collection for residents provides unlimited collection, what is their issue? The environment? Well, when UPS takes over, you can kiss your environment goodbye. Ray Marshall Minnehaha _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
