What Would Lysander Spooner Say?

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So Saturday mail delivery is on its way out, in order to save money for the U.S. Postal Service.

Whenever more post office woes are reported, I am reminded of Lysander Spooner, who in addition to his work in political philosophy also tried to compete against the federal government in mail delivery. Federal mail delivery is authorized in the Constitution, but nowhere is it declared to be a federal monopoly.

Spooner’s American Letter Mail Company drove down postal rates until legal challenges by the federal government forced him out of business.

JohnC

What if a company tried to compete with the post office by delivering letter mail for free? They could make money by delivering to mail recipients a small “package” filled with advertisements each day along with their free mail delivery/pickup. Could the Feds stop someone from doing it for free?
Ripley

We should not forget Brennan Hand Delivery Service of Rochester, New York. Mail was delivered in Rochester 33% cheaper than the USPS. New York State Supreme Court Shut down the business in 1978.
Michael Mills

Lysander Spooner said, “My full name rolls off the tongue suggestively…” oh you mean in the context of the post office, my apologies…

I’m paraphrasing but, “Those bastahds did what? How dare they assail my right to compete! Those totalitarian Cads! Those Insufferable Land Pirates! Those thieving scalawags who guise themselves as upstanding citizens! May they choke on junk mail and die!”

mind you I’m paraphrasing, he may have not said all or any of those things but when they stole his business he surely thought them.
Franklin

Well. it depends if there was a storm or not. Over in Massachusetts today, the governor declared a driving ban on all state and city streets. If you didn’t comply, you would get a fine of $500 and up to one year in jail. So your mail service would have to have delineated caveats and disclaimers. Because if you didn’t deliver your free mail today, that same police state would then arrest you for contractual default.

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