explicit govt monopoly rent-seeking (law abuse)

[Michael Motyka]

Anonymous wrote :
>
>The problem dates from the early 1930s, when utility companies delivered
>their bills by mailbox through their own employees out reading meters. The
>Postal Service saw a huge drop in revenue and decided to act. Enforcement
>became even more important in 1970, Dalton wrote, when Congress
>mandated that the Postal Service be self-sustaining.
>
>>From >http://latimes.com/editions/orange/la-000000534jan03.story?coll=la%2Deditions%2Dorange
>
>Postal Service Delivers Stern Warning on Mailbox Misuse
>Enforcement: Agency tells Orange mobile home park residents to stop
>using receptacles to send notices, rent bills, newsletters sans postage.
>
>.....
>Q: When government acts like this how are they different from a gang?
>A: Both rule by violence and terror, but a gang claims no moral authority.
>
My favorite is the lottery : can't gamble in your own home but they can
run a statewide casino - how are they different from the mafia?

I think there is other wierdness that goes along with the USPS :
something about price minimums for certain types of mail carried by the
likes of FedEx and UPS. Protective pricing structures.

I grew up a in a fairly rural area. We all put up our own mailboxes on
posts. Every winter the damn plow knocked them over. Some went for brute
force, heavy pipe set in concrete, others for more elegant angled
pivoting supports. IIRC when you put up a mailbox ( paid for with your
own $ ) it becomes property of the USPS. 

What about the old-fashioned mail slot on the front door? Illegal to
possess now?

Why don't the trailer park folk do the following :

Update everyone's mail boxes. There will be two slots in the lid :

one labelled "US Mail" 
the other labelled "Private Mail"
label the bucket "Private Property - No Trespassing"

Let the law come down hard on anyone who puts mail through the US Mail
slot without postage.

The whole thing sounds truly stupid and about par for the course.

Mike