Myths

I have always been puzzled by certain myths that have been around ever since I can remember.  The one that is most interesting to me is how the Post Office has become the whipping boy and symbol of government incompetence.  Whenever some new program is considered, the standard is something like, "Do you want it to be like the Post Office."  It's interesting to me because it's a statement someone can make without evidence.  It has become what I call a "pseudo-truism".  It is presented as a fact or foregone conclusion, and we are just supposed to accept it as some sort of proof that everything government runs is a mess and that privatization is the fix-all.

I guess I am an American heretic, because I just don't see it that way.  I am 62 years old and I can count on one hand the number of times a piece of mail has been lost or otherwise not delivered properly.  I'm sure others have experienced a worse record and have bad experiences.  But I can certainly say that in my life, the worst customer service issues I have dealt with were with private companies, not government entities.  In terms of service, technology, and courtesy, the Postal Service, Social Security Administration, DMV, and even the IRS compare pretty well to their private sector counterparts.  And the private sector never would have produced the interstate highway system or the space program.