Which American values are we talking about?

Posted on by

One thing I’ve noticed about tough economic times is that all sorts of folks have come out of the woodwork yelling about how we’re in this position because of a lack of “real American values” and that it’s the liberals/big government/Washington politicians who are systematically destroying this way of life. Then they go on to wax poetic about some value that, if you take a minute to scratch the surface, really only beneifts a very small portion of the American public.

Hmm. I think maybe we’re looking at the wrong values.

Or at least we’e going about them the wrong day.

Today, I was waching a piece on the news about the Postal Service. The postal service is suffering financially, due partially to things like e-mail and partially to things competing services like Fed-Ex or UPS. And so they had someone on TV talking about how of course it was, because how can the postal service be expected to care when they’re not competing against anyone, really, since they’re still guaranteed to exist.

Excuse me?

I’ve got a couple of problems at this, so I’m just going to start at the beginning and say that as a country, we’re a little to obsesed with competition. America is not a culture known for it’s ability to understand moderation (see: just about everything) and like anything else, I think it’s time to consider we’ve taken competition a bit too far. It’s not that a little healthy competition is bad–two companies with the same service can, in moderate amounts, spur one or the other to tweak their product, offer superior customer service,  and generally stay on top of their game. But that’s not the kind of competition that seems to be playing out. Instead, it’s a win-at-all-costs, anihilate the enemy competition. It’s the kind where the bottom line and driving out everyone else is the goal, and the biggest bully on the block wins.

More than that, though, it seems that we’ve forgotten an even bigger value, which is the idea of pride in doing a good job. If there’s any American value we ought to be trying to revive, it seems that one should be the biggest contender. What about the idea that the USPS will try to do a job because they want to do a good job. (Which isn’t to say that there aren’t lessons that could be taken from private industry; it is notoriously difficult to fire incompetent people or promote good ones in the Federal government and changing that would probably do a lot to help improve the performance of government agencies.) That providing a service is an important goal in and of itself? It’s strange that seems so radical, but even as I’m sitting here writing this, I’m thinking about how naive it sounds, and how I’m a little embarrassed to even be saying something that seems so simplistic.

But think about it. What if, instead of talking about competition, and doing the best so you could beat the other guy, so you could win, so you could be on top, what if we started talking about doing a good job so you could be proud of what you’d done? That you owed it to yourself? What would that look like? I don’t know about you, but if you ask me, it sounds a lot better than taking public services like the mail and turning them over to private industry. (Let’s not forget, the USPS is cheaper than Fed-Ex and UPS, and not all Americans have internet access, particularly those in lower socio-economic classes.)

Oh, and if you like getting mail? Go send a letter to someone. A real one. You’ll make them happy and show people are still using the postal service.

  • http://booksyarnink.blogspot.com/ booksNyarn

    This is a great post!

    I just popped a couple of cards in the mail today! I miss getting them. I liked “immediate gratification” of emails originally, but…something personal is lost when you do not see the handwriting on the page, at least to me.

    In regards to competition, it HAS become too ingrained in American life. It was “keeping up with the Joneses” always, no matter your situation and fiscal responsibilities to those in your circle. The business model has become a personal model, and no matter where you look, the competition is there.

    • http://www.quirkyknitgirl.com/ Ivy

      Thanks! I have more thoughts on this that I'll likely expand on soon…lots
      brewing in my mind.

  • tari pie

    Although I agree with you in theory and with many things you say, there is a problem with our USPS. I agree that competition is getting out of hand, but I do think the USPS needs to have their eyes opened. They have become lackadaisy and careless. I can't count how many pieces of mail they've lost or delivered open with bits missing. Last year, we sent a care package to my sis and the girls in Louisiana – clothes, books, a backpack, etc. The package left Fresno fine, but somewhere in transit, when it was in the hands of the USPS (they believe in San Francisco), almost all of it was removed – one shirt and one book left behind – and replaced with blocks of wood. Someone in the USPS STOLE a little girl's backpack and books. That is downright rotten. What did the USPS do? They shrugged it off. They told us we should have insured it. So, we should have insured it with the people we trusted and sent it with from the people we sent it with? Like I said, this wasn't the only instance. We have had boxes and mail rifled through one too many times. Yes, I still send small mail through the USPS. I don't have a choice. However, I send boxes through UPS. They usually only cost a dollar or so more, they always do tracking, and they've never stolen from me.

    As I said before, I agree that there is too much competition in the world. Nevertheless, the USPS does need a little eyeopening because the simplicity of doing a “good job” and “providing a service” doesn't always seem to matter to them.

    • http://www.quirkyknitgirl.com/ Ivy

      I don't dispute that USPS has issues–but I don't agree with the suggestion
      made by some, which is that the whole thing be turned over to private
      industry. I think all that would do is raise prices and not improve service
      for anyone. Frankly, UPS and FedEx are just as bad or worse. And less
      convenient. (I can never get packages delivered to my home because I'm not
      there; their pickup hours aren't convenient; and it usually costs me 3 or 4
      times as much to ship a package.)

      I think there are lessons that could be learned from private industry. A big
      one would be hiring/firing/promotion practices within government jobs. The
      difficulty and rules are there to prevent people getting
      hired/fired/promoted based on political views and change, which is
      completely understandable. But perhaps there need to be some revision to
      those guidelines for those who provide government services, that would allow
      there to be more real consequences for those who don't perform well, and
      rewards for those who go above and beyond. That, to me, makes more sense
      than the idea of just tossing the whole thing.

      • tari pie

        I had problems with delivery of UPS when I lived in Oakland, but not here in Fresno. Here, it is easier to mail a package from UPS (the post office is nowhere near here) and only a few bucks more. Plus, UPS gives me tracking automatically. If I wanted that with USPS, then I'd pay a lot more.
        And, yes, there are good USPS workers. The one we had in Oakland was wonderful! Here, she's lazy and often puts mail in the wrong boxes, so we do her delivering for her.
        I do agree, it shouldn't be made private industry. Look at how competition has ruined phone service. However, the USPS does need to get on the ball and start doing something to improve themselves. They've made too many mistakes for me to trust them.

  • Anon

    The reason that the USPS is cheaper is FEDERAL LAW! Look into it, federal law has prohibited private industry from competing with the USPS since about the turn of the century. I like the idea of doing a good job because of a strong work ethic and pride in a job well, that is how I get through my day, but it has no relevance to the USPS.

    • http://www.quirkyknitgirl.com/ Ivy

      I think you've misunderstood my post. I'm not suggesting that motivation has
      anything to with why USPS is cheaper. I'm aware that there are laws that
      influence the pricing. What I'm suggesting is that opening the mail up to
      private industry isn't going to make anything better–and, the larger point,
      which is that we shouldn't be holding competition up as this magical cure
      for all ills in business. What's basically being suggested is that without
      competition, there is no incentive to do your job, an attitude which I view
      as damaging and, frankly, rather insulting. My question is, what if we
      stopped clinging to this idea of competition and free markets and trickle
      down economics as a cure–clearly, this is not something at works, if recent
      history is any indication–and instead started looking at other motivations,
      like a strong work ethic.

      • Anon

        “–clearly, this is not something at works, if recent
        history is any indication–” ???

        What in recent history has anything to do with a free market? There is so much interference in business that I have not seen a free market event in a video game. If a buy-out of one collapsing company by a healthy company is a matter that needs national and international approval that drags out for several months I don't see how we can call this a 'free-market' in order to say that history show it does not work.

        • Ivy

          The bailouts were simply a response–I’m talking about the systematic dismantling of regulations that began during the Reagan administration, which enabled a number of financial practices and policies that led to the current economic collapse.