Americans are at the same crossroads with the U.S. Postal Service as we are with public libraries. Comments on a recent New York Times editorial, Saving the Post Office, have a familiar ring. Organizational constituents, like periodical publishers, have started to weigh in. Developments are worth watching.
Why pick on post offices?
It’s funny how people are making such a fuss about the Post Office’s finances. The Post Office does something for all of us all the time. Why not spend a little to keep a convenient service convenient for all? We should start making this kind of a fuss about the defense budget and entitlements, that’s where the big money is and the big savings are too.
Post offices are about more than mail
Without a post office, you lose a good portion of your identity as a town. For us, traveling 15 miles to the next town to post a letter or pickup a package would be a hardship. We would also lose the congeniality that we have in our little po – the candies and cartoons for adults, the toys thoughtfully left on a small table for little visitors. It really is a place where everyone knows our name, and it would be a significant loss to have that replaced with a kiosk.
What computer has ever assisted an elderly customer who has become incapacited through injury or illness? Letter Carriers watch out for customers on their routes every day and have been credited with saving lives, returning lost children, reporting dangerous gas leaks, rushing into burning buildings to escort people to safety, and on and on. Univeral delivery; every house every day – that is a tremendous public service which helps make America the nation it is.
Post offices are a basic service
I don’t mean take a step away from technology, but there are certain services a society provides, and a national postal system is one of them.
Post offices are not a basic service
I was struck by the comment “all Americans should not have to rely solely on private businesses for anything as fundamental as mail delivery” – Can the same argument be used for other goods and services such as grocery stores, gas service stations, telephone?
Run post offices like a business
How about competition, competitive bidding for services (let FedEx and UPS bid), and pay for performance for postal workers (as incentives to do more with less).
The Post Office must cut salaries, benefits, and pensions, just like the rest of America.
You can’t run post offices like a business
Unlike private businesses, the USPS can’t choose not to serve some area because it would be too costly, etc. In this sense, it ISN’T a business, it is a government service. We don’t expect the army, or the FDA to make a profit. I’m not sure why we expect it of the USPS.
Post offices R.I.P.
I am sorry to say this but I think that the USPS is totally outdated and needs to be closed down. We have models of delivery services that work well. Tinkering with a hide-bound, unnecessarily bureacratic structure makes no sense to me.
The postal service is a relic and should be closed. It has been made redundant by the telephone, the internet and the package delivery companies. I haven’t sent or received a letter in twenty years. About the only materials that I receive in the mail are unwanted junk mail.
Build up our post offices
Why don’t we allow the post office to expand into financial services? You can already get postal money orders. In other countries, the postal service provides financial and communication services. I’d like a postal bank account, where I know that the funds aren’t being diverted into risky derivitives, and the leadership isn’t walking away with million dollar bonuses. We should build on this institution, not tear it apart.
