6 ms·

Do you still want mail? USPS is obligated to provide mail to every place in the USA no matter how far away or small the communities might be. So yes we still ne

Do you still want mail? USPS is obligated to provide mail to every place in the USA no matter how far away or small the communities might be. So yes we still need them.

dylan604 5y ago
Honestly, I don't know that I really do want mail any more. It's pretty mind boggling that for <$1 I can send an envelope anywhere in the country in a matter of days. That's cool and all, but I can't think of the last time I even thought that would be necessary. Important bills are electronic now a days, and I haven't received a holiday/birthday card with $5 from relatives in decades. I frequently forget to even check the mail box, and when I do, it is filled with traditional junk mail and the random politician solicitations. Oh, and the random mail for previous residents at this address.
- SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
  I think this is an extremely bubbled view of how mail works in the United States and the relative access of the internet. A good chunk of the United States doesn’t have reliable internet, but will have consistent mail service.
  - dylan604 5y ago
    The question posed: Do you still want mail? I responded no. You come back with some out of scope non-sense about thinking outside of me. That's not the question. If the question was "should the mail system be abolished", we can have the discussion you want, but maybe you should ask that question. The original question as actually posted followed with "yes we still need them".
    - op00to 5y ago
      Wow cute response.
      - dylan604 5y ago
        I love when people ask me a question, and then someone tells me that's wrong because I had a different response than theirs. It's not a "what's your opinion" type of question. It was a simple yes/no question directly targeted to the reader. My no response in no way suggested that nobody else anywhere ever should no longer receive mail. The response I received was just trying too hard to twist things.
  - smallerfish 5y ago
    The problem is that rural USPS is _not_ reliable (source: have lived in multiple rural locations). USPS is reliable in cities. Internet is also reliable in cities. Most people have phones. For those who don't, alternate infrastructure that leverages the internet could easily exist, and would be way more efficient than the USPS network. Watch this get downvoted, because people really emotionally _care_ about USPS.
KingMachiavelli 5y ago
'Provide mail' can mean different things and its certainly not ever 'place'. It is very common in mountain towns to not have mailboxes at least not residential so you have to go to a post office 5-15 miles away. Meanwhile Fedex & UPS will deliver to your door. That said the USPS is certainly an essential service and probably does serve certain niche locations better than UPS & Fedex.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  USPS charges the same, low (55¢) rate to send to these remote locations. FedEx won't tell me the cost without an account, but for UPS a domestic, ground letter (<1 lb) costs between $8.76 and $11.01, or $32+ for Alaska/Hawaii etc. Added to that, "remote areas" have a surcharge which is about $4 in the 48 states, $10 in Hawaii and $32 in Alaska. https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/media/en_US/daily_rates.pdf https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/media/en_US/daily_rates... https://www.ups.com/gb/en/shipping/zones-and-rates/area-surcharge.page https://www.ups.com/gb/en/shipping/zones-and-rates/area-surc...

Do you still want mail? USPS is obligated to provide mail to every place in the USA no matter how far away or small the communities might be. So yes we still need them.

dylan604 5y ago

Honestly, I don't know that I really do want mail any more. It's pretty mind boggling that for <$1 I can send an envelope anywhere in the country in a matter of days. That's cool and all, but I can't think of the last time I even thought that would be necessary. Important bills are electronic now a days, and I haven't received a holiday/birthday card with $5 from relatives in decades. I frequently forget to even check the mail box, and when I do, it is filled with traditional junk mail and the random politician solicitations. Oh, and the random mail for previous residents at this address.

SamoyedFurFluff 5y ago
I think this is an extremely bubbled view of how mail works in the United States and the relative access of the internet. A good chunk of the United States doesn’t have reliable internet, but will have consistent mail service.
- dylan604 5y ago
  The question posed: Do you still want mail? I responded no. You come back with some out of scope non-sense about thinking outside of me. That's not the question. If the question was "should the mail system be abolished", we can have the discussion you want, but maybe you should ask that question. The original question as actually posted followed with "yes we still need them".
  - op00to 5y ago
    Wow cute response.
    - dylan604 5y ago
      I love when people ask me a question, and then someone tells me that's wrong because I had a different response than theirs. It's not a "what's your opinion" type of question. It was a simple yes/no question directly targeted to the reader. My no response in no way suggested that nobody else anywhere ever should no longer receive mail. The response I received was just trying too hard to twist things.
- smallerfish 5y ago
  The problem is that rural USPS is _not_ reliable (source: have lived in multiple rural locations). USPS is reliable in cities. Internet is also reliable in cities. Most people have phones. For those who don't, alternate infrastructure that leverages the internet could easily exist, and would be way more efficient than the USPS network. Watch this get downvoted, because people really emotionally _care_ about USPS.

KingMachiavelli 5y ago

'Provide mail' can mean different things and its certainly not ever 'place'. It is very common in mountain towns to not have mailboxes at least not residential so you have to go to a post office 5-15 miles away. Meanwhile Fedex & UPS will deliver to your door. That said the USPS is certainly an essential service and probably does serve certain niche locations better than UPS & Fedex.

Symbiote 5y ago
USPS charges the same, low (55¢) rate to send to these remote locations. FedEx won't tell me the cost without an account, but for UPS a domestic, ground letter (<1 lb) costs between $8.76 and $11.01, or $32+ for Alaska/Hawaii etc. Added to that, "remote areas" have a surcharge which is about $4 in the 48 states, $10 in Hawaii and $32 in Alaska. https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/media/en_US/daily_rates.pdf https://www.ups.com/assets/resources/media/en_US/daily_rates... https://www.ups.com/gb/en/shipping/zones-and-rates/area-surcharge.page https://www.ups.com/gb/en/shipping/zones-and-rates/area-surc...