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> The question I have is, why does the USPS provide a discount for bulk mail at all? Because those are their customers, and they treat their customers well. Th

> The question I have is, why does the USPS provide a discount for bulk mail at all? Because those are their customers, and they treat their customers well. The hundreds of millions of USPS mail recipients, on the other hand, are the product. USPS works for their customers, not for the rest of us. https://insidesources.com/outbox-vs-usps-how-the-post-office-killed-digital-mail/ https://insidesources.com/outbox-vs-usps-how-the-post-office... >‘You mentioned making the service better for our customers; but the American citizens aren’t our customers—about 400 junk mailers are our customers. Your service hurts our ability to serve those customers.”’ -- Patrick Donahoe, US Postmaster General This is of course an evil fascist talking point though, because the USPS has a large union that consistently votes Democrat, and how could we do wonderful mail-in ballots without the wonderful US Postal Service? Don't be a fascist, mindlessly cheer for USPS.

kelnos 4y ago
And this is why privatizing essential government services (ok, the USPS is a weird public-private hybrid, taking on some of the worse attributes of both) is a bad idea. The USPS should exist to serve regular-Joe recipients of mail, not to serve the bulk mailers that pay the USPS to put literal garbage in our mailboxes every day. But once they have to worry about revenue and income statements and all that, an organization is going to care more about the interests of the people who pay them the most money, rather than the people they're actually there to serve.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 4y ago
  The privatization is the bad part? Never a piece of junk mail until... Oh, wow. Look at this, never actually privatized. > The USPS should exist to serve regular-Joe recipients of mail, Can we get a federal telegraph agency too, just in case I need to receive some telegrams? You have no idea how horrible it is having to pay exorbitant sums of cash on private telegraph service. The trouble is that the USPS has a union which is a reliable voting bloc for the Democrats. That makes it sacred. Even if it performs a service no one has given a shit about since the 1970s, everyone will gush on about how "what if I need to receive some mail" and pretend that mail service belongs somewhere other than a museum exhibit. I predict that every 10 years or so, it will be necessary to invent a new reason why we couldn't ever get rid of it.

kelnos 4y ago

And this is why privatizing essential government services (ok, the USPS is a weird public-private hybrid, taking on some of the worse attributes of both) is a bad idea. The USPS should exist to serve regular-Joe recipients of mail, not to serve the bulk mailers that pay the USPS to put literal garbage in our mailboxes every day. But once they have to worry about revenue and income statements and all that, an organization is going to care more about the interests of the people who pay them the most money, rather than the people they're actually there to serve.

NoMoreNicksLeft 4y ago
The privatization is the bad part? Never a piece of junk mail until... Oh, wow. Look at this, never actually privatized. > The USPS should exist to serve regular-Joe recipients of mail, Can we get a federal telegraph agency too, just in case I need to receive some telegrams? You have no idea how horrible it is having to pay exorbitant sums of cash on private telegraph service. The trouble is that the USPS has a union which is a reliable voting bloc for the Democrats. That makes it sacred. Even if it performs a service no one has given a shit about since the 1970s, everyone will gush on about how "what if I need to receive some mail" and pretend that mail service belongs somewhere other than a museum exhibit. I predict that every 10 years or so, it will be necessary to invent a new reason why we couldn't ever get rid of it.