4 ms·

I don’t understand why there isn’t more outrage over USPS based advertising. You are, basically, legally required to have a box where they deliver physical ads.

I don’t understand why there isn’t more outrage over USPS based advertising. You are, basically, legally required to have a box where they deliver physical ads. Besides the annoyance factor, it also generates a huge amount of pointless waste which is bad for the environment. Why aren’t more people angry about that?

barryrandall 3y ago
I'd love to be able to pre-reject anything sent standard class, but there are limits to how much time I can spend on activism and how much I can afford to spend bribing politicians.
adamfeldman 3y ago
I did the opt-out linked below and the volume of junk mail dropped significantly. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-stop-junk-mail https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-stop-junk-mail
- colejohnson66 3y ago
  Amazing that instead of fixing the problem, the government actually requires I pay some third party to handle this for me.
callalex 3y ago
The alternative would be to properly fund the system with tax money instead of ad money. When you bring that up most Americans start acting like a toddler, cover their ears, and shout “bla bla bla that’s communism”.
- pfannkuchen 3y ago
  Physical paper mail is pretty clearly a legacy system at this point, no? Seems straightforward to delete it and replace it with an email service where each physical address gets an email handle that gets transferred between residents when someone moves in/out. For very old people and Amish there could be an opt-in physical alternative but you need to pick it up at a central location, or pay to have it forwarded by a private package delivery service. Am I sounding like a toddler?
  - elashri 3y ago
    This will be hard to implement. If I got an email because I live on xx then I moved to xxx what will happen to my old email? and would I be getting a new email for the new address. Privacy issue a side as you don't want the next resident to know your history of stuff you got... bla bla. We can solve it by requiring dynamic mapping between email address and physical address. But then your email will be tied to you as a person. Which ironically will mean that whoever got hold of this email will always be able to send you ads. It would much harder to get an email for each address you have and preventing re-using it will require some effort. I don't think a universal email will work in the US. The US does not even have a national ID and many Americans does not have passports (because a lot of then will never need one).
    - anticensor 3y ago
      The US does have a national ID card: The US Passport Card. They should strive to make it free of charge and compulsory.
      - elashri 3y ago
        I understand that. And I mentioned the passports already in my comments. But in the context of my comment. national ID would be required and must issued for every citizen (adult), which is not the case. So hence there is not effective national ID in tue US.
        anticensor 3y ago
        The passport card acts an internal passport, between the 50 subject states and dependent territories.
        pfannkuchen 3y ago
        Thank you for acknowledging Canada’s true status.
        3y ago
davkan 3y ago
My understanding is that bulk mail essentially subsidies individual mail to a large degree. I do dislike getting ads in any form though. They have recycle bins in my P.O. Box building so I toss any flyers right then and there. When I used to get delivery it always annoyed me having to bring trash from my mailbox into my house to recycle it.
- datavirtue 3y ago
  It's also an excellent vector for scamming the elderly. There are literally legal businesses who's entire model is fooling seniors into buying stuff (sending money) by making their communication look similar to government agencies and other legitimate bussinesses.
ajdude 3y ago
Whatever I get junk mail, I check to see if it has one of those "business reply mail" prepaid envelopes. I then shove as much of my other junk mail into that envelope as I can, and mail it back to the company on their tab. This is surprisingly effective at reducing junk mail.

barryrandall 3y ago

I'd love to be able to pre-reject anything sent standard class, but there are limits to how much time I can spend on activism and how much I can afford to spend bribing politicians.

adamfeldman 3y ago

I did the opt-out linked below and the volume of junk mail dropped significantly. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-stop-junk-mail https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-stop-junk-mail

colejohnson66 3y ago
Amazing that instead of fixing the problem, the government actually requires I pay some third party to handle this for me.

callalex 3y ago

The alternative would be to properly fund the system with tax money instead of ad money. When you bring that up most Americans start acting like a toddler, cover their ears, and shout “bla bla bla that’s communism”.

pfannkuchen 3y ago
Physical paper mail is pretty clearly a legacy system at this point, no? Seems straightforward to delete it and replace it with an email service where each physical address gets an email handle that gets transferred between residents when someone moves in/out. For very old people and Amish there could be an opt-in physical alternative but you need to pick it up at a central location, or pay to have it forwarded by a private package delivery service. Am I sounding like a toddler?
- elashri 3y ago
  This will be hard to implement. If I got an email because I live on xx then I moved to xxx what will happen to my old email? and would I be getting a new email for the new address. Privacy issue a side as you don't want the next resident to know your history of stuff you got... bla bla. We can solve it by requiring dynamic mapping between email address and physical address. But then your email will be tied to you as a person. Which ironically will mean that whoever got hold of this email will always be able to send you ads. It would much harder to get an email for each address you have and preventing re-using it will require some effort. I don't think a universal email will work in the US. The US does not even have a national ID and many Americans does not have passports (because a lot of then will never need one).
  - anticensor 3y ago
    The US does have a national ID card: The US Passport Card. They should strive to make it free of charge and compulsory.
    - elashri 3y ago
      I understand that. And I mentioned the passports already in my comments. But in the context of my comment. national ID would be required and must issued for every citizen (adult), which is not the case. So hence there is not effective national ID in tue US.
      - anticensor 3y ago
        The passport card acts an internal passport, between the 50 subject states and dependent territories.
        pfannkuchen 3y ago
        Thank you for acknowledging Canada’s true status.
        3y ago

davkan 3y ago

My understanding is that bulk mail essentially subsidies individual mail to a large degree. I do dislike getting ads in any form though. They have recycle bins in my P.O. Box building so I toss any flyers right then and there. When I used to get delivery it always annoyed me having to bring trash from my mailbox into my house to recycle it.

datavirtue 3y ago
It's also an excellent vector for scamming the elderly. There are literally legal businesses who's entire model is fooling seniors into buying stuff (sending money) by making their communication look similar to government agencies and other legitimate bussinesses.

ajdude 3y ago

Whatever I get junk mail, I check to see if it has one of those "business reply mail" prepaid envelopes. I then shove as much of my other junk mail into that envelope as I can, and mail it back to the company on their tab. This is surprisingly effective at reducing junk mail.