by mikedsign on September 6th, 2011

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(US citizens) What do you feel would be the biggest consequence of the loss of the US Postal Service?

Please feel free to express and expand upon your opinion below.

Dramatic increase of costs to ship packages and information due to privatising. - 0% (no votes) 0%

The loss of legitamacy and important government controls and guarantees. - 0% (no votes) 0%

The loss of yet again more union jobs. - 50% (1 vote) 50%

Disbanding the post office is tantamount to the begining stages of the elimination of the first amendment. and a precursur to move for the elimination of the Bill of Rights. - 0% (no votes) 0%

Better off without the post office(well except for more junk mail). - 50% (1 vote) 50%

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by Glenn Blaylock on September 7th, 2011
voted: The loss of yet again more union jobs.
I don't think that there would be a dramatic increase in the cost of shipping packages. There is already a fair amount of competition in this market. It's not just UPS and FedEx. There is also DHL. If one of the companies tried to raise their prices too much then the others would just undercut them and take their business. This is the way free markets work.

The same goes for you second point. If one of the carrier became too sloppy with their service the others will take their business by doing a better job.

With respect to you third point, would the reduction in union power really be a bad thing? I think that unions long ago lost sight of what they were supposed to be doing and became more interested in maintaining their power than they were in actually looking out for the interests of their members. So, a loss of power to them would be a good thing. They need to be humbled.

You fourth point is just absurd. There are so many other ways to get one's message out these days. We don't need the USPS to do that.

Finally without the USPS we would most like see a drastic reduction in the amount of junk mail because FedEx, et. al., don't do mass mailings. That has been strictly the purview of the USPS. There might be an attempt to do more of that via email, but the filters are getting pretty good at blocking that.
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by Hardcore Conservative on September 7th, 2011
voted: Better off without the post office(well except for more junk mail).
What does freedom of speech have to do with the mail? I don't see the correlation there.
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by Friendly Stranger on September 6th, 2011
I can't pick just one of those choices. But I can say that three out of those choices apply:

To start, I do believe that an increase in costs for shipping prices due to privatizing will be a burden that many would not want to encounter, but it is inevitable. Basically what that means is, individual companies like UPS and FedEx will increase the price of shipping because for one, they can do it. Secondly, they want to make as much of a profit as they can and they will take advantage of that. I also believe that the government will lose control because remember, the U.S. Postal service is federally funded and run. That means, as it is right now the government has direct control over various transactions that go on within the U.S. Postal Service. The moment it ceases to exist then the federal government not only loses control, but it becomes weaker in influence. Next, I think the loss of jobs is perhaps the biggest issue. Our economy cannot afford more layoffs because the economy is already fragile as it is. More job losses, means more stock market trouble, more unemployment, and it means a possible economic collaspe.

Finally, I don't think the other two scenarios matter. The Bill of rights and freedom of speech are still in tact with or without mail service. Besides, the internet has become a massive gathering for individuals to use their 1st Amendment right. The internet is almost a totality of speaking what you want. As far as the loss of the U.S. Postal Service being a good thing, well I don't know we are better off without it. We need mail because it would be an elimination of someone' s job.
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- You do not see it as a possible conflict of interest. Example say you need to mail or send a payment for a mortgage. now you sent the payment but since the bank owns the mail service and wants your property "somehow" the payment just doesn't reach its destination. Blacklisted. OK what is you recourse? The government lost controls so they cant help "legally".
  Second scenario. OK your overbilled continuously its mailed but yet since that "stamp" is not on it you now have limited legal recourse. As it is not considered mail fraud without the stamp that is legally binding.
  OK another scenario, years later the industry leads to gaining private controls of messages sent over the internet thru legitimacy disputes due to the loss of information controls and guarantees. Now private industry has more rights to you information. A struggle that has been balanced for years and will be lost with the disbanding of the Postal Service.
  OK now whats to say they don't years down the line require a member service fee. A contract must be signed for the yearly "privilege" to exchange information. So now if you are of the poorer low income or no income the ability to send a letter for a small transaction is unavailable or limited to weather or not a plan is affordable. Much like affording cable, internet, home phone, cell phone. Some people cannot afford those services. Look how much these services cost to American citizens in comparison to the rest of the world. But the internet. look many people cant even afford basic cable let alone the internet. In fact after the cable switchover many lost the ability to stay informed as they could no longer pick up a signal on the free antenna signals and some people don't even have phones because the costs are to high or their credit is too bad for a service plan and prepaid is much too expensive in the long run. Newspapers are still struggling and moving towards publishing only to the internet.
  Bottom line is the Postal Service is one of the most important "minimum requirements" of the government by the people to ensure the people can exchange information.
  
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  by mikedsign on September 6th, 2011
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