For years, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has been under siege. Not by inefficiency or irrelevance, but by a coordinated effort to bleed it dry, sabotage its operations, and push it toward privatization. This isn’t just a bureaucratic shuffle—it’s an attack on one of the last truly public institutions that serves every single American, no matter where they live, without bias, without profit-driven motives, and without fail. And now, they want to get rid of it.
The Long War on the Postal Service
The USPS isn’t struggling because it’s outdated or mismanaged—it’s struggling because Congress rigged the system against it. In 2006, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act was passed, forcing USPS to pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance. No other agency or private company is shackled with this absurd burden. This single move drained billions from USPS, manufacturing a “financial crisis” that privatization advocates could exploit.
Then came the systematic gutting: closing post offices, cutting worker hours, delaying deliveries, and creating artificial bottlenecks. Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, appointed in 2020 despite having deep financial ties to private competitors, mail delivery slowed, sorting machines were dismantled, and the sabotage accelerated. The goal? To make USPS look incompetent and justify handing over its services to FedEx, UPS, and Amazon.
Why Privatization is a Disaster
The USPS isn’t just a mail service—it’s a lifeline. Rural communities, low-income Americans, small businesses, and even veterans relying on medication shipments depend on affordable, universal mail delivery. Privatization means higher prices, fewer locations, and entire areas cut off from reliable service. It means prioritizing profit over public good, just like what we’ve seen with the privatization of healthcare, prisons, and utilities.
We’ve already seen how this plays out. FedEx and UPS charge exorbitant fees for rural deliveries—fees that USPS absorbs to keep mail accessible. If USPS disappears, so does that safety net. Privatization doesn’t mean better service—it means more expensive, less equitable service.
The Solution: Fight Back
We need to stand in solidarity with USPS workers and demand an end to this sabotage. That means:
Repealing harmful legislation like the pre-funding requirement that chokes USPS financially.
Firing Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and replacing him with leadership committed to strengthening public mail service.
Expanding USPS services, including postal banking, which could provide affordable financial services to millions of unbanked Americans.
Demanding Congress protect and fully fund USPS, treating it as the essential public good it is.
The Bottom Line
The USPS has survived for nearly 250 years, through wars, depressions, and every technological shift imaginable. It’s not outdated—it’s a cornerstone of American life. The attack on USPS isn’t about efficiency—it’s about greed, about carving up another public institution and selling it to the highest bidder. We can’t let that happen.
The mail must go through. And it will—if we fight for it. Stand with USPS. Defend public services. Stop the privatization scam.
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