BY VIRGINIA PENIAS AND BRANDON SLOANE
You’ve got mail! But not on Saturdays? In an effort to save money, the US postal service is considering eliminating mail delivery on Saturdays. What’s more is that there are some critics calling for the elimination of the postal service as a whole. Though it may not seem like such a big deal in today’s technologically advanced world, there are many factors to be taken into consideration as the post office makes their decision that could affect us as a country.
Though most letters and documents can be sent virtually through email, packages and objects must be dropped off at the post office to be sent out. The service is very convenient when sending people birthday cards, merchandise, or even gifts. According to the US Postal Service, the average number of mail pieces processed each day is a whopping 562 million pieces! If mail service were to be terminated, there would be no way for cards and gifts to be sent to friends, family, and clients around the world. Many people wonder why the postal service still exists and think it should be abolished. Mail service is very important in the United States, and everywhere in the world.
Over the years, technology has replaced many human services. However while ATM machines have replaced bank tellers and tablets have compensated for books without many problems, the same cannot be said for the postal service. With technological advancements dominating communication, the removal of the postal service probably would not affect us as individuals. However, many people only consider the changes that will be brought to them, but don’t think about the people who will be affected most. It is easy to urge the world to switch to email, but the importance of the mail system is bigger than what it may appear to be on the surface. According to postcom.org, the Postal Service is the nation’s second largest civilian employer, after Walmart. In the year 2001, the service employed 891,005 people. The mail carriers, postal office workers, and all other employees that take part in mail delivery production would no longer have jobs.
Watching the economy fluctuate day after day, businesses must take advantage of all advertising opportunities. Coupons, promotions, and sales lure customers in. Most companies’ main source of advertisement is through mail and sending advertisements out during the weekend could convince customers to go out and shop, helping money stay in circulation. If mail service were to vanish, people would be less likely to shop and spend money. As technology is slowly replacing jobs, the United States needs all of the help it can get.
The U.S postal service offers jobs, advertisement, and a source of communication. Getting rid of this excellent service, even for a day or a week, could damage us in unthinkable ways.
The United States Postal Service made recent headlines when they came out with their intention to cancel Saturday mail deliveries. While some argue that this is a bad thing, in reality, the change is anything but. This issue brings up a much bigger point: the value of the Postal Service in today’s world. The Postal service is an antiquated and flawed part of the American governmental system and serves little purpose in modern society.
The biggest drawback of the postal system is the length of time it takes to send and receive letters and packages. Appropriately nicknamed “Snail Mail”, it takes items sent through the postal system an average of 2-7 days to reach its destination anywhere in the United States. And that isn’t even taking into consideration internationally mailed items. Those could take weeks to be sent and received. When you compare this to the near instant communication from text messages or emails, the speed of physically mailed items seems prehistoric.
Another reason why postal mail is outdated is due to the enormous costs that accumulate through the process of mailing things. The USPS charges postage costs per ounce for everything that is mailed through their system. It costs 0.20$ per ounce for letters and 0.17$ per ounce for packages on top of the original charges of 0.50$ per letter and 1.95$ per package for each item mailed. When you add in the cost of envelopes and the paper and ink used for the actual letters, it can become pretty pricy. When you stack this up against emailing which is free, it becomes hard to validate paying for your mail.
According to USPS.com, the United States Postal Service processed around 167.9 billion pieces of mail in 2011. This astronomically large amount of mail brings up another point that proves how the Postal Service isn’t a beneficial entity of the American government: billions of pieces of paper are manufactured to be used for mail each year, which is detrimental to the environment. Most people will open a letter and read it once or twice, and then throw it away and move on with their days. So when you factor in the sheer amount of paper that is used in situations like this each year, it seems like a wasteful use of our resources to send mail through the postal service when you could just use an emailing website. Email is not only more environmentally friendly because it uses no paper, but it also is a much easier and more efficient system to keep track of documents sent and received.
While the post office, like an old car, may hold quite a bit of sentimental value to some, the truth is that it is an outdated and inefficient method of communication. Newer and better forms of technology like Email have revolutionized how we communicate with each other. No longer do we have to be chained to the slow and wasteful “Snail Mail” system. We are on the path to global interconnectedness that will dictate the way we live for the rest of our lives.
