President Trump and the oligarchs surrounding him want to privatize the USPS. The word “privatize” has been uttered by Trump and his donors in regards to other federal government agencies as well; Medicare, Social Security Services, and others. This takeover isn’t about helping the American people, but about making money for Trump and his oligarchs. This attempt isn’t new. The takeover began in Trump’s first term when he appointed a GOP donor and fundraiser as Postmaster General, Louis DeJoy.
Trump’s recent remarks following a reporter’s question about the fate of the United States Postal Service—a national treasure for 250 years—was full of lies and misinformation. One reason he gave for the takeover was the amount of money the service loses. He insinuated that taxpayer dollars are being wasted, but that is not true.
The USPS funds itself from its own revenue (sales of postage, products, and services), not from Congress as part of the budget process. The money “lost” is caused by two things: A change in the way Americans communicate with each other (letter deliveries are way down), the fact that the USPS provides retirement benefits to its workers. It does not affect the public in any way. No taxpayer dollars are involved in USPS operations.
In 2020, and for months leading up to the election in 2020, Donald Trump attacked mail-in voting. He accused a safe method of casting a ballot during the COVID pandemic of being problematic and fraudulent. That was when the appointment of Louis DeJoy as USPS Postmaster General caused ripples of concerned voices across the country.
There were concerns that Trump had appointed someone to slow down mail delivery or “accidentally lose” ballots from blue districts. It was not an unfounded concern.
Actions he took immediately after his appointment caused concerns that he might be attempting to delay the delivery of mail-in ballots. The delay of delivery concerns were not a conspiracy theories or a “Democrat attack.” It was based on facts. On-time delivery significantly slowed down after DeJoy was appointed.
Louis DeJoy wasn’t just a donor to Donald Trump—he’s been an active GOP donor and fundraiser, contributing $700,000 to Donald Trump’s Republican National Convention (RNC). he also owned stakes in trucking and delivery companies set to benefit from the destruction of the USPS. He would be able to award contracts to these delivery companies and enrich himself. Corruption and greed are a common theme in any analysis of “why” President Trump makes a decision.
Louis DeJoy, a rich man, is appointed by Trump to rob the taxpayers and the government. I feel like this is happening again this term, but I can’t think of the rich guy’s name… Oh, that’s right. Its because there are so many billionaires in Trump’s cabinet! Elon Musk is a Nazi sympathizer and lead oligarch, making the most money in this robbery of the American people.
Representative Ayanna Pressley once slammed DeJoy, blaming him for USPS failures.
Ayanna Pressley wasn’t the only person expressing concerns about DeJoy.
Many activists opposed President Trump’s appointment of Louis DeJoy as Postmaster General in 2020. Critics, including Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, raised concerns about DeJoy’s potential conflicts of interest and his controversial changes to USPS operations. The appointment sparked nationwide debates and calls for accountability within the postal service.
Current USPS Takeover
This push to privatize the USPS sparked a heated debate across the nation. Many fear that this shift will lead to increased rates for mailing letters and packages, making it harder for everyday Americans to stay connected.
Imagine a world where sending a birthday card costs as much as a fancy dinner. Turning a service over to private companies creates two serious issues:
The package and mail delivery service Americans have depended on for two and a half centuries will now be subject to pricing set by CEOs whose only goal is to maximize profits. The cost of stamps will be subject to the same incentives found in other areas of a Capitalistic society.
We will lose the small town Post Offices that employ members of the community we live in. Tbe worker who delivers our mail, someone we have grown to love, who our dogs love to hate, will disappear. They will be replaced by corporations that care more about profit than workers or the people they serve.
The heart of the matter lies in accessibility; privatization could mean that rural areas, often underserved, might lose reliable mail service altogether. People have been sharing stories of their small-town post offices, emphasizing how vital they are for community ties and local businesses. The community has begun to rally, eager to protect a service they believe is essential to the fabric of American life.
We could find ourselves in a situation where different prices are set for the type of mail you want to send. Birthday, sympathy, and Christmas cards could cost one amount, personal letters a different amount, and bill payments something else. Imagine that coupled with an authoritarian government run by oligarchs who could require mail delivery workers to inspect your mail in order to determine the appropriate fee before putting it in an envelope to be delivered.
Lost or damaged mail would be a nightmare to rectify. No longer could we just go down to the local Post Office and pick up the package requiring a signature that we weren’t home when it was delivered. Calling a 1-800 customer service line would involve long hold times, customer service representatives who don’t know the answers to any of our questions, and the overall cold, heartless aspect found in any corporation.
If you’ve ever witnessed the transformation of a small business into a corporation, you know the effects. I worked for a small animal hospital owned by two small-town veterinarians for over a decade. The doctors and staff knew the name of every pet, the life story of every client—kids’ names, new home purchase, death in the family, etc.—and would send out cards and letters to these “members of the family” to express their support when warranted.
The content between dividers is one of my ADD moments, but way longer than usual, so if you want, you can skip it and go directly to the continuation of the main topic of this article.
I remember two incidents that I will never forget, mostly because it would never happen in today’s business world. One of our certified veterinary technicians with decades of experience took the history in the exam room with a new client before the doctor saw them.
Minutes after the doctor entered the exam room, he exited and the man walked out with his dog in a huff. The doctor explained that the client insulted the technician and requested not to have her assist the doctor during his visits because of the ring of flowers tattooed around her wrist.
We’re not talking about face tattoos, neck tattoos, gang signs, or offensive words/images here (though I still disagree with discrimination against people with tattoos), it was a ring of red flowers on a green vine.
Asked about what happened, the doctor explained, “He didn’t want Dana working with his dog because if her tattoo. I told him we don’t judge people by their experience here so he can accept her help or go elsewhere. He decided to go elsewhere.” The doctor put his staff above profits. That is unheard of today.
The second instance of the hospital’s values being on full display was a doctor shouting at and kicking out a client after the client raised his voice and swore at a receptionist over his bill. He was told not to return unless he apologizes. He apologized.
Everyone in the community knew how kind and amazing the veterinarians were. They knew all of the staff by name and the staff knew their name as well. We had a few clients who visited a different an8nal hospital because they returned to us and said that saving a little bit of money isn’t worth losing the atmosphere of our hospital. They would talk about how cold and impersonal the staff were at other places.
Let me begin to end my way too long ADD moment with this: I watched as they began adding more veterinarians to the staff, added new positions and employees, hired a manager (after the doctors had managed staff and every other aspect of the practice for two decades), and ultimately expanded by opening another location in the city.
They also filed articles of incorporation to become an official corporation. The new manager fired staff members who worked there for 20 years. I had only been there for 13 years, but I was part of that group.
Why were the most senior, loyal workers let go? Over the years we had been given raises for excellent performance and dedication to the hospital. I started out cleaning cages for $8.50 and left as client care specialist and admin assistant making $14.50 (Note that I started there in 1996, so back then, making anything over $10/hour was the equivalent of $20/hour was a lot. Average wage at the time was $8).
We knew it was coming after the manager had hired several college students who were paid $8 and loved it. I told my co-workers that we were going to be fired. It didn’t make sense, from a managerial standpoint, to pay someone $20 to do a job college students and new employers were willing to do for much less.
The process of a firing an employee included a meeting to inform the employee they are being let go, along with an exit interview with the manager and partner doctors present. At the time, I was sad, but very angry and that gave me the courage to share my opinions with the manager about how she handles the whole process.
I shared that doing an exit interview right after telling someone they’re fired is a stupid idea. I cried while talking about my time working there, making the experience much worse than it already was. Don’t ask me questions and elicit my advice/opinions one second after you fire me. I suggested that the manager start doing exit interviews via phone, and wait at least two weeks or a month after the employee leaves the company.
The doctors, who were like fathers to me, didn’t attend the meeting (I later found out it was because they disagreed with the manager’s decision to let me go and would have cried the entire time). I emailed them after I was let go because I wasn’t handling it well.
Working with a staff that acted like a family (we often had pool parties at the home of the owner—where our spouses, significant others, and kids could attend, we went out to dinner sometimes, etc.). We knew the family members of every co-worker.
Shortly after I got married, one of the doctors gave me a loan to consolidate my debt after hearing that we were having financial troubles. He was like a father to me (mine wasn’t around after my parents divorced when I was 18)—giving me life advice, and encouraging me when I was moved from cleaning cages in the back to the front desk.
I cried to him, begged him not to make me accept a promotion and raise (😂) because my severe shyness and social anxiety had kept me from talking on the phone to anyone but family or going anywhere in public by myself—it was bad. So the thought of answering a business phone and greeting people as they walked in, terrified me.
He made me do it, telling me I was extremely capable of doing the job, it was the best thing for me, and I would thank him one day. I told him I wouldn’t because I would hate him forever if he made me do it. A year later, I thanked him.
Working there, I was a client favorite, I was great at deescalating angry client situations, and it cured my shyness, phone aversion, and social anxiety. It brought out the real me and I will be forever grateful. But after I was let go, I was severely depressed because my “home” and my “family” for over a decade had been ripped away from me.
The thought of working anywhere else with people I don’t know, with a boss that acts like a boss and treats staff like workers, made me nauseous.
I called my ex-boss/father-figure to get some answers. That’s where the actual point of my story comes in.
Believe it or not, there is a point to sharing my life story and it’s this: When I spoke with the doctor shortly after I was let go, he said, “Serena, what did we do? We were a family and the business was doing great. I listened to someone else and it was the biggest mistake of my life. We have two locations, 12 veterinarians, and so many staff members that I don’t even know some of their names. This has taught me a huge lesson and I want you to always remember this: Quantity is never better than quality.”
If you are thinking about expanding a very successful small business, just realize that you’re making the decision to prioritize quantity over quality. You can always have more workers and more customers, and make more money, but you will be degrading the quality of the service you provide.
If the Postal Service is privatized, the new business is going to choose the quantity of everything over the quality and reliability of the services they provide. Taking the USPS that Americans—generation after generation—have grown up with (and likely forgot to appreciate/feel grateful for), the mailman and the iconic truck that appears in movies and television shows, will be a very unpopular move.
Our dogs will bark and we’ll go look out the window expecting to see the mail truck at our mailbox—but it won’t be there. Jeff will no longer walk around the neighborhood in his blue shorts, baseball cap, with that giant bag overflowing with mail. We won’t be able to walk down to the post office to buy stamps and hear about how Cindy’s kids are doing.
The USPS belongs to the American people, and we will fight to save it from the oligarchs.
Join the progressive revolution—it’s a riot. Join our community for free and let’s fight back against Trump. We are stronger together.
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