I’ve always admired the United States Postal Service (USPS).
When I used to go down to the post office, people would greet me with surprise when I made comments about how great it was. My friends and family would brush it off whenever I raved about how cheap and easy it was to send a letter.
Today, the postal service has become big news, with President Trump and Republicans attempting to tear it down. We as a country have grown so accustomed to relying on the services of USPS that we take it for granted. The time has come to remind ourselves why USPS is an essential part of American society that should be celebrated, not destroyed.
As a younger person, I had the opportunity to travel overseas to many developing countries in South Asia, Central America, and the Middle East.
People in the United States don’t know what it’s like to wait in line to send a letter in some of these countries. We don’t have to bring our own glue to the post office, like I had to do during my time in India years ago. We don’t have to pay close attention to make sure our stamps actually get stamped instead of being resold. We don’t have to pay exorbitant prices to send a simple letter.
We should celebrate USPS and everything they do. Instead, our government treats them with disrespect. USPS is held to a different standard than other federal agencies; unlike other agencies, Congress requires the postal service to pre-fund benefits for its retired employees.
Despite this, the postal service has continued to provide exceptional service at a low cost to its customers and to the taxpayer.
Postal workers even check on our senior citizens — my 92-year-old mother maintains a close relationship with her local postal worker and he is able to check up on her regularly. This aspect of USPS really does matter. It represents the best of our humanity, and the best of our government.
In Massachusetts, USPS has become more essential than ever, as the Commonwealth has moved towards universal mail-in voting during the pandemic.
Mail-in voting provides a safe alternative to in-person voting. Citizens of Massachusetts can now exercise their right to vote without having to risk contracting COVID. This policy would be impossible without the postal service; USPS is helping to maintain and build our democracy even in the midst of a pandemic, simultaneously saving lives and improving our civil society.
Unions are one of the last bastions of the middle class — they stand for good wages for good work. Nobody embodies this ideal more than the American Postal Workers Union. We must remember that one of the reasons the Greatest Generation was able to be so great is because they made a living wage, and most had a pension. We can realize this goal by giving USPS the support it needs.
Recently, President Trump has threatened to cut funding to the postal service as a political bargaining chip. Not only could this potentially result in the destruction of USPS, but Trump himself has stated that without a fully-funded postal service, mail-in voting would be threatened nationwide.
The recent actions of Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy are even more concerning. Numerous mailboxes and mail-sorting machines throughout the country have been removed or destroyed, including at least a dozen mail-sorting machines in Massachusetts alone.
Even though the removal of more machines has been temporarily suspended, significant damage has already been done to the capability of the postal service to function effectively, especially during the upcoming election. Unless we work now to support USPS, the integrity of our election and the very existence of the postal service will be at risk.
During times of isolation, mail has a way of bringing us together, rekindling our common good and our common humanity. It allows us to touch each other in a unique way. During the time of the pandemic, one of my close friends and I started sending letters again. Together, we have rediscovered the joy of having a pen pal — the art of writing letters brings out something in ourselves that would be lost if mail as we know it were to disappear.
We’ve taken the postal service for granted for so long that it never occurred to us that someone would take away our right to send a letter. It’s time to recognize the institution and the people that have always guaranteed that right. It’s time to save USPS.
Gloucester resident Eileen R. Duff represents the Governor’s Council 5th District, including Peabody.