The tumultuous history of the U.S. Postal Service--and its constant fight for survival
Over the course of more than 250 years, the U.S. Postal Service has gone through many shifts to keep up with technology and culture—including switching its focus from newspapers to letters to package delivery service. That flexibility has kept the institution relevant and solvent in the face of change.
Now the postal service faces what may be an existential crisis: The coronavirus has sent the nation’s already-declining mail volume into a new nadir. The U.S. House of Representatives Oversight committee recently warned the service might have to cease operations by June. In a joint statement, committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and Representative Gerry Connolly, who chairs the subcommittee that oversees the Postal Service, urged their colleagues to intervene. “Every community in America relies on the Postal Service to deliver vital goods and services, including life-saving medications,” they said. “The Postal Service needs America’s help, and we must answer this call.”
There are ideas to save the Postal Service. Some suggest it could turn to banking or providing rural broadband internet connections. Others think mail carriers could offer essential government services to the people who live along their routes—a role they say mail carriers are uniquely suited to fill. After all, even if they’re no longer sending their children through the mail, Americans still trust the U.S. Postal Service, which consistently ranks as their favorite government agency in both Pew and Gallup polls.
But will that be enough? That may depend on whether the Postal Service is given the opportunity to reinvent itself again.
-more-
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/05/tumultuous-history-united-states-postal-service-constant-fight-survival/?cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=History_20200525&rid=FB26C926963C5C9490D08EC70E179424
= new reply since forum marked as read
