by B. Maloney
Capitalism and its social conditioning are deeply pervasive.
People of the Quad Cities need to fight not only to maintain current public services and community resources but also to enhance, increase, and invest in them. This fight starts with examining the learned characteristics of our society and critically questioning who benefits from capitalism.
Under capitalism a profit must be made, and no cost is too high if it increases profit. The media, our social conditioning, and the status quo attempt to convince us that this is a necessary requirement to have a successful society . Through this lens agencies and businesses that do not create revenue are considered to be failing. This false framing invents the perception that a lack of profits is also an absence of worth. In this way, capitalism asserts that profits are more valuable than our neighbors.
For example, the United States Postal Service (USPS) is currently struggling against calls for privatization. While the USPS is a government entity, our tax dollars do not pay for the Postal Service. USPS is self-funded and relies on the sale of stamps, products, and services. Bizarrely, USPS is required to pay for the cost of its retirement healthcare 75 years into the future, a requirement no other federal agency or private corporation has. This requirement leads to the misconception that USPS is collapsing or in a budgetary deficit because of this orchestrated and invented crisis.
Not only would privatization of the USPS hurt local workers, as corporations owned by billionaires would swoop in and remove services and jobs in the name of profit, but these corporations would also raise prices. Workers, consumers, taxpayers, and citizens will pay dearly for these profits that benefit only a few.
For our neighbors, our livelihoods, and our local communities, another price increase could be financially devastating, and service cuts could mean the loss of a union, career, or pension. Privatization would close post offices in cities all around the country. This impact would be most felt by our more rural citizens who rely on the USPS for delivery of essential items. Additionally, a rise in prices would most affect our community’s most socioeconomically vulnerable.
Our neighbors will not benefit from the removal of a service that supports our local workers and community needs. Legal, financial, and medical matters are managed via mail. The idol of capitalism is so deeply embedded in the collective psyche that we forget that the United States Postal Service is, as its name states …a service. A crucial service that gives communities the tools to exercise their right to send and receive mail. USPS was never intended to make a profit—it was from its formation, intended to be a service for citizens of every community.
There should be no boundary to the right to send and receive mail. We cannot allow the rich and greedy to trample our neighbors, remove resources, and harm our communities. Privatization, to make a public service profitable for a few, is painfully loathsome. We must stop funneling money into the hands of billionaires and deconstruct our views on capitalism.
Visit fightingnalc.com to learn more about how you can help support workers at the USPS.