Isn't this just prolonging the inevitable? I understand people not wanting to lose their jobs, but this is progress.

Also interesting to note the average age of people in that photo. This has got to be one of the oldest protests in Portland history, and that should tell you something about the longterm feasibility to the postal service. Only the tobacco industry's customers are dying off faster, and at least they're still bringing in new smokers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Lett…

I would be fine with 5-day delivery, so long as I could keep my neighborhood post office :(

LIST OF THINGS I USE THE POSTAL SERVICE FOR ON A REGULAR BASIS:

1. MAIL MY RENT CHECK
2. RECEIVE BULK-JUNK MAIL THAT GOES STRAIGHT IN TO THE RECYCLING BIN

I WOULDN'T MISS ANY OF THOSE THINGS IF THEY WENT AWAY.

Sorry, Chuck. But I don't view losing infrastructure where we are able to mail a letter for less than a dollar and by which we depend in some places to deliver and collect our ballots to vote as "progress". Unless you call paying $7 for FedEx to deliver a Social Security check "progress". Some addresses in this country can ONLY get mail delivered via USPS. And small businesses and vendors in web sites like Etsy and eBay can only afford to send via the mail. This "free market" solution to everything is bullshit.

Read up on the facts. The only reason why the Post Office is in trouble is because an act of a Republican-led Congress required that they front-load their pension program for 30+ years. How do you you think FedEx and UPS would fare if they had to do that?

Stay ignorant. The politicians are depending on you.

"Unless you call paying $7 for FedEx to deliver a Social Security check "progress"."

No, progress is direct deposit, which has already completely replaced the need to mail checks. Mailing government checks (which costs the government a fortune, btw) will become practically unnecessary as soon as the people who are too old to figure out direct deposit die off, a date which is rapidly approaching. Progress is not wasting paper on bills, correspondence, newsletters, junk mail and glossy political mailers.

"The only reason why the Post Office is in trouble is because an act of a Republican-led Congress required that they front-load their pension program for 30+ years."

Yeah, I'm sure email, PDFs, fax, mobile phones, teleconferencing and text messaging had nothing to do with a decrease in profitability.

Outside of products purchased online, I can't think of a single function the postal service provides which won't be made completely unnecessary through technology in the not-to-distant future. If you can't afford to send something via FexEx, charge more for shipping. The USPS isn't around to serve as a low-cost shipping outlet for overpriced crafts, and even if it were, that could be done with 5-day a week delivery.

Mail is going the way of the telegraph, and that's not a bad thing.

What will this mean for the massive number of Portlanders who support themselves with eBay and etsy businesses?