General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: So the Post Office Whipped UPS and FedEx in terms of delivering packages for Christmas 2013 [View all]freshwest
(53,661 posts)If consumers or workers demand better treatment they are the ones who 'race to the bottom' by moving to states with low minimum wages, use prison labor or move abroad. Right now they are using lobbyists to get Congress to screw the last vestige of a socialized universal service that provides for the country's people, not profits for a few.
And the 'starve the beast' crowd has made almost certain that the government, which was put in place to regulate them for the good of the people and not rip them off, has less power to stop them.
Merchants have no country. The mere spot they stand on does not constitute so strong an attachment as that from which they draw their gains. ~ Thomas Jefferson
They are not the people's friends, even some non-profits extract funds and take public assets to give to private groups. This is constant pattern since Nixon started his 'government should be run like a business, and private business does it better' mantra.
To answer that, I would give the examples of Blackwater and these alternative mail carriers, who have raced to the bottom in wages and working conditions. The corporations hate those union postal workers with good wages, pensions and benefits, but won't allow unions and the same for their own workers.
They are the race to the bottom shills, who will never stop doing it. After all, it's their business model. As far as theft is concerned, the free market steals lives. Slavery was and is a part of the free market today. And their heirarchy has one purpose, to funnel the money to the few that own shares or the CEOs.
It doesn't make them evil. Their function is not the same as an institution run for the good of all.
Please don't take offense at my tone, I am not criticizing your general meaning, I just think the problem is bigger than the one think. I may be not speaking to the exact things you are concerned about. Peace.