Has anyone done a study on the environmental effect of not flying all that stuff to the US anymore? Is it notable, or an irrelevant blip?
Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
71–80 of 172 posts
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is affecting private carriers as well.
There's no goal for the privatized USPS to actually be successful , only to destroy the public good. It's government, it works, so therefore it must be destroyed. This is really how Republicans think.
> it works, so therefore it must be destroyed. This is really how Republicans think
I've been living here four years and met some really wonderful Americans, both Democrat and Republican, yet I don't think I've met a single one who thinks the way you're presenting. This seems like a pretty bleak way to view your country's politics, respectfully.
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Who are you imagining will step into the power vacuum if the US collapses economically?
China is by far the most likely candidate, if it navigates its aging demographic issue well.
That's a huge if, and would not be good news for Canada if it did in fact occur.
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#74Like many others, I'm of the opinion that shit is about to hit the fan in terms of the economy. Too many alarm bells, too many attempts by the admin to cover up and distract from the pillars starting to show cracks. I hope the recession ends up being smaller in length and magnitude than the 2008-2009 recession because that one wrecked an entire generation in terms of wealth and psychology.
If 80% of postal traffic was commercial and just being used to not pay duty/tariffs, then the tariffs are achieving what was intended. I don’t like the broad application of tariffs that is implemented today. They should have been better targeted. But this is one area where they are achieving what was intended.
The purpose of de minimus is to streamline small shipments, commercial or not. It can't really be abused unless the declared value is false and it is really over $800.
If you are taking issue with Temu-like shipments, that is more of a postal treaty issue.
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Maybe should read mainstream media or ask your neighbor Canada
Canadian here. I have no plans to visit the US for the foreseeable future. This is upsetting to me since I have multiple long-term friends who live there that I'd like to visit. I don't feel safe so I'm not going!
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
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I agree that people overconsume "garbage." Indeed who needs 30 dolls or 30 Lego sets (Yes, I know Legos are not made in China, but never the less it's true). We don't need to revamp home decor every five years. What's wrong with having avocado green bathrooms or wood paneling in basements? Did the Russkies or Chinese communists ever feel like their people's housing needed new decor every few years? I doubt it. We cou…
The context of the quote thus.
First we argue that tariffs will bear no harm for the American people and when people plainly see prices going we change tack and argue that Americans not only should bear the pain of the tariffs in order to achieve the largely entirely imaginary gains but that they can do so merely by sacrificing unnecessary luxury.
The problem is that each economic segment of society lives a live entirely different from the ones above it and the bottom half shall not be sacrificing luxuries and the US shall not be stronger for it.
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
There has long been a desire to privatize the USPS, so this also fits neatly into the narrative that the USPS should not be a public good.
Have you looked at your mail lately? The USPS is mostly shipping around recycling, like ads. I would happily pay $7 to send a letter 1 time a year if it meant I would see half as much spam. Surely you see how the spam is subsidizing letters, and then “public good” isn’t so obviously black and white. I mean we could ban spam, tax to pay $6.50 of every $7 letter to enable wedding invitations be $0.50 to mail… but why?
Id rather get the spam and pay $1 for letters. Then lower income people have access to the public good, subsidized by industry. Otherwise sending mail becomes something only rich people do.
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you want the government to decide that for you, or should the individual decide what they need/want for themselves?
I do want them to keep absolute and utter disposable and toxic crap off the market and I want them to prevent dumping of products to undercut domestic producers. The government already has its hand on thousands of levers that control our lives. I agree with many and disagree with some. That's life in a republic.
The new Republican import taxes aren’t keeping “absolute and utter disposable crap off the market.”
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you want the government to decide that for you, or should the individual decide what they need/want for themselves?
I do want them to keep absolute and utter disposable and toxic crap off the market and I want them to prevent dumping of products to undercut domestic producers. The government already has its hand on thousands of levers that control our lives. I agree with many and disagree with some. That's life in a republic.
But they aren't doing that. Instead they are enforcing "reciprocal" tariffs which are calculated in such a fashion as to hold equal smaller and poorer countries buying less of our shit and actually tariffing ours.
Re: Postal traffic to US down by over 80% amid tariffs, UN says
#80Like many others, I'm of the opinion that shit is about to hit the fan in terms of the economy. Too many alarm bells, too many attempts by the admin to cover up and distract from the pillars starting to show cracks. I hope the recession ends up being smaller in length and magnitude than the 2008-2009 recession because that one wrecked an entire generation in terms of wealth and psychology.
"History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes." I think there will be a depression, not just a recession. I really hope I'm wrong.
From an old cartoon that I remember: "A depression can't happen, and even if it does it will never be called by that name."