The Mailbox Conspiracy

I believe there is a conspiracy in the USA that is so benign it's overlooked by everyone and in fact this post will be dumped on for it's silliness - yet, this conspiracy has deep reaching consequences that effect how we live our lives and how the economy and the country grows - That conspiracy is The Mailbox Conspiracy.

Consider the mailbox for a moment. Simple, humble, sitting there year after year rain or shine snow or sleet. It asks for nothing. The mailbox is happy to accept your mail and wait for you to retrieve it. On it goes to be your humble servant yet another day. And therein lies The Problem.

The Mailbox accepts what ever the postman feeds it. Always. Without fail. Never-ending.

In today's climate of e-mail and internet communication less and less people are sending letters to communicate. We can fax for that or text, or e-mail or facebook the list is endless. Prices at the Post Office are going up because people are not using the Post Office services like they once did.

Yet your mailbox seems to be always full with mail. Junk mail. Unsolicited mail. Unwanted, Unasked for mail. Most junk mail is thrown away. Many people do not even get bills in the mailbox anymore because we can have bank, credit card statements even hospital bills and the like sent to us electronically.

Ever ask a postman not to put this unsolicited, unwanted, unasked for mail into your mailbox? I have. They cannot comply. The Postman Must put the junk mail in your mailbox - or he's in breech of The Law. The Post Office is a government agency. This government agency comes onto your private property and forces you to receive unwanted unsolicited documentation on behalf of companies that want to solicit you and your money.

To me this sounds like an infringement of my rights. Can you think of other examples where the government acts as a middleman to force something from the business sector onto the private citizen? Aren't there laws in place to prevent this type of thing? Not when it comes to the mail it seems.

Part of your day, everyday revolves around checking the mailbox. We see these unwanted ads time and time again until one day - we break. We find ourselves buying that Big Mac even if we don't have the coupon on us. The companies know this. The government knows this. This is a form of brainwashing and yes, they both count on it happening. The government has played it's part well and received compensation for it by the companies who's ads they deliver. This is akin to bribes and corruption if you ask me.

I say it's time we get to choose. For telephone solicitors we have the National Do Not Call List. You can contact them and have your number restricted to those companies you do not want to be solicited by. We have nothing like this for the U.S. mail. I personally do not even use the mail system. I'm tired of having to take time out of my day to empty the governments trash out of a box I have nothing to do with. I say let the government come everyday and empty their own trash.

The Mailbox - Innocent? Not so much.

Comments from postmasters welcome.

Most of that crap is advertising, like anything else. Expect more of it, too, because the USPS is about to go t!ts up, and they are doing the hard sell on businesses right now to use direct mail.

just put a sign up no junk mail the dog should get the drift .growl at him a couple of times worked for me .you can block junk mail in the uk

You know, I have asked my mailman the same thing and he answered the same with a bit added "I wouldn't mind personally as I hate junk mail too, but I also want to keep my job."

I didn't go past that as I understood, sometimes you have to follow stupid rules or policies.

I do understand why though, the post office is paid to deliver the junk mail and its mail that must be delivered. If they stopped performing their service, they would get sued and lose more customers.

There are some people that request to get as much junk mail as possible. They then burn it in the winter time as a fuel source.

reply to post by Violater1


I keep the grocery store fliers that come in a big pack every Tuesday for starting fires. Maybe I should recycle but hey, I lurves me a nice warm fire in my fireplace. I love it when I get a free Sunday paper every once in a while.

The issue I have with the post office is they deliver mail based on the address.....it doesn't matter what name is on the mail. Thanks to the internet, I'm receiving all kinds of mail because some website says that these people are attached to my husband's name, including his dead ex-wife and his daughter, who hasn't lived with him since 1998. The deceased ex's house is being foreclosed on. Because they weren't getting any response by sending the mail to the address being foreclosed (DUH), they did a computer link up and now we're getting the foreclosure notices. I got tired of writing "DOES NOT LIVE HERE" and "DECEASED" on the mail. I just chuck it in the trash now.

I throw away the advertising without even giving it much thought, which is an incredible waste of paper. Even more pathetically, business I used to frequent when I lived 400 miles away in the DFW area update their address base thanks to a computer, and then send me coupons at my new address, which is a total waste for them. Like I'm going to drive 400 miles to get $5.00 off $50.00 worth of vitamins.

The only conspiracy with my mailbox is that businesses are conspiring to drive me crazy and fill up my trash bin.

reply to post by JohnPhoenix


The Mailbox Conspiracy....

the Federal Government has only power over that which it creates..

and being confined to the District of Columbia..

how can it have far reaching power over all 50 states?

the zip code..

look for your draft papers & tax obligation in your mailbox..

we are not in Kansas anymore.. its kansas 67___

The post office is paid to deliver that "junk mail", by the catalog company or direct marketer. They can no more dump in the trash or "not deliver" it than they can your regular mail.

The entity to blame is the DMA, the Direct Marketing Association, and they do have an "opt out" choice. (how good that is, is debatable.)

From the Federal Trade Commision Web site:

Direct Marketers

The Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mail Preference Service lets you opt out of receiving unsolicited commercial mail from many national companies for five years. When you register with this service (for a $1 fee), your name will be put on a “delete” file and made available to direct-mail marketers. However, your registration will not stop mailings from organizations that do not use the DMA’s Mail Preference Service. To register with DMA’s Mail Preference Service, go to www.dmachoice.org.

The DMA is the one putting that mail in your mail box, and they paid the post office to deliver it. So that's who deserves your ire. Blaming the P.O. for delivering junk mail is like blaming AT&T or Verizon for telemarketing calls.

You realize that if you don't want this junk mail, you can simply write "return to sender" on it and stick it back in the mail box. At that point it becomes the post office's problem. If enough people did that, eventually the advertizers and the post office would have to take notice.

Just for kicks I did an internet search on " Are you required by law to have a mailbox?"

I came across many posts on a wide range of forums that said something like, " Yes, you have to have one.. the government requires you to have one so they can send you official mail like voter registration notices and jury duty notices."

It turns out this is not true. According to the U.S. Post Office you have the right to refuse any and all mail delivery if you choose.

1.1.1 Delivery to Addressee
Addressees may control delivery of their mail.

And

1.1.2 Refusal at Delivery
The addressee may refuse to accept a mailpiece when it is offered for delivery.

pe.usps.gov...

One interesting post was

I simply hung a sign on a big oak tree in my front yard that says.."mailbox". The first week or so really messed up the mailman, now he doesn't even do much more than slow down each day to see if the sign is still up. Victory is mine! - posted by Ghengis

www.city-data.com...

I like junk mail.
I save it in a box and when i get enough i roll it up in a plain wrapper and tape it up and mail it with no postage to the worse offender,

The post office has another policy that they will not let a person see what they are getting in the mail if postage is due till they pay the postage.

Then they unwrap it only to find its returned junk mail.

Ilts surprising how over the years how many companies take me off there mailing list after getting one of these packages.