First Class: The U.S. Postal Service, Democracy, and the Corporate Threat

Investigating the essential role that postal system plays in American democracy and how the corporate sector has attempted to destroy it.

The U.S. Postal System is under assault. For decades, corporate interests and ideologues have sought to convert this invaluable public institution into yet another profit-driven corporation. In 2020, the attacks escalated. In the middle of a pandemic and a presidential election dependent on mail-in ballots, the newly installed postmaster, Louis DeJoy, disrupted postal operations by slowing down mail delivery, decreasing window hours, and removing mail-processing equipment and neighborhood mailboxes. An outraged and indignant public fought back and scored a victory, reversing his policies.

Though that stage of the battle ended in a public victory, the corporate war against the Postal System continues. In First Class, Christopher Shaw provides a brief history of the USPS, exposing the various campaigns against it, who has been waging them, and the consequences to the American public--and democracy itself--if they are not stopped

Praise for First Class:

Such visionary leaders like Benjamin Franklin created our universal postal service for the common good of all Americans. But--lookout America!--here comes a cabal of greedheads and boneheads to plunder and corporatize this essential public resource. Shaw's book alerts us to this thievery, and shows us how to stop it.--Jim Hightower, syndicated columnist and radio commentator

"Shaw does an impressive job documenting how the Postal Service has provided a wide range of public services, going well beyond delivering the mail, for more than two centuries. This book should be essential reading for anyone who thinks that privatizing the Postal Service is a good idea, or that privatization of public services always leads to gains in efficiency."--Dean Baker, co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research

"Required reading for anyone who wants to understand the push to privatize the post office and why it needs to be resisted."--Steve Hutkins, editor of Save the Post Office and Professor of English at New York University

Christopher W. Shaw's First Class: The U.S. Postal Service, Democracy, and the Corporate Threat makes a passionate but well-argued case for a healthy USPS. Shaw organizes his methodical argument around decades of attacks on the USPS
in doing so, he effectively refutes the flawed (and often anti-democratic) cases for privatization and deregulation. The USPS is essential for a democratic American society
thank goodness we have this new book from Christopher W. Shaw explaining why.--Danny Caine, author of Save the USPS and owner of the Raven Book Store