You Need the Post Office

I mail a lot of stuff all over the map, so I've kept a wary eye on the recent Post Office drama.
I hear a lot of whining about how "nobody" uses the post office and its functions should be taken over by private companies.  One particularly idiotic pundit suggested Wal*Mart as our new 'de facto' post office since it's "everywhere".

I care about the post office for one reason, the same reason you ought to care about the post office;

If I want to ship a standard hardcover book across the country to NYC via the post it'll cost me roughly $3.
If I use UPS, it'll cost me $12.
If I use Fedex, it'll cost me $32, and that's for pickup at a Fedex location.

If anything happens to the post office the price of everything ordered online will shoot way the hell up.  Even big players like Amazon who strongarm better rates and offer services like Amazon Prime are going to eat it since *everybody* uses the Post Office for residential delivery.

One more thing to keep in mind-  the 'free market' has no interest in delivering packages to anywhere except large population centers.  Inefficient, out of the way communities will be saying 'hello!' to a long commute to the nearest UPS or Fedex outpost to pick up their junk.

Something to think about the next time you hear a yay-hoo scoff at the post office because "nobody sends letters any more!".