Our government, do your job.

With all the talk about the U.S. Postal Service's financial troubles and the suggested possibility of doing away with the U.S.P.S., some in the media are now asking if the post office is still necessary.

Their biggest contention is that private business has filled the gap, thus making the post office irrelevant.

To this,  I respond, why do we have a government at all? Why bother?

My point is that supposedly, the government will "always" be there.  In the private sector, companies come and go.

For most people, "good" government is making sure the trains run on time.  It's all about infrastructure and core functionality.  When all else fails, the things we value as a country are supposed to keep going.  That includes public communications and transfer of goods.

This is the same reason that the government subsidizes Amtrack.  Even when it might not be making a profit, there is a value, a necessity, in ensuring the transportation of people and goods from one part of the country to another.

The same goes for the U.S. Postal Service.  They have a promise to keep.

It is in the U.S.'s best interests to maintain and ensure that mail and parcels are delivered despite what the private sector might be doing to compete with or duplicate those services.

Should services be modified at times to better meet public needs?  Absolutely.  Improving efficiency and streamlining services should always be expected, especially in government operated or subsidized services.

This talk of letting the U.S.P.S. collapse is ridiculous though.  What's the point of having a government if it's not going to do the things we expect it to do?

Our Federal government always seems to have time to stick their nose into things that have nothing to do with the core functionality or or infrastructure services they are supposed to be focusing on.

Social engineering, meddling in the affairs of other countries governments.  The time when we need them to focus on something they should be involved in, they want to consider walking away from it?   I don't think so.