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The Untied States Postal Service (USPS) is raising the postage rates again. The new rate is a three-cent increase to thirty-seven cents per standard postage stamp. This new price hike reflects the USPS's struggle to stay relevant in a world of next day deliveries and instant emails. Electronic means of communication (through fax, telephone, email, or Internet posting) is only going to become more prevalent in our society, and the "snail mail" system of the current postal service is fast developing into a "last resort" method of delivery. The dinosaur USPS is facing extinction and we need to explore new options for this mail service. I believe that privatization of U.S. mail delivery is the fulfillment of this search. Privatization of the post office will help to make it a more profitable and reliable business, and it will eliminate the expensive governmental middleman. Corporations like Federal Express and the United Parcel Service prove the success of private mail carriers and offer us a glimpse into the mailing future.

The mail carrier Federal Express (FedEx), according to its website, "connects markets within just one to two business days that comprise ninety percent of the world's economic activity." Since its foundation in 1971, FedEx has been committed to the rapid, reliable, time-definite delivery of documents and packages worldwide. It employs 140,000 people, and its annual revenue is fifteen and a half billion dollars. It is an obviously popular mail delivery option because its website receives three million different visitors a month, and delivers nearly five million packages a day in two hundred and eleven countries. Federal Express' reputation for outstanding timeliness and service is known globally, and is only rivaled by its brown competitor, the United Parcel Service (UPS).

UPS was founded in 1907, and, according to their website, has since grown into "the largest express carrier and largest package carrier in the world." This is not an unbelievable claim; employing 7.9 million people and earning 30.6 billion dollars in revenue annually supports it. Daily, UPS Online receives 66.4 million hits and the company delivers 13.6 million packages and documents. Like the U.S. Postal Service, UPS delivers to every address in the United States, and also to more than 200 countries and territories. However, the USPS only unreliably accomplishes this feat by using a larger company than either UPS or Federal Express.

The United States Postal Service has been

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