“You have to be a neighbour to have a neighbour.” That’s Mark Jamison’s mantra — and he should know. Until he retired, after all, the 68-year-old was the postmaster in Webster, a small town enveloped by the mist and hollers of North Carolina’s Great Smoky Mountains. And while he surely dealt with letters and parcels, townsfolk brought Jamison their troubles too. The title of postmaster, he says, “gives you some heft” in a quiet place like Webster, where he was the only representative of the federal government. Between sorting mail, that authority meant he also wrote money orders for people who couldn’t read, or else deciphered tax statements. Sometimes, he just offered advice to the downtrodden or simply loosened the jars of old ladies driving home from the store.

And while many in Webster came specifically to see Jamison, they also used his post office to visit each other. So, as their postmaster, he installed benches, a community bulletin board, and a library. I ask him to explain himself; Jamison aw-shucked. “I figure if folks are talking to each other, it is hard to hate each other.” In truth, though, the Webster postmaster was merely fulfilling Title 39 of the US Code: “The United States Postal Service’s (USPS) purpose is to bind the nation together”. Lord knows that, in the aftermath of a brutal election, America needs some neighbourly ties. And Lord knows that few organisations do that as well as the Post Office, even if its triumphs hint at state failure elsewhere.

By sheer numbers alone, USPS is an American giant. With 33,904 post offices, it’s burrowed into every nook and cranny of the nation, from Kaktovik in Alaska to Ochopee in the Florida swamps. The country’s single biggest non-military institution, every day its army of 525,469 employees delivers mail to 167 million unique addresses. That’s even as USPS retains the so-called “Postal Principle” — meaning users pay the same fee no matter how far their package travels. No wonder Americans love the Post Office, with an eye-popping 91% of us viewing it favourably. By comparison, 29% of Americans support public schools, which is about equal to the 32% of citizens who have a positive opinion of God. “The Post Office is the last bastion,” says Erica Etelson, co-founder of the Rural-Urban Bridge Initiative. “It is still something everyone loves”.

Read more: How mailmen saved rural America – UnHerd