> I'd argue >95% of mail comes from businesses, and most of that are ads in some form or another. It's ridiculous to me that I can send a piece of mail to the o

> I'd argue >95% of mail comes from businesses, and most of that are ads in some form or another. It's ridiculous to me that I can send a piece of mail to the other side of the USA in 2 days for less than $0.50 Don't you think these two facts are somehow related? They have to go by your house every day anyway, carrying paid junk mail, and the marginal cost of delivering an actual letter is quite low. Maybe a bit analogous to newspapers/magazines, where the price you pay may not even cover the printing costs, but the difference is subsidized by the advertisers.