Don't know where you live, but I think it's amazing that you can send a snail mail for less than 50c; the roads are ok where I live and my public schools are great. In the US, government is reasonably efficient and it provides a different price/performance/access point that private industry.
You want next day delivery ? use FedEx, but pay $20 (or more ?). Have you seen private toll roads ? I grew up in Mexico, where they're common; you pay about $40 to go from Merida to CanCun (about 200 miles). You want to go into a good private school ? be prepared to spend $15000/yr, and make sure your kid is really good, or he/she won't get in. I'm not saying private companies offer bad choices, but they're *different* choices, I like that the govt provides decent basic services.