The United States Postal Service (USPS) is all the rage. A combination of the pandemic, the heightened importance of mail-in voting, and massive delivery delays has pushed the post office into the news in a way not seen since the nationwide postal strike in 1970. Even teenagers are brandishing the USPS as a weapon in the culture wars, with memes championing postal workers as the “real boys in blue.”

Socialists and progressives are correct to use this moment to highlight the value of the postal service beyond the 2020 presidential election. The Trump administration’s recent attacks are part of a broader effort to privatize a beloved universal service and destroy over six hundred thousand living wage union jobs in the process. Postal service employment has been especially crucial in helping black workers, women workers, and veterans achieve some economic stability and dignity.

Still, we shouldn’t overlook the urgency of safeguarding the election and our democratic rights. Electoral democracy, especially in the United States, is severely limited in delivering substantive change. But we should never forget that so many basic democratic rights, including voting, were won through fierce working-class struggle. There is no contradiction in protecting these rights as we try to deepen and expand democracy into all areas of life.