Postal System

One very important contribution of Benjamin Franklin was the organization of an efficient postal system. This system has turned out to be one of the key pillars in the phenomenal growth that the United States has enjoyed in the last 200 years. Improvements to the system through FedEx and DHL and UPS have resulted in unprecedented profits for these corporations.

We have a very poor postal system here in the Philippines. Mail delivery is inefficient and unreliable. We can only wonder how progressive this country could become if we had Ben Franklin for a postmaster general. Think alone of all the vehicles that congest our already overloaded highways. Many of these trips (legal documents, money transfers, delivery of goods) can be prevented with an efficient postal system. Think of all the savings in fuel, labor-costs, pollution and above all in time.

Why can't we have a good postal system? I hate to go back to the squatting problem once again but if millions of people do not have permanent addresses then it will be very difficult to set-up an efficient system. People need to stay put in a legal address so that the taxes they pay towards their government may be effectively remitted back to them in the form of reliable public services.