Over the weekend I caught a rerun of the 1997 movie "The Postman" starring Kevin Costner. I've seen the movie a couple of times, but it never fails to make me think about how the most basic institutions of government are so important to a nation.
The story is based on the premise that sometime around 2015 there are a series of events that leave the United States in anarchy with small communities besieged by clan based militias. Costner's character finds an old mail delivery truck, puts on a postal uniform he finds, and proceeds to start telling people that the mail is back in service. Before he knows it, the word spreads and pony express style post offices start springing up all over to the ultimate demise of the warlords and eventual restoration of the United States.
In today's world we take the mail for granted, but in George Washington's day it was one of the most important institutions of the land. Its worth remembering that a simple government service like providing mail service means so much. In that spirit, I recall the mailman's creed:
"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
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