From the StoryCorps YouTube webpage:
At eight years old, Storm Reyes was already working full time with other migrant farm workers in the fields outside Tacoma, Washington. One day, a bookmobile arrived and brought her new worlds—and hope.
StoryCorp’s mission is to preserve and share humanity’s stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.
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Rich Kacmar
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I remember my first trip to a book mobile. I was going into second grade and my sister and I were led to the bus by our mother. It was a 2 block walk every Tuesday all summer. I developed my love of reading and knowledge that summer and it never stopped. And as a poor truck drivers’ kid it was access to another world out there I could only imagine. I never lost that special feeling of another world in books. And it started with a government program meant to give poor kids access to books. Government does do good things for citizens. We need to remember that. Book mobiles are just one example of tax dollars working well.
“Tax dollars working well”. Yes, indeed! Government *does* do good things for citizens. I’m also thinking of things like public libraries, public schools, fire departments, consumer protection agencies, …
But there is already opposition by privatizers and libertarians, and I’ve noticed that it sometimes takes the form of emphasizing the “government” aspect as opposed to the “public” aspect, since currently “government” has somewhat negative associations. In other words, public schools are referred to as government schools, consumer protection regulations become “government regulations”, public libraries would be government libraries, etc.
Language is critical is framing the story and until “government” is seen as something positive, it’s important to emphasize the positive aspect by emphasizing the “public” aspect.