Public Options… Like Your Local Library

http://www.openleft.com/diary/14724/public-options-like-your-local-library

Public Options… Like Your Local Library
by: Drum Major Institute
Thu Aug 20, 2009 at 17:55

Originally posted to DMIBlog by Amy Traub.


You might imagine, in the midst of an economic collapse caused by inadequate public oversight of corporate greed and avarice, we could reconsider - just for a moment - the unthinking glorification of markets and automatic denigration of public institutions. But no. The drumbeat of "Markets good! Government bad!" continues unabated. And it may have just killed our public health care option.

The scorn heaped on our public institutions is tiresome and predictable. Not content to draw parallels between a proposed new public health care plan and our existing public health care plans, we get endless comparisons to the Department of Motor Vehicles (we get it: people don't like waiting in line) and the post office. The constant references to completely unrelated government agencies suggest what's really at stake: the very idea of communally supported institutions operated for the public good rather than private profit. In this context, the breathtaking majesty of the national parks visited by the Obama family this week is as relevant as the DMV.

Or for that matter, your public library. You know: the place where you can borrow (free) books, movies, and music, enjoy the (free) air conditioning, use a (free) computer, browse (free) newspapers, enjoy (free) activities and programs (I'm not the only mother of a toddler thanking my lucky stars for story hour)... The place that's connecting the newly unemployed to job resources (free), providing a safe haven for kids after school (free)...

Except that, of course, it's not free. Enter the dread specter of government coercion as your town ruthlessly forces you to pay taxes in support of an institution you may choose not to patronize. Worse than that, your public library tax dollars are doubtless used to provide books you disagree with, movies you think are trash, and programs you find to be a waste of time. People who paid lower taxes may wind up using the library more than you! And you have no choice but to pay up. Yet there's a great freedom here as well: for no additional cost, anyone can freely sample ideas, entertainment, research expertise... We collectively support our local library and provide the resources so that any one of us can freely check out the resources we choose. And you're still welcome to stop by the bookstore if these offerings don't satisfy.

The analogy between public libraries and public health care can't be pushed too far. But it's as valid as anything I've heard about the DMV.

I love book stores, too, and buying stuff on Amazon. I like a public/private hybrid for books myself.

and the public in your area.

Let them know. You are the voice for library services in your local area/state. Be heard. It is important.

(mostly in the Ron Paul nutjob camp) think that libraries are not only wasteful of tax dollars (which they also feel are criminal and should be voluntary somehow), but that the library rips off authors from potential book sales. Seriously, there's a camp of people who think EVERYTHING should be privatized from schools to cops to fire departments. Thankfully a small group, but they've swallowed the rightwing Reaganomic "no government" bullshit for far too long and have started to puke it back up.

I wish I were joking. I've actually heard people make that argument, as sad as that is, and I always counter it with examples of how taxes and public services are the price of living in a stable society, which allows one the opportunity to be successful (theoretically).

If not, that's telling. He disapproves of anything government-controlled until it benefits him?

I don't know if he will refuse Medicare or not, but I have a feeling he would, actually. I don't respect his philosophies but I do respect that he generally is not a hypocrite about things (for instance he will buy a book or magazine instead of borrowing from the library, etc.)

I still make it a point to politely inform him that he's full of crap. On the bright side, we both enjoy those conversations, and I have gotten him to vote straight Democratic once in a while, but mainly because he hated the Bush family so much.

know where their library is. I do know that in Erie county when they shut down the libraries and parks, people went haywire. they went ballistic!! i honestly think people don't even realize what their tax dollars are going toward. They only think about salaries for state and local employees and for the teachers at the schools and take home vehicles for people.... they don't think about the parks and the libraries and the roads.... things we take for granted. if we actually had a single payer system for healthcare, people would take that for granted too and not even think about it. even if we had a public option in place now, people would just take it for granted. and i bet that if they actually got the reforms through with a true public option, people would quickly accept it and take it for granted. especially if they saw their costs go down.

Seriously, these folks are FUCKED UP.

... "book learning", isn't it?

Or if there is a public library near your area. What about the rural areas?