Benjamin Franklin, the father of the post office, the fire station, the library, and the United States, hinted at the idea of how to be a “good citizen”. It poses the question, what defines who is or who isn’t a good citizen, and furthermore what makes a good public servant? Franklin doesn’t tell the reader point blank, but throughout his autobiography told stories about his various projects for the public good. Using passages from The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin we can assume that a good public servant is one who allows his or her self-gains to benefit the public as a whole. At a young age Ben and his friends build a new wharf for their own personal gain while simultaneously benefiting the community as a whole. He describes how he
…show more content…
He and his junto friends collected books and allowed people rent them for a simple subscription of 40 shillings to start the subscription and 10 shillings every year for fifty years. He then goes on and describes the benefit of the library and how this will allow North Americans to be more educated and well-rounded people. The library is a great mix of self-gain and public benefit. Benjamin and the junto members were benefiting since they were just lending their books out to the general public (well those who can afford the subscription). Furthermore, there is this sense of self pride that Franklin gains as he created the library. He humble brags about how wonderful his idea is and how it will help the community as a whole; it might not be a cash cow but it will allow many to have access to books. However, this description of the library contrast the description in part 2; in the next part he goes into more depth of how the library functions and lays out a procedure of how to run a functioning library. This moves away from the idea that the library is just for his own self gain and that he wants others to start libraries. This shows how Franklin’s own self-gain also benefits the public as a whole. Allowing other public servants benefit from the idea of the library (may that be from the subscription or some warm fuzzy
He and his junto friends collected books and allowed people rent them for a simple subscription of 40 shillings to start the subscription and 10 shillings every year for fifty years. He then goes on and describes the benefit of the library and how this will allow North Americans to be more educated and well-rounded people. The library is a great mix of self-gain and public benefit. Benjamin and the junto members were benefiting since they were just lending their books out to the general public (well those who can afford the subscription). Furthermore, there is this sense of self pride that Franklin gains as he created the library. He humble brags about how wonderful his idea is and how it will help the community as a whole; it might not be a cash cow but it will allow many to have access to books. However, this description of the library contrast the description in part 2; in the next part he goes into more depth of how the library functions and lays out a procedure of how to run a functioning library. This moves away from the idea that the library is just for his own self gain and that he wants others to start libraries. This shows how Franklin’s own self-gain also benefits the public as a whole. Allowing other public servants benefit from the idea of the library (may that be from the subscription or some warm fuzzy