While I think it's somewhat natural for society to talk about "collective ownership," since the ownership model is what we use for individual transactions, the idea of "public goods" implies that they are "owned/managed by the public" - and that degenerates into "stewardship" by the government "for the public good" (for my/our benefit, even if I disagree, for my part). I definitely don't enjoy the "for my own good"/parental logic - so I don't like the "collective ownership" language we seem to be working with.

I think it would be better if individuals (and governments, to the limited degree I can rationalize them) acted pro-actively/responsibly, rather than defensively (tax, tax, tax...). IMHO, a better model would be to grow (to "invest" not "subsidize") what the public deems worthwhile, driven by intelligence and creativity ("leadership"), rather than perpetually trying to put out fires through punitive intervention (tax, tax, tax...). (Why centralize decision-making if not to aid leadership?) Bringing something to the market through collective action doesn't diminish the market - it is the market. I'm not saying punitive measures are ever off the table, but they should be the last act of a desperate will.

This could be as simple as using approaches like Kickstarter more (instead of taxes), but that depends on people keeping the money they already have.

IMHO government is mostly the sum of our negative/fear-based responses (digging in our heals against "threats" leading us to tax, and inspect, and...). That governments are as large as they are - and that we are taxed as much as we are - reflects a culture of fear.