Absolutely. When people become aware of a lot of the pressing needs, some of that shift happens because you become committed before you realize that you're committed. Exposure and experience are a part of that process.
I also think it's much harder to tailor in terms of how do we do that, but if I think about the role of a federal government, largely, it can't be anything more than providing an overall will of what we as a country value and believe in. What do we mark as our priorities?
Just for kicks, I went on to the federal government website, searched “poverty reduction”, and then searched “economic development”. I got half as many hits for “poverty reduction” and “social justice” as I did for “economic development”. That is obviously not a good test of anything, really, except to say that our discourse does not focus us in the direction of getting people to buy into the importance of valuing your neighbours, your community, and social well-being.
Also, I think, our story is an important part of how you move people's interest from “how much more money can I make?” to “how do I make sure that the people around me are living in a way that's fair?”