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A review by toddlleopold
The Fifth Risk by Michael Lewis
5.0
Years ago, I was assigned to do an article on the IRS. I groaned; I suspected IRS employees were grouchy misanthropes.
Maybe a few are, but most of them — wait for it — were human beings like everyone else. Better, perhaps, because they were public servants, doing a literally thankless job because it’s necessary.
I kept thinking about these people as I read “The Fifth Risk,” Michael Lewis’ book about … well, it’s about a lot of things. But what comes through is the value of public service and the ways government, however unwieldy, tries to make lives a little better.
Is it wasteful? Yes. Is it overbearing? Sometimes. But it’s necessary and, despite all the nasty things certain members of Congress say about it, trying to do a good job.
Lewis focuses on the transition between the Obama administration and the feckless Trump folks who didn’t believe in government besides as an excuse to milk for millions. In doing so, Lewis shines a light on people, from Democratic and GOP administrations, who have tried to make a difference.
Perhaps the most fascinating are the civil servants in the Dept of Commerce, which is really the Dept of Data, Lewis points out. They want to get citizens to pay attention to tornado warnings and do a better job with crops. They give away their data for free to companies that make millions. (Kinda like DARPA and the Internet.)
They’re doomed to be a bunch of Sisyphuses, not because they don’t succeed, but because people like Trump appointees and DC lobbyists are determined to stop them from doing their jobs. (Think of the CDC and its inability to gather data on gun deaths.) It’s depressing, and has only gotten more so. (The book came out in 2018.)
If I have a complaint, it’s that Lewis ends the slim book abruptly. But he’s made his point. Now, I wonder, in our QAnon “f*ck your feelings” (and facts) atmosphere, is anybody listening?
Maybe a few are, but most of them — wait for it — were human beings like everyone else. Better, perhaps, because they were public servants, doing a literally thankless job because it’s necessary.
I kept thinking about these people as I read “The Fifth Risk,” Michael Lewis’ book about … well, it’s about a lot of things. But what comes through is the value of public service and the ways government, however unwieldy, tries to make lives a little better.
Is it wasteful? Yes. Is it overbearing? Sometimes. But it’s necessary and, despite all the nasty things certain members of Congress say about it, trying to do a good job.
Lewis focuses on the transition between the Obama administration and the feckless Trump folks who didn’t believe in government besides as an excuse to milk for millions. In doing so, Lewis shines a light on people, from Democratic and GOP administrations, who have tried to make a difference.
Perhaps the most fascinating are the civil servants in the Dept of Commerce, which is really the Dept of Data, Lewis points out. They want to get citizens to pay attention to tornado warnings and do a better job with crops. They give away their data for free to companies that make millions. (Kinda like DARPA and the Internet.)
They’re doomed to be a bunch of Sisyphuses, not because they don’t succeed, but because people like Trump appointees and DC lobbyists are determined to stop them from doing their jobs. (Think of the CDC and its inability to gather data on gun deaths.) It’s depressing, and has only gotten more so. (The book came out in 2018.)
If I have a complaint, it’s that Lewis ends the slim book abruptly. But he’s made his point. Now, I wonder, in our QAnon “f*ck your feelings” (and facts) atmosphere, is anybody listening?