ogd5XOt reviewed Who Is Government? by Michael Lewis
Timely and Interesting, If a Bit Uneven
4 stars
I read this book in the first few months of 2025 when it became glaringly apparent that many - if not most - Americans had no idea what the federal government was or did. I wish this book had been more widely read at the time.
Most people’s conception of “the government” is formed by a handful of relatively superficial interactions, must of them generally not positive (think giving your money to the IRS or renewing your license at the DMV). From those interactions, it’s easy to view “the government” as this faceless monolith that exists to tell you that you can’t do things, or that what you’ve already done was incorrect.
This book counters that notion by introducing the reader to some of the people behind the scenes and exposing the reader to a variety of federal government agencies. You get the sense that folks in public service believe …
I read this book in the first few months of 2025 when it became glaringly apparent that many - if not most - Americans had no idea what the federal government was or did. I wish this book had been more widely read at the time.
Most people’s conception of “the government” is formed by a handful of relatively superficial interactions, must of them generally not positive (think giving your money to the IRS or renewing your license at the DMV). From those interactions, it’s easy to view “the government” as this faceless monolith that exists to tell you that you can’t do things, or that what you’ve already done was incorrect.
This book counters that notion by introducing the reader to some of the people behind the scenes and exposing the reader to a variety of federal government agencies. You get the sense that folks in public service believe in “service” and are working to solve problems that most Americans don’t really care about (or are frequently even aware of).
Any book of essays written by different authors is going to be uneven, and that’s definitely the case here. I have enjoyed the Michael Lewis books I’ve read, so I was secretly hoping for “Michael Lewis as written by other people” and was slightly disappointed (this is objectively dumb, but I’m just being honest).
Some of the essays are relatively light-hearted, some are a little somber, and one isn’t even about humans necessarily, but a complex system that humans have to manage. Plenty of swipes are taken at the presidential administration, which I definitely didn’t mind, but not why I was reading.
I think the book is worth the time if you only have a foggy conception of why the federal government is a thing, or know someone who might could use some context before cheering on destruction.
