Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a book that is more description and analysis of the US government in dealing with several disasters than it is a prescription. Catastrophes like 9-11 and Katrina were immense problems that involved many layers of government and the private sector with no clear coordination or accountability. The old model whereby one government agency tried to handle a vast, complex situation is hardly sufficient for large disasters, though for highly contained tasks such as administering Social Security, it works. Unfortunately, many seem to think that the government can simply straightforwardly, if not easily and quickly, solve any problem. Notice the lack of public commitment.
The author touches on the fact that Americans are ambivalent about how much power they wish to cede to government in handling problems. And then there is the nonsensical view that government is itself the problem and that the private sector is more competent. The American public seems to not fully comprehend the nature of democracy. We are the government. We can elect public-spirited individuals or we can elect anti-government ideologues. Of course, government fails when incompetents are appointed to key positions. It's silly to expect anything else. The cursory regulation of the financial community in 2008 says it all in terms of ideologues putting our economy near collapse.
It's not particularly profound to point out that many government functions, including overall management, are outsourced to the private or non-profit sectors. That fact will not change. The author calls for "rocket scientists" to solve our large problems - meaning highly intelligent individuals who are results-oriented and capable of coordinating with others. That is not a structural change in governmental institutions, as suggested by the title. It goes without saying that solving problems requires highly capable people with sufficient authority to get the job done. Not too profound.
The book is pretty much a disappointment. A minimalist public philosophy is pervasive in the US. Things always have to get bad, even way out of control, before problem-solving action is taken. Look at the problems that we have let get out of hand. Slavery tops the list. And then it took one hundred years to establish civil rights after the Civil War. The cycle of depressions went on for one hundred years before FDR tried to get a handle on it. And now the current financial crisis is upon us. We don't commit adequate resources to fight wildfires. We are unwilling to face global warming. These are not management and coordination issues. For whatever reason(s), we don't commit to solving problems impacting large swaths of people. We could, but we don't. That's what the author needs to be talking about.
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