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Comment by throwaway346434 | Hacker News Reader

The military has an understanding here which feels lacking from modern society.

You have a rank, you get to give orders, it's a hierarchy generally.

But the difference between an experienced, senior NCO and a junior officer is well understood, and built into the structures.

Specific examples: why is there an officer's mess? Is it classist? Or is it because familiarity breeds contempt, and when you need to order someone to do something if no one respects you; everyone dies?

On the other side of it, who eats last, the enlisted or the officers? If you get that wrong you get mutiny.

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> Specific examples: why is there an officer's mess? Is it classist? Or is it because familiarity breeds contempt, and when you need to order someone to do something if no one respects you; everyone dies?

I'd assume it is because the officers might be in a position where they choose to send the men (and women, in this enlightened age) to their deaths. There isn't much point eating together if that sort of politics might come into play, the power differential is too large. And it'd be harder for the officers to do that in an emergency if they see themselves as part of the same group.

Not to cast doubt on the officers, I'm sure they care very deeply about the wellbeing of their people and generally do a pretty good job of keeping people alive. But it is the military. People can die. Historically in war, some people die when their officers decide something suicidal is better than inaction.

> There isn't much point eating together if that sort of politics might come into play, the power differential is too large.

Historically, the value of eating with your men is that the men will actually follow your orders rather than just mutinying and killing you.

Historically, fraternizing between enlisted and officers has generally been not only unwelcome, but a punishable offense.

That is only true for high modern European (western) history.

Also why I think getting rid of the executive suites was a mistake.

Not only does familiarity breed contempt, but putting executives in IC tier offices lowered the standard for everyone, and now ICs have been reduced to factory floor scrubs.

ICs have always been factory floor workers; highly paid ones, but still, factory workers.

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