I spent over a decade in government and longer than that on accountability work.
So I can tell you that many of exactly the same class and careerism and power dynamics determine who rises and who is appointed to powerful government positions. Also, who is ostracized as "a problem", marginalized, ground down, forced out, and/or fired.
I worked on a case where the State's lead nuclear regulator blew the whistle and immediately was stripped of work, demoted, re-assigned in retaliation- literally - to a broom closet. State officials then pursued sham disciplinary actions. They were so stupid that they claimed that toll receipts from the Garden State Parkway were evidence that the whistleblower was spending time gambling in Atlantic City, when he really was driving to the nuke plant!
I spent over a decade in government and longer than that on accountability work.
So I can tell you that many of exactly the same class and careerism and power dynamics determine who rises and who is appointed to powerful government positions. Also, who is ostracized as "a problem", marginalized, ground down, forced out, and/or fired.
I worked on a case where the State's lead nuclear regulator blew the whistle and immediately was stripped of work, demoted, re-assigned in retaliation- literally - to a broom closet. State officials then pursued sham disciplinary actions. They were so stupid that they claimed that toll receipts from the Garden State Parkway were evidence that the whistleblower was spending time gambling in Atlantic City, when he really was driving to the nuke plant!
It's even worse in the corporate world.