Originally Posted by
CommanderFun
The union army in the civil war had similar issues, namely with its commanders. All the good ones left and put on the grey. But they improved over time, more worthy guys ended up rising to the top by necessity. It's kinda like how that ESG shit is probably going to really be put to the test in coming years. It's easy to stop caring about merit when you don't need it. But if you're in business during a sinking economy, or in a military during a major war, ignoring merit means you die.
Also, China has similar issues. In the past few years I've seen stories about how their ranks are filling up with wimpy, out of shape skinny-fats. This was before the big media push shifted gears to the recent war-footing we have now. Thats why they have been pushing top-down to force more masculinity into their culture. In the US, the top-down push is to force masculinity out, but there is a lot of pushback in the actual populace.