discord wrote:zak: not saying older people can't be competent and skilled, was not even talking about age we are talking about experience, and how the people in power quite often disregard the experience of the ones on the front lines(this is often older people in chair jobs and younger on the front lines when it comes to military matters and flipped with older on the front lines and younger in the boardrooms in business), it is in both cases the distancing of the ones in power with the actual jobs, in the case of military matters either the boss has not been in the trench for 30 years, and kinda out of the loop or a bureaucrat and have never been there, in the boardrooms you have freshly minted economics wizards that think they know everything, well lets just say they do not.
what i am talking about is the stupid idea that theoretical(or academic) knowledge trumps actual on the spot experience, and how that is so common among people in power.
and the resulting alex getting ignored and relocated when the obvious choice is keeping him around for a few weeks or maybe even months until the older wiser heads actually have an idea of what they are dealing with, why will this happen?
fear, for several reasons, what names get in the history books, showing weakness as in not knowing what they are getting themselves into getting second guessed by some flunkie, and so on.)
trust, one is the age gap thing and in this case it will probably be older heads in charge and thereby disregarding what this youngsters has to say, a MILITARY youngster at that!, institutional difference, etc.
approximately half of it is about prejudice and inability(or simply not wanting) to overcome it, the other half is a combination of fear/greed/pride/generic or institutional stupidity.
this is a opinion that is difficult to prove either way, since it has to do with the interplay between people and internal motivations are notoriously difficult to discern since people, especially those in power, tend to do a lot of ass covering.
That's all true to a point, but I think it's clear that while Alex is the man on the spot, literally here and the best informed person about the Loroi, he isn't skilled in diplomacy and has no authority to speak for his government in ways that are legally binding. All he can do is advise his government, while people who are skilled in negotiation and treaty dealings do go to work. Since this is such a very important contact though, I don't think Alex's observations would be ignored by some stuffed shirt in the TCA diplomatic corp. The TCA is in a bad position and it's going to need all of the resources and intelligence necessary to get a good treaty for the TCA; Alex isn't going to be blown off because he is so young, military and cocky. He will be listened to, and it's very likely that he will be moved to the diplomatic side since the Loroi made him Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Head of Mission for Humanity, as well as the Military Attache of the mission. It's only natural that the TCA diplomats would use his knowledge and basic skills and connections among the Loroi for the good of humanity (in a good way, not a bad way).
I do not think there will be any institutional bias or stupidity here; ie assuming the Loroi are that much like humans. Any diplomat or bureaucrat that tries to mess with this is going to find him/herself cut off at the knees. From the top on down, this is going to be very open and open minded treaty/diplomatic discussion because of the importance of this negotiation and need for a favorable treaty.