It is a classic arms race, which is self-reinforcing and detrimental to all participants, but cannot be broken by local decisions. A rational group cannot brea

It is a classic arms race, which is self-reinforcing and detrimental to all participants, but cannot be broken by local decisions. A rational group cannot break the trend, if the psycho alpha male co-worker still wants to fight for priority (and VP status). Even a union in one company cannot enforce anything, because anything that lowers productivity will destroy the company. Any union that has power across multiple companies ends in restrictive practices, anti-competitive behaviour, and barriers to entry to the workforce, where the psycho alpha male union boss calls the tune (mafia all over again). Then whole national industries die in the face of cut-throat international competition ...