This seems to indicate to the power of common knowledge (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_knowledge_(logic) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_knowledg

This seems to indicate to the power of common knowledge (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_knowledge_(logic) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_knowledge_(logic) ) which is not the same thing as shared knowledge. Common knowledge means everyone knows that everyone knows (that everyone knows, to infinity) and that's far more powerful. The real crimes have nothing to do with soda. Some manager is hired from outside and is mandating daily status reports. Complain about that and you get in trouble, or people think you're a slacker upset that he can no longer hide. Or, let's say that you find out that some newly-hired VP/NTWTFK (Non-Technical Who-The-Fuck-Knows) is outearning engineering old hands who took actual risk; it's unjust, but if you complain about it, you endanger not only your career but the careers of the people who gave you that information. The thing about free soda is that you can complain about the loss of it without showing insecurity or political bias because the change is in the common knowledge. Companies get away with much worse crimes than free-food reductions (which aren't even crimes at all if (a) they were never part of the promised employment deal and (b) times are legitimately tough) but because there's no way to hide that stuff, those end up being the touch-points for complaints. You can't complain about the new stack-ranking system without seeming insecure-- so executives can divide-and-conquer along those lines (we're firing 5% each year in a "low performer" witch hunt, but the top 15% get bonuses!)-- but the loss of free food is a more socially acceptable and universal grudge. I actually like the fact that when Douchetember 11th happens, these trivial perks get phased out as well. If the executive shitfucks knew how to rob a company, they'd keep the free soda while turning the crank slowly on the robberies that actually matter (meaner performance review systems, equity clawbacks and cliffing). Imagine what would happen if a large company kept its trivial perks but still disempowered engineers, gradually, over time. It might manage to hold a "best company out there" reputation 10 years beyond actually deserving it. Not that I know of any companies like that, but just imagine how effective it might be and how much executive robbery (at the expense of clueless talent) could go on.