Chernobyl Shoe Factory Scene
Why Hacker News recommends it
Used as an analogy whenever commenters criticize unqualified people placed in charge of expert fields.
What it is
Scene from episode 2 of HBO's Chernobyl in which an official who once ran a shoe factory is put in charge of a critical role. It shows how unqualified appointees end up in charge of technical matters.
Recommended by 0 HN commenters across 0 different months, 2019 to 2025.
What Hacker News said
Cites jasonzemos · 2019-11 · on “South Carolina judges often lack formal training in the law”
> Over the years, their numbers have included construction workers, insurance agents, pharmacists — even an underwear distributor. This is ironic for a conservative state because it's indistinguishable to me from Soviet communism. I can't help but think about this scene from Chernobyl ( [this video] ) which illustrates the true tragedy of this broken system. Emma Goldman wrote in "My Disillusionment in Russia" (1923): > Bourgeois dictatorship is replaced by the "dictatorship of the proletariat" — or by that of its "advance guard," the Communist Party. Lenin takes the seat of the Romanovs, the Imperial Cabinet is rechristened Soviet of People's Commissars, Trotsky is appointed Minister of War, and
Cites snake_plissken · 2021-01 · on “Management by metrics leads us astray”
Kind of unrelated but when you mentioned Soviet shoe factories, this scene from HBO's Chernobyl takes on a whole new dimension: [this video] "I'm a nuclear physicist. Before you were deputy secretary, you worked in a shoe factory." "Yes, I worked in a shoe factory. And now I'm in charge. To the workers of the world."
Cites _Algernon_ · 2025-07 · on “James Webb, Hubble space telescopes face reduction in operations”
It's not apathy, it is weaponized incompetence. It was a contributing factor to Chernobyl. It is funny how the US is so opposed to communism, but copies the mistakes of the soviet union. Replace 'worked in a shoe factory' with 'were a reality TV star', 'was a fox news agitprop host', or similar for any of the current US leadership in the scene from Chernobyl and it fits like a glove. [this video]