A memorial for the whistleblower

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We should raise a memorial for the whistleblower. These people have more courage and stand alone for years before they are able to get through to people who can take decisive action on their inside knowledge.

Sean Hoare is the latest whistleblower victim. I would not say he was a perfect man, far from, but maybe this is in the nature of people that is on the inside of unethical and immoral organisations that they themselves are imperfect people.

The cost of whistlelowing is well known and this is maybe a price that most of us is unwilling or du not have the guts to live with. When you blow the whistle on your own organisation you will loose your career, ridiculed and alienated by your colleges and management, our ability to find new work will be close to zero and the possibility that you will loose your family and fall into depression is overwhelming.

So why do these people do it anyway? Well there is some who do it for revenge. They feel that they in some way have been disadvantaged by their organisation and therefor feel that they have to get even. Another category does it because they have a sense of moral obligation to do so and can’t get through the normal chain of command. Therefor they go to the media or a government agency in order to get heard. Others blow the whistle because of personal reasons or because that they found a certain practice odd and could not stop asking questions.

I propose that we build a memorial for the people that take a moral stand and are willing to sacrifice all in order for everyone else. We would not have heard about Enron/Arthur Anderson, Watergate, the Israeli nuclear programme, Worldcom, Invalid expense claims in the European parliament or illegal marketing of drugs by Eli Lilly if it had not been for these courage’s people.

 

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