Why Whistleblowers are so necessary

In todays “mad” world it is vital for honesty, integrity and moral behaviour to be paramount. But is it?

One wonders at the conditions that apply which impel someone to expose corrupt, illicit, negligent, abusive or exploitative behaviour. This could be government or corporate policies or an individual’s activities. And one wonders at the response to such exposure which is always initially denial and ultimately a very severe and harsh form of retribution against the person who ‘blew the whistle’ which led to the exposure.

The thing is that no one likes to be presented with an image of themselves which differs from their own, internal, picture of whom or what they think they are – everyone likes to think of themselves as a ‘good person’. If and when someone is caught out and exposed by a whistle-blower they see themselves reflected, as it were, in a mirror, in their ‘true colours’ and they are shocked and enter a state of denial. How many times have those so exposed said the words “I have done nothing wrong”? They will fight tooth and nail to preserve their image of themselves and to avoid appearing diminished in their own eyes or in the eyes of others. They fight to maintain a level of trust because everyone, particularly in business or government, must be seen as trustworthy - if anyone is untrustworthy it is always someone else or another government or another business – it is always the ‘other’. Admitting responsibility for illegal activities is always difficult and not many have the strength of character to admit to such activity.  At its core then, this is an issue relating to morality, to values and to ethics because no one is trustworthy who is not also ethical. 

The French mathematician and humanist, Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) in his ‘Pensees’ wrote, “There is no greater unhappiness than when a person starts to fear the truth lest it denounce him.” 

There is great insight in these words and this is the basis of the reason why whistle-blowing is so dangerous to the ‘blower’ and so necessary for the guilty party so as to relieve them of their unhappiness. It is necessary for the perpetrator to be exposed because their actions, if undetected, have a toxic effect which manifests itself by not only creating stress but also by alienating them from their community. It is as if something secret and unseen has to now be viewed. Any such exposure has a cathartic effect by lifting a burden and ‘cleansing’ them of their guilt. The alternative is fear and fear begets anger and hatred and those who are fearful and consumed by hate lose their powers of reason and in such a state seldom exercise sound judgement. A person’s ability to determine ‘right’ from ‘wrong’ is suspended and everything and anything appears to be acceptable, which defers the moment of exposure. 

Any activities that are exploitative, corrupt, illicit, negligent or abusive give rise to feelings of guilt and create a profound unease of conscience. Peace of mind will be the first casualty in such situations and any person caught up in these activities is unlikely to sleep easily at night! What many forget in today’s unedifying stampede for money and positions of influence is that men (as in mankind) have done these things and that we are all of mankind, furthermore we all share in the multi-various proclivities of mankind. Even if, from a purely legal stand point, any one individual may not be an accessory to any questionable activities or behaviour, thanks to our human nature and the consciousness that binds us all to each other, we are all guilty – we are all of mankind. We are all diminished by such unwarranted behaviour. 

This is why whistle-blowers are so important.  A whistle-blower’s courage, clarity of mind and singleness of purpose brings us lesser mortals up short and the proverbial ‘scales’ fall from our eyes. We are then able to see the extent and the ramifications of the questionable activity or behaviour that has been going on around us. 

Every activity is a cause for some effect. And every effect impinges on everyone in some way or another. Remember the ‘six degrees of separation’? Knowing six people is said (mathematically) to give us a link through someone to everyone in the world. This link is why, when an uplifting or inspirational event is reported in the media it has an immediate global impact and we all feel the effect. Likewise when some ghastly tragedy is reported we all feel appalled and cast down. This is the principal reason why we must treat all people in an ethical way because we are all interconnected – it is in our genes. To do anything else is to invite chaos and great unhappiness.

It was the British philosopher and statesman, Edmund Burke (1729-1797) who made the much quoted statement that - 

“All that's necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.”  

The following short tale has, over the centuries, warned those who may wish to harm, exploit or abuse others or to engage in corrupt activities of the likely outcome of their activities: 

Aesop’s fable (CLXIX)

The vine and the goat

“There was once a vine teeming with ripe fruit and tender shoots and looking forward to the day when it would provide a bountiful vintage. Suddenly a wanton goat appeared and gnawed its bark and nibbled its young leaves.

            ‘You have no right to harm me like this’, said the vine. ‘But I won’t have to wait long for my just revenge. Even if you crop my leaves and cut me down to my root, I shall provide the wine to pour over you when you are brought as a sacrifice to the altar.’”

            *Though it may be late, retribution arrives in the end*

Manners Maketh Man

‘Manners Makyth Man’ is the motto of the establishments founded by William of Wykeham, (1324 - 1404) - Winchester College and New College, Oxford.  

I would not like my one loyal reader to think that I was at all discriminatory regarding women. Quite the contrary – I have always considered women to be a jump or two ahead of men – after all human life is created within them. This is a fact that deserves a high order of acknowledgement. It should, therefore, be obvious that I am not being sexist when I use the word Man – it is generic and means the species homo-sapiens – so most certainly includes women.

But to get back to what I want to say about manners. The old Winchester College (English Public School) motto that “Manners Maketh Man” may be old fashioned and from a different time and different generation but it still has value today. Manners – good manners (and not just etiquette which is different) – are recognised in every society and culture as important. Obviously they vary from culture to culture and within societies but the fundamentals are the same everywhere.

Manners are important as a respectful acknowledgement of the rights of others (worthy or not). Generally (and I must be careful what I say here), generally, good manners are an indication of the level of refinement in a person. People with no manners; those who are offensive in their behaviour; those who use abusive language; those whose conversation contains a high proportion of expletives are generally considered as impolite or vulgar and lacking good manners. Good manners give an indication of how one treats others and how one expects to be treated by others. In other words – how good a person is – and we all want be considered good.

There are, of course, those people who use their (apparent) good manners and (superficial) personal charm for their own ends. Confidence tricksters (con men or women) often appear to be charming and well mannered people but always, very obviously, use these attributes for their own nefarious purposes. The opposite of this are those people with hearts of gold – kind and generous - but who are rather uncouth in their behaviour and speech.

In my book the importance of “good manners” lies in the fact that they are based on ethical principles which affect general behaviour. I always remember being impressed by something I read about Capt. Scott’s Antarctic Expedition in 1912. Scott apparently insisted on “good manners” – he believed that good manners reduced the opportunities for friction in a group of men forced to live together in a confined space for an extended period.

Generally it can be said that good manners set a standard of behaviour that those, in the culture concerned, understand and try to adhere too. Fundamental to good manners is ethics. And fundamental to ethics is the precept that a person’s behaviour should be governed by the standard of behaviour they would expect from others – in other words, treat others the way you would like to be treated. Someone who is ethical is, kind, generous, just, honest, courageous and temperate in manner (there is that word again). There is no other viable alternative.

So, in a way it is true - manners do make Man (as in a good person).