post 5
MoneyPower Freedom
There are three main schools of thought when it comes to whistleblowers, those of the corporations, the people, and the government. To start, Corporations believe that whistleblowing can be used maliciously, in order to hurt business. Imagine Animal right advocates, blowing the truth out of proportion, and painting farms in malicious ways to force people to eat less meat. The second way of looking at the matter, is that of the people. A majority of people believe in the right to say what you please. Imagine seeing horrendous human rights violations at work and being fearful of telling anyone due to fear of retaliation. And Lastly, we have the government’s logic; they believe that as a matter of national security, anything they deem secret, should not be released to the public under any circumstances. Imagine terrorist releasing the identity of our covert operatives around the world. Humans wish to live freely, corporations wish to make money, and governments wish be powerful. All three problems are reasonable and do, happen; however, profits and power, should not be valued more than life.
Humans should have the right to choose what to do with their lives. This freedom to choose spurs the creation of culture and innovation, without it progress would stop. Of all the people I have met in my life, most simply wish to live happily with their friends and families, and the rest want to change the world. The ability to choose is often ensured by the government. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are the inalienable human rights as stated in the declaration of independence.These rights ensure that governments serve the people and not the other way around. Unfortunately, as long as governments and corporations have existed, people have had their voices muffled. Those in charge usually only want one thing, to stay in charge. This goal manifests itself in similar ways around the world, the suppression of information. The main goal of the people in order to make change, is to have their voices heard. Laws against whistleblowers do just the opposite. If life is valued, then the suppression of information limits the rights of a person to choose.
Corporations believe that if whistleblowers are able to disclose any information they find in any way, then they could use it to mislead the public and hurt their business. The main goal of a corporation is to increase profits. As we’ve seen in times before regulatory agencies, the pursuit of wealth can destroy the environment and provide terrible work conditions. Corporate whistleblowers happen in all industries. Farm whistleblowers fight for fair treatment of animals while banking whistleblowers fight for a level playing field. The farm industry has one of the most legitimate concern against whistleblowers. For example, the American Farm Bureau, a Private support group which lobbies for the agriculture and meat industry, was shown videos of animal abuse and They replied that while they were vehemently against any abuse of animals, but had a cautionary warning. Kelli ludlum, the group’s director of congressional relation, warns,” that even in the video of ‘Animal Abuse’, certain images shown depict the best practices available.” To an untrained eye, certain procedures seem cruel and barbaric, when in reality they are necessary life saving procedures. This does happen and it will not be easy to combat; however, having a 0 tolerance policy of not letting anyone film anything, breeds corruption.
Governments believe that in order to ensure national security, any and all acts of disclosing secret information is treason. Treason is defined as betraying your country. IT is clear that running a country is no easy job. This is made obvious by the quickness in which presidents grow old. (PICTUUUURE) Keeping the peace internally, and maintaining relations with other governments takes skilled negotiation and nuance. Due to this,certain things are better left secret. Information deemed secret has been made this way in order to serve the people. It is better for all those involved to keep certain things secret. Once someone releases any information that they were not supposed to, it is important to show them why that is not a good idea. The government has done this to Edward Snowden and it has held firm in its choice. Snowdens efforts in revealing mass spying and misconduct by the US government has gotten him a bad reputation in the US, but a good one abroad. In a survey conducted by KRC Reseach “…about 64 percent of Americans familiar with Snowden hold a negative opinion of him” n contrast to “…about 91 percent of Germans hold a favorable opinion of him” The propaganda spread by the US has caused his rating to be significantly worse at home, a place he will never see again.This treatment of whistleblowers is more lenient than much of the rest of the world, and is typical of any government. A way to fix this eludes me.
All arguments for and against whistle blowing have merit to them, and because of this it takes an inventory of values to decide how to judge them. I believe that freedom of speech and the spread of ideas should not be limited in any way. This belief falls in line with the ideals preached by the people. I also believe that a weak government will not be able to stand. Making rules and not enforcing them is useless, so the government has a point. I also believe that people will lie to destroy your business, so corporations have a point. This is no easy way to wrap this up like a christmas gift from santa.Every case should be determined on its merits, without any of this zero tolerance bologna.
