A History of Character Assassinations and Political / Legal Pressures / Imprisonments / Life Threatening / Death
It's difficult to be a Whistle Blower of any kind. It is difficult to be a pioneer of truth, to break down the walls of commonly accepted dogmas which are broadly accepted without question, as if a religion of their own. In order to be successful in coming out the other side of the controversy with any shred of the life you had beforehand, you must have an impecable history, you must have an impenetrable personal life, nothing to lose, money to protect yourself from all kinds of political attacks, you must have powers that be who support you, there must be no shred of conflict of interest by those judges and critics in your legal fights (a natural extension of your political battle is inevitably a legal battle to shut you down), evidence to back up all of your claims, the support of others who have equally compelling evidence to stand with you and take that truth from the deep dark realm of secrecy into the light of day, and into common consciousness.
In the case of an ordinary professionals who become whistle blowers, and expose important thruths that are necessary for transparency and sound judgements to be made by those who might become victims of those well kept secrets, your very livelihood is threatened. In fighting enormous Corporations with multi trillion dollar bank accounts, you are also fighting the Government Agencies whose pockets are lined by said Corporations and the Associations that are related and which support the propaganda which attempts to keep the truth hidden.
Those who are brave enough to stand up to those forces suffer intense scrutiny, as mentioned this is both on a personal and professional level. And if we fail to acknowledge their sacrifices and fail to listen to their messages - we are only failing ourselves. They can only do so much, if we choose to ignore and bury our head in the sand, then we are only becoming perpetrators ourselves.
Lets look at some very notable and famous individuals who have suffered at the hands of such oppressive political devices, and whose experiences should be kept at the forefront of our minds before we simply discount the newest wave of brave individuals who are sacrificing their own personal wellbeing to give us the information we require to live better lives, and avoid horrible side effects due to our ignorance.
In the case of an ordinary professionals who become whistle blowers, and expose important thruths that are necessary for transparency and sound judgements to be made by those who might become victims of those well kept secrets, your very livelihood is threatened. In fighting enormous Corporations with multi trillion dollar bank accounts, you are also fighting the Government Agencies whose pockets are lined by said Corporations and the Associations that are related and which support the propaganda which attempts to keep the truth hidden.
Those who are brave enough to stand up to those forces suffer intense scrutiny, as mentioned this is both on a personal and professional level. And if we fail to acknowledge their sacrifices and fail to listen to their messages - we are only failing ourselves. They can only do so much, if we choose to ignore and bury our head in the sand, then we are only becoming perpetrators ourselves.
Lets look at some very notable and famous individuals who have suffered at the hands of such oppressive political devices, and whose experiences should be kept at the forefront of our minds before we simply discount the newest wave of brave individuals who are sacrificing their own personal wellbeing to give us the information we require to live better lives, and avoid horrible side effects due to our ignorance.
"Imagine men and women living as prisoners in an underground cave. These people have been here since birth, their bodies chained so that they cannot move. They can see only what is in front of them and can see no other prisoners.
"Behind the prisoners on a raised platform is a series of fires. Between the prisoners and the fires is a parapet, like the screen at a puppet show. Behind this parapet are people carrying various artificial objects, such as the figures of men and animals. The prisoners see nothing but the shadows of the artificial objects cast by the firelight onto the cave wall in front of them. The cave has an echo so that the when the people in back of them speak the prisoners believe the sounds come from the shadow figures on the cave wall.
"Suppose one of the prisoners became free from his chains. The firelight would be painful to his eyes and the objects in back of him would so terrify him that he might desire to regain his former chained situation.
"If this free person actually crept out of the cave into the sunlight, he would be completely dazed, unable to comprehend ordinary objects. Slowly this former prisoner might begin to understand that it is the sun which is the source of light and life. He would feel sorrow for his former fellow prisoners.
"If he did return to his chains and speak to his fellow prisoners, they would think he was insane. And if they could lay hands on him they would kill him."
Plato
Reference: http://www.hermes-press.com/plato_index.htm