There is a show that’s on TV right now. Well. A lot of shows are on TV right now. Gazillions. But one that I have noticed is called “Whistleblowers,” I think. I have never watched the actual show, but I have seen the promotionals for it. It airs on Friday nights.
Anyway, during the promos, on CBS news, they give an overview of what the Whistleblower has done. The wrong that has been righted. The corruption that has been exposed.
At the end of the “highlights”, they always cut back to the reporters at the News Desk. And one of them says, “Great report Jill. Sooooo, what is Fred Munson doing now? What is he doing since blowing the whistle on the Twinkie-Knockoff-Scheme?” And Jill says, “Well. Nothing. His life has been ruined. He says he has been blackballed in the Twinkie Industry, and no one will hire him. He’s been out of work and his house was foreclosed. It has been terrible since he exposed the fake cream filling fiasco.”
And then they all frown, and glower for a moment, and move on to reporting the weather.
Okay. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d want to be the Whistleblower. I mean, in theory, it is a noble cause, and all. It is the right thing to do. But every week, I hear that the poor Whistleblower-Person is sitting on a curb somewhere, starving, with an empty tin can, begging for money. Sure, the big corporation can no longer do the dastardly deed that it was doing. But Whistleblowing Bill is out on his butt.
There ought to be a safety net, that’s all. A protective screen. A Whistleblower’s Umbrella.
I say all this, tongue in cheek, you know. I think it is important for us to be noble. To do the right thing. To see where there is wrong, and not give in. To resist that which grates against integrity.
Today is September 1st, as I write.
In 1939, on this day, World War II started when Nazi Germany invaded Poland by attacking the Free City of Danzig. I’m reading a book about that now. The Nazis marched in, and randomly began diluting the Polish population, by sending thousands to work camps, to concentration camps. Some would just be shot, while standing in the street. They moved through Poland, house by house, and destroyed every bit of their lives. Like that. The Poles, many of them, thought, “Oh this won’t last. The British will come and help. The French will come.”
No one came. No one helped. At least, not in 1939. And not for a lot of years after. So many lives extinguished. Just. Like. That.
To give you an idea how long it took, two years later on this date, in 1941, all the Jews in Germany had to start wearing a yellow star of David on their clothing at all times. And then their disintegration began.
Yesterday, in Germany, there were riots in the street, when Far Right-Wing protestors erupted. Many sported “I Love Hitler” hats, and such. They were protesting Anti-Immigration, Anti-Islam, and Anti-Judaism. Violence and rioting on a large scale in the city of Berlin.
And in this country, we have a President who is convincing a faction of the people that the FREE Press is the enemy of the people. That same President, who has instructed his “followers” to react violently to people who are different. In his words, to: “punch him in the face” at one of his rallies.
I shy away from writing about this here, because so many of my friends and family members support Donald Trump. But I beg you to please rethink your position. Please, quit defending this behavior. Oh, I hear you. You say the economy is good. It is the reasoning for your support. I wonder how well this good economy is reaching the lower classes in Preble County. Or anywhere else.
You have to KNOW, deep in your hearts, that violence and exclusion are no good. For once, be the Whistleblower. Find a way, to stand up against this injustice. Find that place inside you that HAS to know better than to accept hatred, and division. It is the right thing for all of us to do.
===========
Freedom is nothing else but a chance to be better. — Albert Camus
============
Freedom is the will to be responsible to ourselves. — Friedrich Nietzsche
============
We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it. — William Faulkner
===========