19th April 2016, 7:21 AM
I see this everywhere these days. "Don't be a tattletale", "don't betray your superiors' trust", "don't backstab your partner on the force", "don't narc on me", "don't rat me out", "don't snitch", this incredibly poisonous attitude against "whistleblowing" runs at every single level of society, from public to private, from children to adults, from the privileged to the oppressed.
I'm sick of it. I've tried being understanding. I really have. I look at "stop snitching" for example and try to see the systemic prejudice and abuse of power the police have used against that group to understand that maybe the origin of the "no snitching" mindset is about making sure that police don't come in and make things worse for everyone. That's true, that's an issue, but when you see it at every level and notice that even in those poor and oppressed neighborhoods, the "no snitching" attitude often goes way beyond the police, it becomes a bigger symptom of society at large.
Nobody likes the whistleblower because bringing in outsiders to "interfere" is apparently worse than the original crime, even when that crime is murder. But, the primary benefits of this attitude are ALWAYS the sociopaths trying to get away with some shady dealings. Those people don't deserve our loyalty!
Now for me, I've ALWAYS had an issue with this "moral". As a kid if someone picked on me, I ran straight to someone in authority. Sometimes it was fine, sometimes they ignored me, and in one example some teacher decided I needed to be "punished" myself, forcing me to wear a "tattle tail" made of construction paper. Yes, I'm a bit bitter about all that after all this time, but not that much since it only happened when I was a kid, and well worse examples come to mind from later years, but it underscores my point. Reporting someone's crime is seen as worse than the actual crime far too often, and I'm sick of it.
I have no illusions about what's going on with Edward Snowden. Obama isn't just "trying to make sure justice is done". He's making an example of a dirty rat who told on the NSA to the world. That's what that is, and it's got to stop.
I'm sick of it. I've tried being understanding. I really have. I look at "stop snitching" for example and try to see the systemic prejudice and abuse of power the police have used against that group to understand that maybe the origin of the "no snitching" mindset is about making sure that police don't come in and make things worse for everyone. That's true, that's an issue, but when you see it at every level and notice that even in those poor and oppressed neighborhoods, the "no snitching" attitude often goes way beyond the police, it becomes a bigger symptom of society at large.
Nobody likes the whistleblower because bringing in outsiders to "interfere" is apparently worse than the original crime, even when that crime is murder. But, the primary benefits of this attitude are ALWAYS the sociopaths trying to get away with some shady dealings. Those people don't deserve our loyalty!
Now for me, I've ALWAYS had an issue with this "moral". As a kid if someone picked on me, I ran straight to someone in authority. Sometimes it was fine, sometimes they ignored me, and in one example some teacher decided I needed to be "punished" myself, forcing me to wear a "tattle tail" made of construction paper. Yes, I'm a bit bitter about all that after all this time, but not that much since it only happened when I was a kid, and well worse examples come to mind from later years, but it underscores my point. Reporting someone's crime is seen as worse than the actual crime far too often, and I'm sick of it.
I have no illusions about what's going on with Edward Snowden. Obama isn't just "trying to make sure justice is done". He's making an example of a dirty rat who told on the NSA to the world. That's what that is, and it's got to stop.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)