Lucille
06-11-2013, 01:51 PM
This is a great idea.
A Whistleblower Protection Program
http://georgedonnelly.com/agorism/whistleblower-protection-program
Here’s an agorist business idea for you. Start a whistleblower protection program, not for people who speak out against small-time criminals, but for the whistleblowers who speak out against the big-time criminals like the US government and its multitude of oppressive intelligence agencies, from the FBI to the NSA.
[...]
We in the liberty community, if we truly want to bring about a more just, prosperous and peaceful society, need to create a counterweight to the power of the “dirty tricksters.”
We need to support whistleblowers like Snowden. As any Austrian economist will tell you, when you subsidize something you get more of it. And that is what we need to do. We need to subsidize whistleblowing by shepherding whistleblowers to safety and a new life somewhere outside the empire’s reach.
Sure, whisteblowers also need more honest and courageous journalists like Glenn Greenwald. But right now, no one is offering to shepherd whistleblowers into a new life where the safety of their immediate families and themselves is reasonably protected both legally and physically.
If whistleblowers at the most intimate levels of the “dirty tricks” operation, which is in many ways the moving force behind US imperialism both at home and abroad, had a secure exit plan, we might see more of them take the honorable route of disclosing what they know and leaving their jobs. Once enough whistleblowers have safely shared what they know with the public and moved on to a safe existence somewhere else, it would only create greater momentum for the trend to continue.
[...] You can also take enormous pride in knowing that you are part of a 21st century underground railroad.
While historians argue that the original underground railroad – the one that freed people enslaved in the southern US in the 19th century – had a minor economic impact, the psychological impact on slaveholders was significant. We can replicate that impact today. Just as Defense Distributed and others have shown with their 3D-printed guns that firearm prohibition laws are pointless, you can likewise show the earnest hand-wringers of the “intelligence community” that their attempts to keep state secrets are equally futile.
By systematically supporting and encouraging whistleblowers, we could effectively take down the now global security apparatus of the US empire and accelerate the movement towards a freer world. That’s important.
How would this new underground railroad work? Perhaps we can take inspiration from the structure of that original underground railroad. There were many roles to play in that operation, from guides to safe house operators to stockholders who financed the escapes.
A whistleblower could contact the witness protection program anonymously and securely using tools like Tor and PGP. There could be a conversation about the nature of the whistle to be blown, what the person needs and where he wants to go. The program could securely connect the budding whistleblower with a sympathetic journalist who would help him get his story out.
[...]
What do we need to make it work?...
more at the link
A Whistleblower Protection Program
http://georgedonnelly.com/agorism/whistleblower-protection-program
Here’s an agorist business idea for you. Start a whistleblower protection program, not for people who speak out against small-time criminals, but for the whistleblowers who speak out against the big-time criminals like the US government and its multitude of oppressive intelligence agencies, from the FBI to the NSA.
[...]
We in the liberty community, if we truly want to bring about a more just, prosperous and peaceful society, need to create a counterweight to the power of the “dirty tricksters.”
We need to support whistleblowers like Snowden. As any Austrian economist will tell you, when you subsidize something you get more of it. And that is what we need to do. We need to subsidize whistleblowing by shepherding whistleblowers to safety and a new life somewhere outside the empire’s reach.
Sure, whisteblowers also need more honest and courageous journalists like Glenn Greenwald. But right now, no one is offering to shepherd whistleblowers into a new life where the safety of their immediate families and themselves is reasonably protected both legally and physically.
If whistleblowers at the most intimate levels of the “dirty tricks” operation, which is in many ways the moving force behind US imperialism both at home and abroad, had a secure exit plan, we might see more of them take the honorable route of disclosing what they know and leaving their jobs. Once enough whistleblowers have safely shared what they know with the public and moved on to a safe existence somewhere else, it would only create greater momentum for the trend to continue.
[...] You can also take enormous pride in knowing that you are part of a 21st century underground railroad.
While historians argue that the original underground railroad – the one that freed people enslaved in the southern US in the 19th century – had a minor economic impact, the psychological impact on slaveholders was significant. We can replicate that impact today. Just as Defense Distributed and others have shown with their 3D-printed guns that firearm prohibition laws are pointless, you can likewise show the earnest hand-wringers of the “intelligence community” that their attempts to keep state secrets are equally futile.
By systematically supporting and encouraging whistleblowers, we could effectively take down the now global security apparatus of the US empire and accelerate the movement towards a freer world. That’s important.
How would this new underground railroad work? Perhaps we can take inspiration from the structure of that original underground railroad. There were many roles to play in that operation, from guides to safe house operators to stockholders who financed the escapes.
A whistleblower could contact the witness protection program anonymously and securely using tools like Tor and PGP. There could be a conversation about the nature of the whistle to be blown, what the person needs and where he wants to go. The program could securely connect the budding whistleblower with a sympathetic journalist who would help him get his story out.
[...]
What do we need to make it work?...
more at the link