In a world where we see increasing signs of unethical behaviour such as fraud and corruption, we rely heavily on whistleblowers coming forward and speaking up. However, there are increasing signs that point to people preferring to rather keep quiet because they have seen how others who dared to speak up and how they have been treated. They often find themselves victimised and ostracised. A big culprit in those scenarios is those who watch in silence.
Outsourced morality
It is incumbent on each of us to constantly evaluate whether our moral compass is still pointing to our true north. We need to continually ask ourselves whether our actions are informed by our own beliefs that we carefully considered, before we concluded that they are fit to be used in our moral compass. How certain are we that we are not just believing what we are because those around us believe it? Or, that we are believing what we are because those who we have crowned with a halo believe it? Applying one’s own mind is paramount if we were to avoid the temptation of outsourcing our morality to others.