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Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud
"A call to arms and to action, for anyone with a conscience, anyone alarmed about the decline of our democracy." � New York Times-bestselling author Wendell Potter
"Powerful...His extensively reported tales of individual whistleblowers and their often cruel fates are compelling...They reveal what it can mean to live in an age of fraud." � The Washington Post
"Tom Mueller's authoritative and timely book reveals what drives a few brave souls to expose and denounce specific cases of corruption. He describes the structural decay that plagues many of our most powerful institutions, putting democracy itself in danger." —George Soros
A David-and-Goliath story for our times: the riveting account of the heroes who are fighting a rising tide of wrongdoing by the powerful, and showing us the path forward.
We live in a period of sweeping corruption—and a golden age of whistleblowing. Over the past few decades, principled insiders who expose wrongdoing have gained unprecedented legal and social stature, emerging as the government's best weapon against corporate misconduct--and the citizenry's best defense against government gone bad. Whistleblowers force us to confront fundamental questions about the balance between free speech and state secrecy, and between individual morality and corporate power.
In Crisis of Conscience, Tom Mueller traces the rise of whistleblowing through a series of riveting cases drawn from the worlds of healthcare and other businesses, Wall Street, and Washington. Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than two hundred whistleblowers and the trailblazing lawyers who arm them for battle—plus politicians, intelligence analysts, government watchdogs, cognitive scientists, and other experts—Mueller anatomizes what inspires some to speak out while the rest of us become complicit in our silence. Whistleblowers, we come to see, are the freethinking, outspoken citizens for whom our republic was conceived. And they are the models we must emulate if our democracy is to survive.
"Powerful...His extensively reported tales of individual whistleblowers and their often cruel fates are compelling...They reveal what it can mean to live in an age of fraud." � The Washington Post
"Tom Mueller's authoritative and timely book reveals what drives a few brave souls to expose and denounce specific cases of corruption. He describes the structural decay that plagues many of our most powerful institutions, putting democracy itself in danger." —George Soros
A David-and-Goliath story for our times: the riveting account of the heroes who are fighting a rising tide of wrongdoing by the powerful, and showing us the path forward.
We live in a period of sweeping corruption—and a golden age of whistleblowing. Over the past few decades, principled insiders who expose wrongdoing have gained unprecedented legal and social stature, emerging as the government's best weapon against corporate misconduct--and the citizenry's best defense against government gone bad. Whistleblowers force us to confront fundamental questions about the balance between free speech and state secrecy, and between individual morality and corporate power.
In Crisis of Conscience, Tom Mueller traces the rise of whistleblowing through a series of riveting cases drawn from the worlds of healthcare and other businesses, Wall Street, and Washington. Drawing on in-depth interviews with more than two hundred whistleblowers and the trailblazing lawyers who arm them for battle—plus politicians, intelligence analysts, government watchdogs, cognitive scientists, and other experts—Mueller anatomizes what inspires some to speak out while the rest of us become complicit in our silence. Whistleblowers, we come to see, are the freethinking, outspoken citizens for whom our republic was conceived. And they are the models we must emulate if our democracy is to survive.
608 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2019
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996 people want to read
About the author
Tom Mueller
25Ìýbooks37ÌýfollowersTom Mueller writes for The New Yorker and other publications. He lives in a medieval stone farmhouse surrounded by olive groves in the Ligurian countryside outside of Genoa, Italy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
November 18, 2019
'Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud' by Tom Mueller is a wonderful in-depth history of whistleblowers in the United States! However, it was written before the latest whistleblower scandal about Ukraine and President Trump. But it goes deep on every other mainstream scandal which has surfaced, including in the Obama years, as well as all those other Trump administration reveals since Trump was elected. It is a fascinating book, but I think a bit overlong here and there. He also covers the whisteblower legal protections the 1776 Founders tried to put in place, but these protections have been removed, strengthened, watered down, added in again, for years.
Chapter one: Becoming a Whistleblower
Chapter two: Question Authority
Chapter three: The Money Dance
Chapter four: Blood Ivory Towers
Chapter five: Reaping the Nuclear Harvest
Chapter six: Money Makes the World Go Round
Chapter seven: Ministries of Truth
Epilogue: The Banana Republic wasn't Built in a Day
Mueller starts with a convoluted case - most of them are - regarding a case of pharmaceutical fraud involving Johnson and Johnson. How this case plays out is a template for all whistleblower cases in my opinion. A bureaucrat, or an accountant, or an engineer, or a medical doctor, going about their job sees or notices something wrong in a bank account statement, or in receipts, or a letter, or in a meeting, a phone call, or with their patients, and that person realizes a crime is being committed. Usually it involves shortcuts, inflated billings, payoffs, compromised or wrong materials being used in a manufacturing process, or test results are faked.
The whistleblower typically tries to go to his supervisor. Usually, the WB is told to mind his own business or to shut up. If WB persists, his desk gets moved to a closet, he is taken off of other responsibilities, he gets a job review condemning his performance. The other employees shun him, stop inviting him to afterwork get-togethers. Sometimes this is when the WB goes to government agencies, for example, like maybe the Department of Justice, depending on what agency has oversight over his industry or business. The WB usually gets fired at this point. Thankfully, in recent years organizations have sprung up which are designed to help WBs with legal steps, contacts and advice. Even so, many WB prosecutions can take ten years to resolve, and many WB reputations are destroyed. These folks often are never hired in their field of expertise ever again. Divorces are common. Destruction of financial credit is common.
Why WB's persist is often billions of dollars of taxpayer money is being wasted. Sometimes lives are at stake, literally, since people are dying, for example, after working in an environment where dangerous radiation leaks are spilling out of poorly designed and maintained containment facilities, a still ongoing issue at the Hanford Nuclear facility. Or people are being needlessly sickened, for example by 'approved' drugs like Risperdal, where tests are not only rigged, but these sometimes ineffectual or wrongly recommended drugs to kids, for example, have side effects which damage people's bodies and minds for life. New drugs usually have an extreme multiple-digit mark-up in costs, even though cheaper drugs are available, which actually has a ripple effect of corruption - hospitals, doctors, patients. Mueller talks to a variety of psychiatrists, though, hoping to suss out what kind of person undergoes the trials of fire WBs do, because the good they do often comes at a big cost to their lives.
Military soldiers died needlessly in Afghanistan from a lack of vehicles toughened to withstand explosions even though such hardened vehicles existed. The hold-up? The military leaders were fighting over which hardened vehicles to buy. Why? Because each leader was promised a sinecure job or a board seat when they retired by competing military manufacturing companies. Each general wanted their company to win the contract. This kind of corruption has resulted in purchases such as the notorious $10,000 toilet seats, widely reported.
The Big Pharma and medical lab cases are another arena where gaming the system occurs. Give millions to respected elite universities. Offer board seats, stocks, future employment to STEM professors. Pay them under the table for speeches given at other important universities or science symposiums talking up an amazing new drug, or surgical device or gene therapy. Have laboratories or scientists under obligation from having taken Big Pharma 'donations' write articles in respected science journals with faked results. Btw, these respectable journals NEVER issue retractions, even when a faked test is exposed or if no one can reproduce the results, or thousands of patients start showing up with permanent harm or having died because of the drug or device or treatment.
A university stem engineer or scientist or President or board member may announce they are quitting their teaching or college job after pumping up the volume on some company's product for a couple of years. Later, it is announced this person is to become a director at some brand new laboratory or research institute sponsored by a - surprise! - Big Pharma or scientific instrument development company or a private military research facility! It works for political appointees as well...
Many government agencies are no longer doing their jobs of oversight. The same way Big Pharma bribes respectable professors and scientists works well for government political appointees or Congressional employees in charge of government agencies. Trump has taken this corrupting practice of hidden bribes through job and stock offers, ongoing for decades and in many recent Presidential administrations, a step further by placing ex-industry/business executives in charge of watchdog and licensing departments over mines, schools, college loans, polluting industries, car and airplane manufacturing, internet regs etc. etc. etc. These Trump appointees are firing or gutting their agencies, often by 2/3, getting rid of anyone who looks too hard at the work and approvals now coming out of these agencies. Whoever Trump appointees can't push out of their jobs, they are moving their offices from Washington DC., Virginia, etc. to Kansas, or Mississippi or Nevada.
If corruption seems worse than normal, it is. Mueller provides the facts and figures.
There is an extensive Notes section and an Index, too.
Sidebar: I have been a steady news observer for most of my adult life, so I can vouch for most of the material Mueller includes in this book since I remember reading about many of these stories in newspapers and magazines in real time, as they occurred decades ago up to now.
Below are professional reviews of 'Crisis of Conscience':
Chapter one: Becoming a Whistleblower
Chapter two: Question Authority
Chapter three: The Money Dance
Chapter four: Blood Ivory Towers
Chapter five: Reaping the Nuclear Harvest
Chapter six: Money Makes the World Go Round
Chapter seven: Ministries of Truth
Epilogue: The Banana Republic wasn't Built in a Day
Mueller starts with a convoluted case - most of them are - regarding a case of pharmaceutical fraud involving Johnson and Johnson. How this case plays out is a template for all whistleblower cases in my opinion. A bureaucrat, or an accountant, or an engineer, or a medical doctor, going about their job sees or notices something wrong in a bank account statement, or in receipts, or a letter, or in a meeting, a phone call, or with their patients, and that person realizes a crime is being committed. Usually it involves shortcuts, inflated billings, payoffs, compromised or wrong materials being used in a manufacturing process, or test results are faked.
The whistleblower typically tries to go to his supervisor. Usually, the WB is told to mind his own business or to shut up. If WB persists, his desk gets moved to a closet, he is taken off of other responsibilities, he gets a job review condemning his performance. The other employees shun him, stop inviting him to afterwork get-togethers. Sometimes this is when the WB goes to government agencies, for example, like maybe the Department of Justice, depending on what agency has oversight over his industry or business. The WB usually gets fired at this point. Thankfully, in recent years organizations have sprung up which are designed to help WBs with legal steps, contacts and advice. Even so, many WB prosecutions can take ten years to resolve, and many WB reputations are destroyed. These folks often are never hired in their field of expertise ever again. Divorces are common. Destruction of financial credit is common.
Why WB's persist is often billions of dollars of taxpayer money is being wasted. Sometimes lives are at stake, literally, since people are dying, for example, after working in an environment where dangerous radiation leaks are spilling out of poorly designed and maintained containment facilities, a still ongoing issue at the Hanford Nuclear facility. Or people are being needlessly sickened, for example by 'approved' drugs like Risperdal, where tests are not only rigged, but these sometimes ineffectual or wrongly recommended drugs to kids, for example, have side effects which damage people's bodies and minds for life. New drugs usually have an extreme multiple-digit mark-up in costs, even though cheaper drugs are available, which actually has a ripple effect of corruption - hospitals, doctors, patients. Mueller talks to a variety of psychiatrists, though, hoping to suss out what kind of person undergoes the trials of fire WBs do, because the good they do often comes at a big cost to their lives.
Military soldiers died needlessly in Afghanistan from a lack of vehicles toughened to withstand explosions even though such hardened vehicles existed. The hold-up? The military leaders were fighting over which hardened vehicles to buy. Why? Because each leader was promised a sinecure job or a board seat when they retired by competing military manufacturing companies. Each general wanted their company to win the contract. This kind of corruption has resulted in purchases such as the notorious $10,000 toilet seats, widely reported.
The Big Pharma and medical lab cases are another arena where gaming the system occurs. Give millions to respected elite universities. Offer board seats, stocks, future employment to STEM professors. Pay them under the table for speeches given at other important universities or science symposiums talking up an amazing new drug, or surgical device or gene therapy. Have laboratories or scientists under obligation from having taken Big Pharma 'donations' write articles in respected science journals with faked results. Btw, these respectable journals NEVER issue retractions, even when a faked test is exposed or if no one can reproduce the results, or thousands of patients start showing up with permanent harm or having died because of the drug or device or treatment.
A university stem engineer or scientist or President or board member may announce they are quitting their teaching or college job after pumping up the volume on some company's product for a couple of years. Later, it is announced this person is to become a director at some brand new laboratory or research institute sponsored by a - surprise! - Big Pharma or scientific instrument development company or a private military research facility! It works for political appointees as well...
Many government agencies are no longer doing their jobs of oversight. The same way Big Pharma bribes respectable professors and scientists works well for government political appointees or Congressional employees in charge of government agencies. Trump has taken this corrupting practice of hidden bribes through job and stock offers, ongoing for decades and in many recent Presidential administrations, a step further by placing ex-industry/business executives in charge of watchdog and licensing departments over mines, schools, college loans, polluting industries, car and airplane manufacturing, internet regs etc. etc. etc. These Trump appointees are firing or gutting their agencies, often by 2/3, getting rid of anyone who looks too hard at the work and approvals now coming out of these agencies. Whoever Trump appointees can't push out of their jobs, they are moving their offices from Washington DC., Virginia, etc. to Kansas, or Mississippi or Nevada.
If corruption seems worse than normal, it is. Mueller provides the facts and figures.
There is an extensive Notes section and an Index, too.
Sidebar: I have been a steady news observer for most of my adult life, so I can vouch for most of the material Mueller includes in this book since I remember reading about many of these stories in newspapers and magazines in real time, as they occurred decades ago up to now.
Below are professional reviews of 'Crisis of Conscience':
December 7, 2019
I had to read this book in two phases. After I read 344 pages, I had to put it aside until my inner being could recover from the profound depression that descended on me with those pages. I continue to despair about our fate now that I’ve finished the book. Mueller provides case after case where whistleblowers alert governmental agencies to fraud and safety issues. Results are disheartening. If the DOE, Pentagon, DOJ, FDA, SEC, didn’t succeed in stifling the investigations, they did succeed in muting the penalties, press releases, and remedies. The fraud and abuses continue today.
There are basically two causes for this. The first is simply greed in all forms. Ethical considerations are not part of the equation when top management assesses risk-benefits. It’s all about money: What’s the minimum we can get away with for infrastructure, safety, R&D, etc? What’s in it for me? How much can I/we make from it? And what about the well-being of patients, soldiers, small investors, taxpayers, employees? Doesn’t matter. The top management assessment today is that it’s cheaper to lose a case in (or out of) court than to do the right thing up front. Doesn’t matter that there victims out there. CEOs and CFOs have done the math. Business schools are actually teaching this stuff!
Brings us to the the second reason the fraud and abuses continue: The financial institutions, contractors (e.g., Bechtel, Pricewaterhouse), pharmaceuticals, etc continue to get away with their fraudulent practices. There are revolving doors between these various companies and the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be looking out for the public. Commissioners either come out of the industry they’re supposed to be overseeing or they join those very same companies as directors or managers when they step down from their commission. Or both! The fox is guarding the henhouse.
Mueller provides so many examples of this paradigm, I wonder if we will ever return to a place where public safety, public health, and economic security for the average citizen matters. It’s not that we had never had lapses of ethics before in those who run corporations. For example, the S&L debacle of the 90’s was also propelled by greed. But whistleblowing brought about jail terms for the most egregious wrongdoers and new legislation to thwart new attempts of fraud. Compare that with the 2008 financial crisis - no one went to jail, taxpayers bailed out Citibank, BofA, etc., and all of these guys have gone on to commit more fraud. Whistleblowers expose them, they pay a modest fine (by their standards), promise to not do it again, then proceed to do it again. Ad nauseum.
This hefty book could benefit from some tighter editing. Mueller had a lot of material and he certainly has opinions too. So at times the narratives rambled and took off on tangents. The book was published in October and I think the timing owed something to the whistleblower who started the impeachment ball rolling. Now, there was a reference to the UBS judgment rendered in March and another to a different institution’s penalty imposed in July, which implies he was still writing (maybe editing) during summer. So getting the book out on a short timetable might account for the light use of the red pencil. Despite that, this is a very relevant book for our times.
There are basically two causes for this. The first is simply greed in all forms. Ethical considerations are not part of the equation when top management assesses risk-benefits. It’s all about money: What’s the minimum we can get away with for infrastructure, safety, R&D, etc? What’s in it for me? How much can I/we make from it? And what about the well-being of patients, soldiers, small investors, taxpayers, employees? Doesn’t matter. The top management assessment today is that it’s cheaper to lose a case in (or out of) court than to do the right thing up front. Doesn’t matter that there victims out there. CEOs and CFOs have done the math. Business schools are actually teaching this stuff!
Brings us to the the second reason the fraud and abuses continue: The financial institutions, contractors (e.g., Bechtel, Pricewaterhouse), pharmaceuticals, etc continue to get away with their fraudulent practices. There are revolving doors between these various companies and the regulatory agencies that are supposed to be looking out for the public. Commissioners either come out of the industry they’re supposed to be overseeing or they join those very same companies as directors or managers when they step down from their commission. Or both! The fox is guarding the henhouse.
Mueller provides so many examples of this paradigm, I wonder if we will ever return to a place where public safety, public health, and economic security for the average citizen matters. It’s not that we had never had lapses of ethics before in those who run corporations. For example, the S&L debacle of the 90’s was also propelled by greed. But whistleblowing brought about jail terms for the most egregious wrongdoers and new legislation to thwart new attempts of fraud. Compare that with the 2008 financial crisis - no one went to jail, taxpayers bailed out Citibank, BofA, etc., and all of these guys have gone on to commit more fraud. Whistleblowers expose them, they pay a modest fine (by their standards), promise to not do it again, then proceed to do it again. Ad nauseum.
This hefty book could benefit from some tighter editing. Mueller had a lot of material and he certainly has opinions too. So at times the narratives rambled and took off on tangents. The book was published in October and I think the timing owed something to the whistleblower who started the impeachment ball rolling. Now, there was a reference to the UBS judgment rendered in March and another to a different institution’s penalty imposed in July, which implies he was still writing (maybe editing) during summer. So getting the book out on a short timetable might account for the light use of the red pencil. Despite that, this is a very relevant book for our times.
October 17, 2021
This is a long book, but I found myself wanting to highlight throughout. Mueller's deep dive is necessary for connecting all the dots to paint a clear picture of the sad reality that America is a culture of corruption and incompetence from the top down, with a business model of systematic and deliberate fraud being a good recipe for success in the for-profit, government and non-profit sectors.
The whistleblowers are examples to follow if we want a level playing field and a functional society with rule of law and basic constitutional rights.
The whistleblowers are examples to follow if we want a level playing field and a functional society with rule of law and basic constitutional rights.
October 16, 2019
Wow. I have never wanted to smoke before and still don't but I won't lie that this book was so horrifying, so depressing, so infuriating that I didn't want to reach for a stiff drink or take a long drag just to take my mind off of it. A complete indictment of American society and government. Unforgettable.
February 18, 2021
By exposing all manner of abuses, wrongdoing, criminal behaviour, and attempts to cover them up, frequently risking their livelihoods, reputation, privacy and possibly personal security in the process, whistleblowers choose to take on a vital yet frequently thankless task - all too often, their cases can be described as prime examples for "no good deed goes unpunished". Mueller has collected the stories of many different individuals who took that step, exploring their histories and motivations, the many forms of egregious misconduct, fraud, and other crimes they brought out into the open, be it in relation to pharmaceutical companies, banks, the military, national security issues or a number of other fields, the impact, if any, that their actions ultimately had aside from the revelations themselves, how in some cases their choice to come forward inspired others do to the same, and the opposition and prolonged battles they faced. A gripping read that is both a history and a call to action.
February 12, 2020
I think every American who cares about this country, regardless of political affiliation, should read this book.
September 1, 2020
This is a must read for all Americans. Whistleblowing has quickly become the primary line of defense against corruption in both the government and private sector. The accounts of deceit and whistleblowing in the pharmaceutical industry, defense contracting, intelligence gathering, and financial services is spellbinding. I think more devastating are the ways in which institutions try to marginalize and punish whistleblowers, even in the Inspectors' General offices.
There are brave heroes in this book who gave up so much of their health and treasure to fix systemic corruption, driven primarily by their moral conscious. I must admit, I don't know if I'd be willing to give up my livelihood in the same way.
My only problem with the book was a serious lack of policy guidance on how we can begin to fix the problem. The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has proven to be a very important resource for whistleblowers in the public sector, which in many ways, accomodates the corruption in the private sector. A few key themes I can glean from the text:
a) We need to stop the revolving door between government and the private sector. The author does suggest a 5-year restriction on serving a government contractor following government service (elected or otherwise). This is particularly important at the SEC and Treasury where Wall St. sends its own to regulate itself.
b) Right now, departmental IG's, AG's and heads are typically appointed by the same leaders who are usually responsible for the problems being investigated (often the President or Cabinet members). The US Congress should authorize a 100% completely independent IG agency that is able to receive Whistleblower complaints from anyone in the Executive Branch.
c) One of the hardest parts of the problem to solve is Judicial recusal. It's noted that Justice Scalia often went on hunting trips with executives engaged in cases he was ruling on, giving him an obvious bias. Recusal for judges shouldn't only be a voluntary decision; perhaps the IG should also have the ability to stay a decision when it's clear a judge has been biased (e.g. a judicial check from the legislature).
The charities I've started to follow since reading this book: GAP & The Signals Network.
There are brave heroes in this book who gave up so much of their health and treasure to fix systemic corruption, driven primarily by their moral conscious. I must admit, I don't know if I'd be willing to give up my livelihood in the same way.
My only problem with the book was a serious lack of policy guidance on how we can begin to fix the problem. The Government Accountability Project (GAP) has proven to be a very important resource for whistleblowers in the public sector, which in many ways, accomodates the corruption in the private sector. A few key themes I can glean from the text:
a) We need to stop the revolving door between government and the private sector. The author does suggest a 5-year restriction on serving a government contractor following government service (elected or otherwise). This is particularly important at the SEC and Treasury where Wall St. sends its own to regulate itself.
b) Right now, departmental IG's, AG's and heads are typically appointed by the same leaders who are usually responsible for the problems being investigated (often the President or Cabinet members). The US Congress should authorize a 100% completely independent IG agency that is able to receive Whistleblower complaints from anyone in the Executive Branch.
c) One of the hardest parts of the problem to solve is Judicial recusal. It's noted that Justice Scalia often went on hunting trips with executives engaged in cases he was ruling on, giving him an obvious bias. Recusal for judges shouldn't only be a voluntary decision; perhaps the IG should also have the ability to stay a decision when it's clear a judge has been biased (e.g. a judicial check from the legislature).
The charities I've started to follow since reading this book: GAP & The Signals Network.
March 3, 2020
When you read this book you’ll walk away feeling that doing the right thing is a death sentence in multiple ways. I loved listening to this audiobook, since we’re talking about whistleblowers politics generally are involved. It didn’t matter which political party certain people belonged to, every side is guilty of making things worse for whistleblowers and those that reveal illegal and immoral actions.
December 28, 2019
I'm not sure a book has made me feel more impotent frustration and rage against the people and forces that have subverted normal democratic processes than this one. Across many areas of life and industry, Mueller shows the "bad guys" winning over and over. The amount of retaliation showcased is enough to make one's head spin. Mueller also does a phenomenal job at charting the sources of some of these insidious forces. We all owe a massive debt of gratitude to these whistleblowers who will hold the line in the face of naked amorality and evil.
December 13, 2019
Protect whistleblowers. Encourage them! Interesting that this concept has been a part of our US Laws since the civil war. Even back in the days, shady governmental contractors took advantage of bureaucracy so they enacted laws to reward those who uncovered the shenanigans. Unfortunately, these laws are being hollowed out by the power and piles of money wielded by large corporations and their army of lawyers. The military, pharmaceuticals, university labs, etc- they become 'captured' by donor/vendors and could all use some transparency. Sunlight is the best disenfectant. Feel like strengthening enforcement of whistleblowing laws and fighting beyond settlements would be a win for society.
Pay attention, chase the money, don't settle, protect the sources. Would recommend if you want to learn about this.
Pay attention, chase the money, don't settle, protect the sources. Would recommend if you want to learn about this.
November 28, 2024
A challenging, yet rewarding and enlightening read. When I say challenging, sure, it's a long book. Normally I'd knock a book a star or two for having multiple roughly 100-page chapters. But this book is so monumentally important and eye-opening that I can't justify giving it any less than five stars. More so, it is challenging because it will force you to reckon with any last vestiges of American Exceptionalism you may have left in you.
In Crisis of Conscience, Tom Mueller analyzes what being a whistleblower means in our current version of the United States and its democracy. He looks at whistleblowers across the spectrum, covering pollution, finance, and intelligence. The whistleblowers whose stories Mueller covers are scathing testimonies showing just how far the U.S. and its institutions have strayed from the vision the Founders had for us. What you'll read in this book will turn even the most steadfast optimist into a cynic. With that in mind, don't read this book unless you're truly prepared to face just how corrupt and dysfunctional our government truly is.
In Crisis of Conscience, Tom Mueller analyzes what being a whistleblower means in our current version of the United States and its democracy. He looks at whistleblowers across the spectrum, covering pollution, finance, and intelligence. The whistleblowers whose stories Mueller covers are scathing testimonies showing just how far the U.S. and its institutions have strayed from the vision the Founders had for us. What you'll read in this book will turn even the most steadfast optimist into a cynic. With that in mind, don't read this book unless you're truly prepared to face just how corrupt and dysfunctional our government truly is.
November 6, 2019
A well-written overview of government (and government contractor) dysfunction and misconduct and the stories of those who tried to blow the whistle on it. The book focuses mostly on people who have blown the whistle on fraud in government contracting, in the defense, medical, and nuclear areas, but it also covers some stories of whistleblowers in the financial and national security areas. There's also a chapter on academia, which struck me as not really fitting in with the rest of the book.
Regarding the core chapters of the book (i.e. government contracting fraud), the book does a really admirable job of explaining the importance of whistleblowers to counteracting fraud with federal funds, the difficulties whistleblowers face in bringing suit under the False Claims Act, and the difficult relationship between whistleblowers and the Department of Justice. It also does a great job of putting its discussions of fraud in broader context, by explaining the underlying psychological forces as well as the regulatory background and the incentives created thereby.
While this book would have benefitted from some aggressive editing, on the whole this is highly recommended.
Regarding the core chapters of the book (i.e. government contracting fraud), the book does a really admirable job of explaining the importance of whistleblowers to counteracting fraud with federal funds, the difficulties whistleblowers face in bringing suit under the False Claims Act, and the difficult relationship between whistleblowers and the Department of Justice. It also does a great job of putting its discussions of fraud in broader context, by explaining the underlying psychological forces as well as the regulatory background and the incentives created thereby.
While this book would have benefitted from some aggressive editing, on the whole this is highly recommended.
October 6, 2020
Mueller basically highlighted a couple of whistle blowing cases in pharmaceutical, higher education (especially in the field of economics), DoE/DoD, and NSA/CIA. By showing how whistle blowers are frequently ignored, bullied, retaliated, Mueller advocates for reformation on protection of whistle-blowers rights, and more gov transparency. I like his detailed accounts, but don't think he needs so many cases and digression to sociology/psychology/anthropology to establish his thesis argument. Some parts of this book read redundant.
March 25, 2020
A long book, but I got through it. Learned a lot, interesting case studies. I think it could have definitely been condensed without losing the idea. However, I do feel that the public needs to know more about whistleblowers and there need to be more protections in place for brave individuals who step up when things aren't right.
January 1, 2020
A superb book and one everyone should read. You will be appalled, sad, angry and surprised, sometimes all at the same time. For some readers there may be more detail than desired but it is worth the effort to persevere.
April 17, 2020
An excellent review of whistle blowers in the United States. The author does not favor one political party over another. He has examples of all recent administrations. He differentiates whistle blowers from leakers, whom he likely considers self-serving, dishonest and even treasonous.
October 28, 2020
Brilliant
Wine of the best books I have ever read, the content was astonishing and unbelievable, I did not believe corruption and fraud was so rife.
I wish and hope Tom continues to expose people at the highest level for all their fraud.
Wine of the best books I have ever read, the content was astonishing and unbelievable, I did not believe corruption and fraud was so rife.
I wish and hope Tom continues to expose people at the highest level for all their fraud.
July 19, 2021
If you think you can’t be bothered to read 500 pages, at least read the last chapter.
After that, you’ll want to read the rest of the book. If not, maybe stick to Netflix?
*Might induce a short-term depression episode but maybe this is one of the measures of a quality book?
After that, you’ll want to read the rest of the book. If not, maybe stick to Netflix?
*Might induce a short-term depression episode but maybe this is one of the measures of a quality book?
July 25, 2022
Earnestly speaking, this book made me lose faith in society. So many violations... so many people directly and indirectly hurt... felt like throwing up at some points and/or punching a wall. This book gave me a lot to think about.
December 24, 2019
As disturbing and resonant as it is powerful and necessary. I'm tempted to add, "Especially now" -- but, if you read it, you'll understand how that misses the point entirely.
February 5, 2020
Every American should read this before they vote. Terrifying and necessary.
December 17, 2019
Re: CoC is a MUST-read: See my [1] for details re:
1) my threat analysis (outgrowth of my Amazon-/Microsoft-/-praised work; keywords re: threat: ~77 million psychopaths are IMPERILED; threat is previewed below; links to said praise are on page 2 of the pdf)
2) the "Age of Fraud" anatomized in CoC makes said threat MUCH worse (e.g., makes the worst-case outcome much more likely)
3) CoC HELPS to explain my variant of whistleblower experience (keywords: ; career damage; makes said worst-case outcome more likely; portends (many) more worst-case outcomes)
[1] SlideShare is .
Excerpt from the pdf:
My Amazon-/Microsoft-/-praised work + your Rolodex + 20% I'm offering to pay + * between you and the person I need to partner with + . . . = you own ~4% of the Amazon of AI and customized-education (e.g., CE for AI)
* ~6 total, 1 between you and me
. . .
Re: launching said startup starts with establishing said partnership
Summary (some details follow; more below)
All ~77 million psychopaths alive today are IMPERILED (PsIMP). Keywords: psychopathy is ~70% heritable; via molecular genetics, of said ~70% are coming soon; police want universal genetic databases; "indefinite detention" of Ps could/should ensue by 2034, according to a leading psychopathy researcher who's tenured at the University of Pennsylvania (i.e., Ps who haven't committed a crime could be imprisoned).
I'm one of the non-Ps most endangered by PsIMP.
It's likely that a growing number of Ps are 1) aware that PsIMP, 2) resisting (e.g., organizing; coercing; equipping to coerce-via-terrorizing; partnering with ).
From mid-2016 to August 2019 my focus was adapting/updating my work to yield an IDEAL (FC) for gathering re: said threat to non-Ps.
In August 2019 I recognized that might’ve been a big part of Ps� resistance (keywords re: “recognized�: , Epstein’s many shell companies (SCs), ). Subsequent events, involving me, led me to conclude that my planned FC has been precluded by some U.S.-government managers and/or some USG contractors. (Re: USGCs precluding: See page 33.)
. . .
Re: it’s likely that a growing number of Ps are aware that PsIMP
From a 2016 on PsychologyToday.com:
From the 2012 in FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin titled “The CorporatePsychopath�:
From [2011 book] The Psychopath Test[: A Journey Through the Madness Industry]:
Re: it’s likely that 1) Ps have A LOT of money for resisting re: PsIMP, 2) the size of Ps� is increasing rapidly
Summary (details follow)
HUGE frauds (HFs) have been growing increasingly lucrative since the 1990s (i.e., lucrative even if penalties are incurred via lawsuits, government regulators, etc.).
HFs create lucrative opportunities for intelligent Ps (IPs), because IPs can:
Keywords re: HFs have been creating MANY lucrative opportunities for IPs: high , by central banks, higher ROI via monopoly(-profits)-via-HF.
Re: HFs have been growing increasingly lucrative since the 1990s
From 2019 book Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud , published by Penguin Random House:
The author of CoC is a journalist whose writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic and National Geographic.
Precedent for hiring people who won’t suffer a crisis of conscience
From a 2011 in U.K. newspaper The Independent:
Re: high ROI via HF
Since the �90s, companies that excel at HF (HF-Cos) have been attracting investment from that deploy the savings of many Americans (i.e., HF-Cos have been delivering higher ROI than non-HF-Cos, all things being otherwise equal).
From CoC:
-- End of excerpt from the pdf --
2nd excerpt:
Re: psychopathy is ~70% heritable
From 2011 book The Science of Evil , by a University of Cambridge professor of developmental psychopathology:
Re: many/most/all genetic identifiers of said ~70% will be identified soon
From 2013 book The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime , by a University of Pennsylvania professor of Criminology, Psychiatry and Psychology:
1) my threat analysis (outgrowth of my Amazon-/Microsoft-/-praised work; keywords re: threat: ~77 million psychopaths are IMPERILED; threat is previewed below; links to said praise are on page 2 of the pdf)
2) the "Age of Fraud" anatomized in CoC makes said threat MUCH worse (e.g., makes the worst-case outcome much more likely)
3) CoC HELPS to explain my variant of whistleblower experience (keywords: ; career damage; makes said worst-case outcome more likely; portends (many) more worst-case outcomes)
[1] SlideShare is .
Excerpt from the pdf:
My Amazon-/Microsoft-/-praised work + your Rolodex + 20% I'm offering to pay + * between you and the person I need to partner with + . . . = you own ~4% of the Amazon of AI and customized-education (e.g., CE for AI)
* ~6 total, 1 between you and me
. . .
Re: launching said startup starts with establishing said partnership
Summary (some details follow; more below)
All ~77 million psychopaths alive today are IMPERILED (PsIMP). Keywords: psychopathy is ~70% heritable; via molecular genetics, of said ~70% are coming soon; police want universal genetic databases; "indefinite detention" of Ps could/should ensue by 2034, according to a leading psychopathy researcher who's tenured at the University of Pennsylvania (i.e., Ps who haven't committed a crime could be imprisoned).
I'm one of the non-Ps most endangered by PsIMP.
It's likely that a growing number of Ps are 1) aware that PsIMP, 2) resisting (e.g., organizing; coercing; equipping to coerce-via-terrorizing; partnering with ).
From mid-2016 to August 2019 my focus was adapting/updating my work to yield an IDEAL (FC) for gathering re: said threat to non-Ps.
In August 2019 I recognized that might’ve been a big part of Ps� resistance (keywords re: “recognized�: , Epstein’s many shell companies (SCs), ). Subsequent events, involving me, led me to conclude that my planned FC has been precluded by some U.S.-government managers and/or some USG contractors. (Re: USGCs precluding: See page 33.)
. . .
Re: it’s likely that a growing number of Ps are aware that PsIMP
From a 2016 on PsychologyToday.com:
A [] review of [48] studies found that the correlation between psychopathy and intelligence is nearly zero [i.e., ] . . . (O’Boyle, Forsyth, Banks, & Story, 2013).
From the 2012 in FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin titled “The CorporatePsychopath�:
Today’s corporate psychopath may be highly educated—several with Ph.D., M.D., and J.D. degrees have been studied . . .
From [2011 book] The Psychopath Test[: A Journey Through the Madness Industry]:
It wasn’t only Bob [Hare] who believed that a disproportionate number of psychopaths can be found in high places. In the days after Essi Viding had first mentioned the theory to me, I spoke to scores of psychologists who all said exactly the same.
Re: it’s likely that 1) Ps have A LOT of money for resisting re: PsIMP, 2) the size of Ps� is increasing rapidly
Summary (details follow)
HUGE frauds (HFs) have been growing increasingly lucrative since the 1990s (i.e., lucrative even if penalties are incurred via lawsuits, government regulators, etc.).
HFs create lucrative opportunities for intelligent Ps (IPs), because IPs can:
â—� design/implement (parts of) HFs
â—� be relied upon to not become whistleblowers (i.e., to not suffer crises of conscience)
Keywords re: HFs have been creating MANY lucrative opportunities for IPs: high , by central banks, higher ROI via monopoly(-profits)-via-HF.
Re: HFs have been growing increasingly lucrative since the 1990s
From 2019 book Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud , published by Penguin Random House:
“[H]ow hollow the edifice of American democracy has become, how insubstantial its checks and balances, after decades of self-interested chiseling, reaming, drilling and blasting by various experts and insiders . . .�
“[T]he sweeping redefinition of fraud as clever business that has occurred in our society . . .�
“[B]ig healthcare firms buy their way out of the frauds and crimes they’ve perpetrated . . .�
“Hanford’s culture of impunity remains intact, because the would-be regulators at the DOE and the EPA, but also at the state and local levels, are part of the game, and look silently away as the billions roll into . . . the pockets of corrupt contractor millionaires and their government accomplices.�
“Leaking waste [that’s radioactive and deadly] is Hanford’s ongoing, slow-motion catastrophe, but other cataclysms could happen in seconds. According to a number of third-party expert reports, several decrepit structures holding large caches of radioactivity are susceptible to nuclear accidents which would threaten people across the Pacific Northwest.�
“Wall Street’s knowledge of its own impunity, proven in the aftermath of 2008, has devastated ethics in the finance industry. It explains the banks� business-as-usual attitude to fraud, and their cost-of-doing-business approach to lawsuits and settlements.�
“[W]histleblowers are essential in national defense, because the factors that facilitate fraud—secrecy, the sense of mission and mystique, the culture of impunity, and the flow of Other People’s Money—are more extreme.�
“[T]he power of whistleblowers is often illusory . . . We are in the midst of a battle over whistleblowing, part of a larger struggle . . . between the rights of individuals to know what their corporations and their government are doing, and the ever greater power of organizations to keep their secrets. How these conflicts are resolved will say much about the future strength of our democracy.�
The author of CoC is a journalist whose writing has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic and National Geographic.
Precedent for hiring people who won’t suffer a crisis of conscience
From a 2011 in U.K. newspaper The Independent:
My companion, a senior UK investment banker and I, are discussing the most successful banking types we know and what makes them tick. I argue that they often conform to the characteristics displayed by social psycho-paths. To my surprise, my friend agrees.
He then makes an astonishing confession: “At one major investment bank for which I worked, we used psychometric testing to recruit social psychopaths because their characteristics exactly suited them to senior corporate finance roles.�
Re: high ROI via HF
Since the �90s, companies that excel at HF (HF-Cos) have been attracting investment from that deploy the savings of many Americans (i.e., HF-Cos have been delivering higher ROI than non-HF-Cos, all things being otherwise equal).
From CoC:
[T]hough Risperdal [law]suits have cost the company nearly $3 billion, it sold $34 billion of the drug between 1993 and 2011 alone, sometimes at profit margins approaching 97 percent. Viewed like this, $3 billion in fines seems a smart investment. That’s evidently how the company felt. In April 2012, two months after the Texas trial, the board of Johnson & Johnson made Alex Gorsky, the mastermind of Risperdal marketing, the firm’s new chief executive. Wall Street cheered [my emphasis]: the company’s share price held firm throughout the trial and, aside from brief blips, has climbed steadily ever since. (Johnson & Johnson stock now sells for more than twice what it was worth during the trial.)
-- End of excerpt from the pdf --
2nd excerpt:
Re: psychopathy is ~70% heritable
From 2011 book The Science of Evil , by a University of Cambridge professor of developmental psychopathology:
If a trait or behavior is even partly genetic, we should see its signature showing up in twins.
. . . Regarding twin studies of Type P [i.e., psychopaths], none of these show 100 percent heritability, but the genetic component is nevertheless substantial (the largest estimate being about 70 percent).
Re: many/most/all genetic identifiers of said ~70% will be identified soon
From 2013 book The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime , by a University of Pennsylvania professor of Criminology, Psychiatry and Psychology:
“Behavioral genetics is a shadowy black box because, while it tells us what proportion of a given behavior is genetically influenced, it does not identify the specific genes lurking in there that predispose one to violence. Molecular genetics is poised to pry open that black box . . .�
“Twenty years ago, molecular genetics was a fledgling field of research. Now it is a major enterprise providing us with a detailed look at the structure and function of genes.�
“The essence of the molecular genetic research we have been touching on above—identifying specific genes that predispose individuals to crime—is that genes code for neurotransmitter functioning. Neurotransmitters are brain chemicals essential to brain functioning. There are more than a hundred of them and they help to transmit signals from one brain cell to another to communicate information. Change the level of these neurotransmitters, and you change cognition, emotion, and behavior.
. . . It’s 2034 . . . [A]ll males in society aged eighteen and over have to register at their local hospital for a quick brain scan and DNA testing. One simple finger prick for one drop of blood that takes ten seconds. Then a five-minute brain scan for the “Fundamental Five Functions�: First, a structural scan provides the brain’s anatomy. Second, a functional scan shows resting brain activity. Third, enhanced diffusion-tensor imaging is taken to assess the integrity of the white-fiber system in the brain, assessing intricate brain connectivity. Fourth is a reading of the brain’s neurochemistry that has been developed from magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Fifth and finally, the cellular functional scan assesses expression of 23,000 different genes at the cellular level. The computerization of all medical, school, psychological, census, and neighborhood data makes it easy to combine these traditional risk variables alongside the vast amount of DNA and brain data to form an all-encompassing biosocial data set.
. . . Fourth-generation machine-learning techniques looked for complex patterns of linear and nonlinear relationships . . .�
Re: “indefinite detention� of Ps could/should ensue
From The Anatomy of Violence (my emphases):
It’s 2034 . . . The economic cost of crime is now astronomical. Back in 2010, the cost of homicide in the United States was estimated at over $300 billion—more than the combined budgets of the Departments of Education, Justice, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Homeland Security. Way back in 1999, it was estimated to consume 11.9 percent of GDP, but in 2034 it is gobbling up 21.8 percent.
. . . [This] leads the government to launch the LOMBROSO program—Legal Offensive on Murder: Brain Research Operation for the Screening of Offenders.
. . . Under LOMBROSO, those who test positive—the LPs—are held in indefinite detention. . . . It sounds quite cushy, but remember that the LPs have not actually committed a crime. Perhaps the main drawback is who they live with, housed as they are in facilities full of other LPs—time bombs waiting to explode.
Re: “time bombs�
From 2019 book :
As we move along the continuum to Category 9 [of 22 categories of violent crime], we traverse an important threshold. The remainder of the scale encompasses persons who commit “evil� acts partly or wholly as the result of varying degrees of psychopathy . . .
TNE co-author Michael H. Stone, MD, is a professor of clinical psychiatry at the Columbia Univ. College of Physicians and Surgeons.
[I've reached GR's character limit]
September 1, 2020
The difference between White Collar Crime and Blue Collar Crime is that White Collar Crime is usually a thousand times worse, more painful, and causes more damage to individuals as well as society as a whole. White collar criminals, and that's what this book is about in a very real sense of the word, usually get off easier, but they should be punished harder and made an example of.
Mueller does a great job of showing how deeply flawed our nation's government is and how incredibly in bed with corporations and money we truly are. This is one of the books that shows how and why in a very real sense, it doesn't matter who wins in the 2020 Presidential Election. Trump is crooked and doesn't care what we see about it, and Biden is crooked and would just go back to hiding that corruption and money in politics - which some people would prefer. But at the end of the day, if you're not part of the inner circle of people at the top then nothing matters, and nothing is going to change.
If you want that change, you need to destroy capitalism. You need to rip it apart and rebuild things in such a way that it can't corrupt our democracy.
If you're reading this review maybe you have some people you like. Maybe Obama or Mattis? Guess what, they're both part of the problem. Don't believe me? Read this book. Elections won't fix what's wrong with this country anymore, we're too far gone. We need major systemic change and a complete rewrite of the system.
Mueller does a great job of showing how deeply flawed our nation's government is and how incredibly in bed with corporations and money we truly are. This is one of the books that shows how and why in a very real sense, it doesn't matter who wins in the 2020 Presidential Election. Trump is crooked and doesn't care what we see about it, and Biden is crooked and would just go back to hiding that corruption and money in politics - which some people would prefer. But at the end of the day, if you're not part of the inner circle of people at the top then nothing matters, and nothing is going to change.
If you want that change, you need to destroy capitalism. You need to rip it apart and rebuild things in such a way that it can't corrupt our democracy.
If you're reading this review maybe you have some people you like. Maybe Obama or Mattis? Guess what, they're both part of the problem. Don't believe me? Read this book. Elections won't fix what's wrong with this country anymore, we're too far gone. We need major systemic change and a complete rewrite of the system.
June 16, 2020
What does it take to fight against corruption? Why is it so difficult to tell the truth about unethical behavior in the workplace? Are you willing to suffer the retribution of others for telling the truth?
The book is a sobering and pessimistic analysis of American culture from the viewpoint of those persons willing to stand up against corruption and exploitation. The author uses many case studies to shed light on the highly compromised process of being a whistle blower. It reveals the David vs. Goliath fight that a person takes on when fighting both corporate and governmental wrongdoing. The author details how the government, business, and the arbitration systems work together to allow corruption to continue. The personal stories reveal the personal and career destroying experience that happens to the person who tries to do the right actions. Also, it highlights the non governmental resources that are supportive of the whistle blower.
The value of the book is that it is a detailed view of workplace ethics and practices. It would be a very good read for a business ethics class or young person just starting a career. Before becoming a whistle blower, an individual should be aware of the high costs to the personal and professional life that may occur and the psychological strength needed to endure the process.
The book is a sobering and pessimistic analysis of American culture from the viewpoint of those persons willing to stand up against corruption and exploitation. The author uses many case studies to shed light on the highly compromised process of being a whistle blower. It reveals the David vs. Goliath fight that a person takes on when fighting both corporate and governmental wrongdoing. The author details how the government, business, and the arbitration systems work together to allow corruption to continue. The personal stories reveal the personal and career destroying experience that happens to the person who tries to do the right actions. Also, it highlights the non governmental resources that are supportive of the whistle blower.
The value of the book is that it is a detailed view of workplace ethics and practices. It would be a very good read for a business ethics class or young person just starting a career. Before becoming a whistle blower, an individual should be aware of the high costs to the personal and professional life that may occur and the psychological strength needed to endure the process.
October 19, 2023
This book goes in two directlections. I was ultimately more interested in one and the author, the other. But this is still a substantive work worth digging into and spending time with.
In the end, Crisis of Conscience is about the moral rot in American institutions and how US democracy has, under a thin veneer of prestige, come to operate like a banana republic. It's trying to show readers what whistleblowers have shown us in the last few decades--or what they tried to, and mostly failed. That part of the book, though, always risks getting lost in the tedious, confusing haze and maze that large institutions count on for protective cover. Clarity can cut through, but clarity is hard to come by. Here too.
The book is better, I think, when focusing on the whistleblowers. There we have a clear story, a narrative, and curiously enough, a parable about democracy, where the whistleblower asks us to examine ourselves and offers us a way--a moral path--to save democracy from the unaccountable behemoths. The book isn't as much that, though, as I'd like.
Still, four stars.
In the end, Crisis of Conscience is about the moral rot in American institutions and how US democracy has, under a thin veneer of prestige, come to operate like a banana republic. It's trying to show readers what whistleblowers have shown us in the last few decades--or what they tried to, and mostly failed. That part of the book, though, always risks getting lost in the tedious, confusing haze and maze that large institutions count on for protective cover. Clarity can cut through, but clarity is hard to come by. Here too.
The book is better, I think, when focusing on the whistleblowers. There we have a clear story, a narrative, and curiously enough, a parable about democracy, where the whistleblower asks us to examine ourselves and offers us a way--a moral path--to save democracy from the unaccountable behemoths. The book isn't as much that, though, as I'd like.
Still, four stars.
January 30, 2025
There are some excellent reviews of this excellent book here already at the top of the reviews. Read them. I would only add that as a non-USA person I really wonder about how much this level of corruption is able to happen due to the peculiar situation of the USA. I am reminded of an interview where a USA scientist would only talk about his research data. It obviously led to the conclusion that human activities were causing climate change (global warming) but he just would NOT say this out loud. When pressed he commented along the lines of, 'My 14 year old daughter's orthodontic care relies on me keeping my job'.
Another example is how the tv series 'Breaking Bad' cannot be made in any other Western country because we all have universal free healthcare so the premise of BB makes no sense to us.
For example, in Sweden a whistleblower does not have to fear their family will lose their healthcare as a result of their actions. Their family will not end up sleeping under a bridge with no financial support or loss of pension rights. I would have liked to see USA people asked if this fear was why a part (or all) of they sat by saying and doing nothing.
Another example is how the tv series 'Breaking Bad' cannot be made in any other Western country because we all have universal free healthcare so the premise of BB makes no sense to us.
For example, in Sweden a whistleblower does not have to fear their family will lose their healthcare as a result of their actions. Their family will not end up sleeping under a bridge with no financial support or loss of pension rights. I would have liked to see USA people asked if this fear was why a part (or all) of they sat by saying and doing nothing.
April 26, 2025
Crisis of Conscience is incredibly well researched and well written. The book gives a psychological, historical, and current perspective on corruption and whistleblowing. Mr. Mueller has taken an extremely complicated topic and an enormous amount of facts and information and laid it out in a very engaging and logical way. A famous quote says "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" I would add that without works that explore the parts of our history that are often glossed over or omitted such as Crisis of Conscience, Shock Doctrine, Medical Apartheid, and The New Jim Crow we will never escape it. Finding solutions to problems must start with a careful and comprehensive review of history and facts. It is very hard to fix problems that have not been exposed and identified. I would encourage everyone who cares about the future we are creating for our children and grandchildren to read this book and think carefully about how we can move towards a more just and equitable world.
February 2, 2020
I switch out books that my grad students read (in addition to the text) and this is the one I assigned for 2020; I was reading along with them and really liked it--just great whistleblower stories (there are examples from education, health care, Wall Street, etc.). One of my students said just last week that she feels really changed after reading this book. You may feel a little disillusioned (I know I do), but I also feel like some blinders have been removed from eyes re. certain facts (rotating government to consulting positions, how whistleblowers' lives are so dramatically changed after they report an incident, etc.). Well done!
December 30, 2019
Full Disclosure--This book is on my reading list for a Law of Whistleblowing class I am teaching. But even if you are not a nerd like me (or like some of my law students:)), this book is worth reading at this moment in history. A reminder as to why whistleblowers are usually remembered in hindsight as heroic. The book is a bit dense for pleasure reading, there are few factual errors, and I suspect that the author may have rushed it to press without substantial editing (hmm...wonder why). But still it is a timely and informative read.
April 13, 2020
Mueller provides an extensive overview of the corruption and fraud in big business, education, nuclear regulation, banking/finance, health care, and government, using whistleblowers as examples and case studies. The picture is dark and depressing, and the accompanying stories of whistleblower martyrdom do little to lighten the view. The writing is compelling, though Mueller injects his own opinions gratuitously.
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