An interesting comparison recently came to mind as I thought about my first hand knowledge of how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission works, and how their senior management was negligent in making flawed decisions resulting in my retaliation firing for being  a "whistleblower". 

 

I recalled the many moral elements of the great novel "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding.  Mr. Golding used a lot of symbology in his story of how a bunch of unsupervised school children created their own childish civilization, and how things got "out of hand", with tragic results. 

 

Lord of the Flies is set at a vague point in the future during an atomic war. A planeload of British schoolchildren is shot down and marooned on a deserted island. There are no adults present.

 

For those who have read this novel, you may remember the pack mentality, chaos and negligence of thought and deed.  You may also remember the fate of the character Piggy.

William Golding presented numerous themes and basic ideas that give the reader something to think about. One of the most basic and obvious themes is that society holds everyone together, and without these conditions, our ideals, values, and the basics of right and wrong are lost. Without society's rigid rules, anarchy and savagery can come to light.

 

Like the band of unsupervized children in Lord of the Flies, appearances are that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is far removed and buffered from society.  They also appear to make up their own rules, then don't have to play by those rules when it serves their purpose.  They hold council and punish whomever they wish.  Unfortunately not all those they punish deserve it.  Proof of my discription of their conduct may be best illustrated by the fact that in, my case, they punished good (virtue) and rewarded bad (evil). This point is well documented and not merely the opinion of Ron Bath and his many supporters.

• People will abuse power when it's not earned.
• When given a chance, people often single out another to degrade to improve their own security.
• You can only cover up inner savagery so long before it breaks out, given the right situation.
• It's better to examine the consequences of a decision before you make it than to discover them afterward.
• The fear of the unknown can be a powerful force, which can turn you to either insight or hysteria.