Who are some less-known people like Petrov?

By Lizka @ 2022-09-06T13:22 (+54)

Do you know of people who were under pressure to make a very net-negative decision and did not do so? If yes, please let me know! Petrov Day is around the corner, and I’d like to generate some examples of people who, like Petrov and Vasili Arkhipov, made decisions that should be celebrated.

From the Forum Wiki entry about Stanislav Petrov: 

On 26 September 1983, Petrov defied Soviet military protocol and classified reports by an early-warning system of an incoming missile strike from the United States as a false alarm. Because of this decision, which likely avoided a large-scale nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States, Petrov is often referred to as "the man who saved the world." His decision to report the incident as a false alarm has been described as "the most important decision of all time."

You can read more about the incident in the Vox article on the subject.

I’m looking forward to learning about more people and incidents like this. 

Jackson Wagner @ 2022-09-06T18:59 (+58)

Not quite as dramatic as a commander disobeying military orders, but a similar category includes basically all "could-be dictators" who could've assumed absolute control and used it for selfish ends, but instead worked to create a better society and then willingly relinquished power at the end of their terms.  These people might not have been under external pressure to continue ruling, but they probably resisted strong personal temptation and the pressure of their supporters/allies:

anonymous6 @ 2022-09-07T15:27 (+16)

José Figueres Ferrer was victorious in the Costa Rican civil war, after which he appointed himself head of the provisional junta.

Sounds like trouble — but he only ruled for 18 months, during which time he abolished the army and extended the franchise to women and nonwhite people. Then he stepped down and there have been fair elections since.

Leo @ 2022-09-17T20:41 (+10)

He later abdicated the throne in 2014, ending the monarchy.

 

Not really. He abdicated in favor of his son, who is the present king of Spain. Ending the monarchy is an idea that never crossed his mind.  

mikbp @ 2022-09-17T19:46 (+9)

I came here alarmed just half way through reading Zoe Williams' weekly summary of this post, which includes a  mention to this answer. I haven't read anything else.

I really encourage you to get to know more about Juan Carlos de Borbón (JC). You seem to have a very skewed view of his morals and his alignment with democracy.

He abdicated the throne in benefit of his son, who is the current king of Spain.  And he did it because it was not feasible for the "royal dynasty"[?? "casa real" in Spanish] to keep covering his legal problems any longer, not because he wanted. So it was basically the family (and surrounding establishment) that kicked him out to save the monarchy, not that he abdicated to end it. After abdicating moved to the Emirates and could not return to visit Spain for a long while, while "they" sorted out his issues with the law.

In addition, in 23 February 1981 (23F) there was an attempt of coup in Spain. Officially, JC was against it. This rejection, however, has been very, very questioned. One cannot know for sure, in part because the Spanish governments keep on prolonging the time period that state secrets stay secret, but it seems very plausible that JC, at least, was not against it (it is said to be proven that he knew about it). It is less clear if he just tolerated it, supported it, or if he pushed for it. Relatedly, it took him very long (I think 18h) to address the Spanish citizens in TV supporting the "constitutional order".

HBO Spain has coincidentally premiered a documentary in form of a short series called Save the King (Salvar el Rey), which is centered in the "silence pact" for covering his constant bad practices, from corruption to affairs. Disappointingly, it seems that even this documentary does almost not say anything about his 2 biggest dark moments: the mentioned 23F, and the death of his younger brother due to a gun shot while they both were together in a room when he was 18. [I actually don't believe that JC killed his brother, at least in purpose]

I am sorry, but I think that you will have to find someone else's story to get moral inspiration :-)

Jackson Wagner @ 2022-09-18T16:12 (+5)

Thank you for all these details! It's true, I was only aware of the general outlines of Spain's transition to democracy. I guess it is more correct to say that I am inspired by the /abstract fantasy/ of inheriting the reins to an oppressive government and then turning everything around in a virtuous and altruistic way, rather than by the messy real-world character flaws that feature in the actual histories of Deng Xaoping, Juan Carlos, Mikhail Gorbechav, etc.

Joseph Lemien @ 2022-09-06T22:06 (+23)

This is much smaller and much more recent, but Li Wenliang seems to have been somewhat idolized for sharing information about COVID in December 2019. At that point the local government policy on COVID was roughly similar to what policy had been on the SARS epidemic: keep it quiet and don't let people know what is happening. Local police/government officials were not happy that he shared this information. He died from COVID in February 2020. I haven't crunched the numbers, but it seems reasonable that X number of severe illnesses and Y number of deaths ended up not happening because he shared information about COVID.

Isaac King @ 2022-09-07T23:39 (+18)

Hugh Thompson Jr. ended the Mỹ Lai massacre by instructing their helicopter crew to fire on their own military's soldiers if they continued to kill innocent civilians, then informed command of what was going on and got them to order the company committing the massacre to stop.

 

All sorts of people helped Jews escape the Holocaust at their own risk. Oskar Schindler, for example, was originally a member of the Nazi party, then saw what was going on and spent their entire fortune on bribes to keep their Jewish employees from being sent to concentration camps. They pivoted their business from manufacturing cookware to manufacturing anti-tank grenades (and tried to manufacture as few as possible) in order to get those employees classified as "vital to the war effort". They went bankrupt and had to live much of the rest of their life off of financial aid from the Jews they had saved.

 

There have been a number of other nuclear close calls that may well have been prevented by a single person, but I don't know the details.

 

Maybe Georges Picquart for their rule in the Dreyfus affair. Kolmogorov sheltering Jews. Jimmy Carter trying to end racial discrimination against the desires of their constituents.

Linch @ 2022-09-07T00:00 (+17)

Not nearly as large in scope as Petrov or Arkhipov, but John Rabe was a German businessman and head of the Nazi party in Nanjing. He was responsible for creating the Nanking Safety Zone during the Nanjing Massacre (also known as the Rape of Nanking). Estimates suggest that he sheltered around 250,000 civilians from being killed in one of the most brutal atrocities of WWII. 

Pablo @ 2022-09-06T23:17 (+16)

Swedish architect and diplomat Raoul Wallenberg issued and distributed countless illegal "protective passports" to Hungarian Jews awaiting to be deported to Auschwitz, often defying orders from Nazi officials and risking his own life. A witness recounted a relevant incident as follows:

[Wallenberg] climbed up on the roof of the train and began handing in protective passes through the doors which were not yet sealed. He ignored orders from the Germans for him to get down, then the Arrow Cross men began shooting and shouting at him to go away. He ignored them and calmly continued handing out passports to the hands that were reaching out for them. I believe the Arrow Cross men deliberately aimed over his head, as not one shot hit him, which would have been impossible otherwise. I think this is what they did because they were so impressed by his courage. After Wallenberg had handed over the last of the passports he ordered all those who had one to leave the train and walk to the caravan of cars parked nearby, all marked in Swedish colours. I don't remember exactly how many, but he saved dozens off that train, and the Germans and Arrow Cross were so dumbfounded they let him get away with it.

Estimates vary, but Wallenberg may have saved between 4,500 and tens of thousands of Jews toward the end of World War 2.

Linch @ 2022-09-06T23:49 (+16)

Chiune Sugihara is another person in the same vein, a Japanese diplomat who issued visas to help Jews flee the Holocaust.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2021/01/27/chiune-sugihara-jews-holocaust-japanese-schindler/


This quote from Wikipedia is also a good lesson in heroic responsibility:
 

You want to know about my motivation, don't you? Well. It is the kind of sentiments anyone would have when he actually sees refugees face to face, begging with tears in their eyes. He just cannot help but sympathize with them. Among the refugees were the elderly and women. They were so desperate that they went so far as to kiss my shoes. Yes, I actually witnessed such scenes with my own eyes. Also, I felt at that time, that the Japanese government did not have any uniform opinion in Tokyo. Some Japanese military leaders were just scared because of the pressure from the Nazis; while other officials in the Home Ministry were simply ambivalent. People in Tokyo were not united. I felt it silly to deal with them. So, I made up my mind not to wait for their reply. I knew that somebody would surely complain about me in the future. But, I myself thought this would be the right thing to do. There is nothing wrong in saving many people's lives... The spirit of humanity, philanthropy... neighborly friendship... with this spirit, I ventured to do what I did, confronting this most difficult situation – and because of this reason, I went ahead with redoubled courage

Pablo @ 2022-09-07T08:45 (+9)

Thank you, I was not familiar with Sugihara's story. Relevant section from the Wikipedia article:

At the time, the Japanese government required that visas be issued only to those who had gone through appropriate immigration procedures and had enough funds. Most of the refugees did not fulfill these criteria. Sugihara dutifully contacted the Japanese Foreign Ministry three times for instructions. Each time, the Ministry responded that anybody granted a visa should have a visa to a third destination to exit Japan, with no exceptions.

Being aware that applicants were in danger if they stayed behind, Sugihara decided to ignore his orders and, from 18 July to 28 August 1940, issued ten-day visas to Jews for transit through Japan. Given his inferior post and the culture of the Japanese Foreign Service bureaucracy, this was an unusual act of disobedience. He spoke to Soviet officials who agreed to let the Jews travel through the country via the Trans-Siberian Railway at five times the standard ticket price.

Sugihara continued to hand-write visas, reportedly spending 18 to 20 hours a day on them, producing a normal month's worth of visas each day, until 4 September, when he had to leave his post before the consulate was closed. By that time, he had granted thousands of visas to Jews, many of whom were heads of households and thus permitted to take their families with them. It is claimed that before he left, he handed the official consulate stamp to a refugee so that more visas could be forged. His son, Nobuki Sugihara, adamantly insisted in an interview with Ann Curry that his father never gave the stamp to anyone. According to witnesses, he was still writing visas while in transit from his hotel and after boarding the train at the Kaunas Railway Station, throwing visas into the crowd of desperate refugees out of the train's window even as the train pulled out.

In final desperation, blank sheets of paper with only the consulate seal and his signature (that could be later written over into a visa) were hurriedly prepared and flung out from the train. As he prepared to depart, he said, "Please forgive me. I cannot write anymore. I wish you the best." When he bowed deeply to the people before him, someone exclaimed, "Sugihara. We'll never forget you. I'll surely see you again!"

Federico Luzzi @ 2022-09-07T15:02 (+6)

Two more figures who shielded thousands of Jews from Nazi persecution by issuing visas: Angel San Briz and Giorgio Perlasca. The latter apparently kept quiet about his actions until he was found decades later by some of those he had saved.

Lorenzo @ 2022-09-06T16:13 (+11)

Maybe Vavilov and his colleagues?

(Have not fact checked this account, but the Wikipedia page seems to broadly agree)

Lizka @ 2022-09-06T17:13 (+3)

Thank you! 

Pablo @ 2022-09-06T22:58 (+7)

Definitely not a hero all-things-considered, but Albert Speer refused to obey Hitler's Nero Decree of March 19, 1945, which ordered the destruction of "All military transport and communication facilities, industrial establishments and supply depots, as well as anything else of value within Reich territory that could in any way be used by the enemy immediately or within the foreseeable future for the prosecution of the war."

Jackson Wagner @ 2022-09-08T00:05 (+4)

Another example of good moral behavior by Nazis: Dietrich von Choltitz was the commanding officer in charge of occupied of Paris in 1944 as Allied armies were closing in.  Hitler demanded that Paris be razed as the German army retreated, but Choltitz refused.  From Wikipedia:

On the 23 August, Hitler gave the order to destroy the city by cable: "Paris must not pass into the enemy's hands, except as a field of ruins.", after which explosives were laid at various bridges and monuments (which later had to be de-mined[14]).

With the arrival of Allied troops on the edge of the city at dawn the next day on the 24th, Choltitz made the decision not to destroy the city, and on 25 August, surrendered the German garrison, not to the Supreme Allied Command, but rather to representatives of the provisional government, the Free French.[11] Because Hitler's directive was not carried out, Choltitz is often seen as the "Saviour of Paris".[15][16]

Hitler did not completely give up on the destruction, with the Luftwaffe conducting an incendiary bombing raid on August 26, and V2 rockets fired from Belgium, causing extensive damage.[14]

The events leading up to the surrender were the subject of a 1951 memoir written by General von Choltitz, where he took credit for disobeying Hitler's orders and saving Paris because of its obvious military futility, his affection for the French capital's history and culture, and his belief that Hitler had by then become insane. His motivation not to destroy the city may have been made in part because it was a futile and destructive gesture, but also in order to ensure his better treatment after capitulation.[20]  The memoirs also state that he was persuaded to spare the city in part by an all-night meeting with Nordling on the night of 24 August.  He did hold several meetings with Nordling, along with the president of the municipal council, Pierre Taittinger, hoping to limit the bloodshed and damage to the city, and which led to the release of some political prisoners.

As Wikipedia notes, the decision to spare the city was almost overdetermined... at some point as you get increasingly late in the war, ignoring the crazy orders from Berlin is less moral heroism than basic practicality.

Also, similarly to Deng Xiaoping and Nikita Khrushchev who I mentioned in my answer, it is a bit too easy for these people to look morally exemplary and make big improvements to their society, since it isn't hard to be morally superior to Hitler, Mao, or Stalin!!

Sharmake @ 2022-09-08T23:32 (+2)

Also, similarly to Deng Xiaoping and Nikita Khrushchev who I mentioned in my answer, it is a bit too easy for these people to look morally exemplary and make big improvements to their society, since it isn't hard to be morally superior to Hitler, Mao, or Stalin!!

Also, another problem is that it reinforces the myth of the Clean Wehrmacht, where regular soldiers did not play a role in massacring Jews, Soviets and civilians.

Here's a link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myth_of_the_clean_Wehrmacht?oldformat=true

bbartlog @ 2022-09-07T15:41 (+6)

Sir Robert Lambert Baynes and his refusal to escalate the War of the Pig ... but in fairness that one would probably not have spiraled out of control in any case.

On the corporate front, the only example I can think of is SC Johnson's choice to discontinue the use of PDVC in manufacturing Saran Wrap. It could be argued that this choice was just sensible risk management in response to FDA warnings; but the CEO, Fisk Johnson, seemed sincere enough in offering his rationale for the decision ("The goodwill of people is the only enduring thing in any business. The rest is shadow,").

Frances Oldham Kelsey also deserves a shoutout for more or less single-handedly preventing a hundred thousand or more birth defects despite considerable corporate pressure. 
 

Max_He-Ho @ 2022-09-13T19:16 (+3)

Not a perfect answer but why the focus on pressure towards making a single negative decision? 
Here are two (of many more) assassination attempts on Hitler. While not successful, they were probably nevertheless very high EV. 
1) Georg Elser placed a time bomb at the Bürgerbräukeller in Munich, where Hitler was due to give a speech in 1939. Hitler's flight was canceled due to bad weather so he left early & before the bomb detonated. Elser was in response held as a prisoner for over five years and eventually executed by the Nazis at the Dachau concentration camp.
2) In 1944, Claus von Stauffenberg along with many other conspirators tried to kill Hitler in a bigger & rather well-known plot called Operation Valkyrie. In the plot, they aimed to overthrow the nazi government and (most likely) as quickly as possible make peace with the Western Allies. Due to several coincidences, Hitler was only weakly injured. Stauffenberg was killed quickly afterward.