Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world Ludrol @szmer.info 2w ago

When was the last time someone in position of power resigned due to shame?

The self-immolation, the most non-violent form of protest, no longer works. After Aaron Bushnell that I have heard about, there ware two more attempts that I didn't. (Matt Nelson and Samuel Mena Jr)

Recent events have shown us that violent protest still works, but it got me thinking; When was the last time someone resigned from position of power due to social pressure?

I have this hunch that shame worked in the past, but now PR departments and relentless pursuit of money has removed social acceptance from an equation.

52 comments

I dunno if "shame" is the right word, but Liz Truss resigned as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom a couple of years ago after only 50-ish days in office and said it was because she couldn't deliver on the issues she campaigned on.
- She was forced out by the banks after her and her friend's economic announcement tanked the pound on the currency markets overnight.
  
  She showed no shame, and continues to rant and rave about the whole affair if anyone gives her half a chance.
  
  She also flew out to the US to hitch her wagon to Trump's during the election campaign.
- The best thing that Truss gave us was the Lettuce that will go down in historyl
Al Franken
- I would rather have a good person who made a mistake, than a bad person has yet to admit one.
  
  I personally don't think he should have resigned. A principled person can feel shame while the unprincipled likely don't/can't/won't. I'm still not sure whether or not his hand was forced by the DNC or not.
Al Franken comes to mind. Especially because he shouldn’t have resigned
- Franken could have come back but I think he resigned and has stayed gone because fuck that shit. If people want to be shitty and bay for blood like animals over stupid shit, then fuck all y'all. Can't say I blame him. Plus nobody had the balls to stand with him while it was happening.
- Furthermore, a certain mediocre Democratic woman senator felt she needed a “me too” scalp to burnish her credentials for a run for president. As a result of her unwarranted sense of her usefulness, one of the best Senators in my lifetime says “fuck this noise” and resigned. While her useless self is still in the senate.
- yup. its like the big ruckus is him pantomiming grabbing a sleeping female soldiers boobs at a distance using the visual illusion of the camera. I mean the guy was a comedian. This was a legitate joke thing and he was there to lift moral and entertain.
  
  Making sexual jokes about a coworker without their consent is called sexual harassment. Especially if you photograph this joke so your coworker can be repeatedly humiliated as it's passed around.
- Also Anthony Weiner.
There's probably a million examples in Japan
- Today alone!
Happens all the time in US school districts. Random student does something life ruining, parents demand a sacrifice, so the butcher the principal or superintendent on the alter of public education and find someone else to run the show. You could also listen to a local radio staion, there is always some scandal in local government in any stations coverage area, but these are all small fry.

Also to your first point, that is literally the message at the end of South Park 200 & 201 and that was made over a decade ago. I dont agree with it... But they right.
See well that's the problem. They don't have shame.
Al Franken was pressured out of congress for a bunch of spurious 'sexual' allegations before he had a chance to defend himself. Mostly 'holding a waist wrong during a photo op or accusations of unwanted kissing, but with scant details and mostly presented as misunderstandings. Hell, most of them sounded like someone considering regular photo op posing to be scandalous as none of the allegations included someone saying he was being coy or hinting that it was intentional, just 'bumped a body part that is common during a photo op and that he held still while the photo was being taken...

Yes, we should trust accusers long enough to look into issues, but that doesn't mean someone shouldn't be able to defend themselves against the allegations. Franken was railroaded out of congress by Dems before he had a chance to defend himself.
- well, there was this.
  
  Still not as bad as some others have done who are still in office.
  
  Like the sex offenders on SCOTUS, who actually physically molested or raped women instead of a little off color humor that would be fine between good friends but could be crossing boundaries.
It was more complicated than just shame I think, but Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak resigned after 18 straight days of public demonstrations in 2011. He was properly pushed out of power, but of course his successors haven’t been much better.
Literally like a week ago the transport secretary resigned because of a fraud case from 2014.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Haigh

(She says she did nothing morally wrong, and it was just an accident but was advised by her lawyer to plead guilty because she technically was guilty. She allegedly lost her phone, reported it stolen, then found the phone again so reporting it stolen was fraudulent.)

It seems a bit dumb to me, and it was over 10 years ago so who cares, but she stepped down because she thought that the whole scandal surrounding that the media kicked up was more trouble than its worth to the new Labour government. So actually maybe she didn't resign out of shame? Hmm..

Well, I've typed all this out now so I'll let you all decide what to think of it haha
Al franken.
Good people do it fairly often, but of course that only makes their former employer worse
You could say Biden did
Not sure what pressures exactly this guy faced to lead him to shift his career, but previously a VP at Cigna and now admitting to lies and propaganda. I've been seeing this pop up repeatedly the last two days.

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-monday-edition-1.5631285/this-former-u-s-health-insurance-exec-says-he-lied-to-americans-about-canadian-health-care-1.5631874

https://www.npr.org/2020/06/27/884307565/after-pushing-lies-former-cigna-executive-praises-canadas-health-care-system

The next one that comes to mind is Boeing CEO Calhoun stepping down, allegedly his choice.

https://apnews.com/article/boeing-ceo-calhoun-0abff1ccc6262ffb03f97c6a619bd1ec
Pat Gelsinger
- That dude was fired.
No specific examples, but I bet there are C-levels who have resigned* because they didn't achieve the profits they were supposed to. That's definitely shameful in the eyes of the stockholders. Horror of horrors, etc.

* Though this doesn't mean they wouldn't have got a more-than-generous severance package and a similar job elsewhere.

Now that I think about it, there are an analogous situations with police officers in some countries too.

Edit: I can grammar
- Arguably, the most important job of a CEO is to take the blame for a bad year. Then they golden parachute out and find another company. Even if not the CEO, then at least a board member who shows up for meetings every once in a while.
Wasn't this what happened with the previous pope?
Nixon is the last I can think of. After that the politicians just started shrugging and laughing.
What evidence is there that violent protest works?
- the independence of the United States of America.
  
  Also the countries that were violently oppressed by imperialism and had to fight to gain their independence.
- France
  
  Just the whole country or is the a specific movement you’re referring to?

52 comments