Speaking Truth to Power: A lesson from Cassius and Murrow (#344)

Cassius (the younger man pointing) and Brutus (the older man listening) from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

In the winter of 1954, America held its breath as Edward R. Murrow, the most trusted voice in journalism, did what few dared: he stood up to power.

On his program See It Now, Murrow exposed the recklessness and cruelty of Senator Joseph McCarthy, a man who had built an empire of fear, accusing Americans of Communist sympathies without evidence or recourse.

Murrow didn't shout. He didn't exaggerate. He simply laid out the facts, played McCarthy’s own words back to the American people, and ended with a quiet but thunderous warning: We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.

It was a turning point. Not just in McCarthy’s fall, but in public consciousness. Murrow reminded the nation that tyranny doesn’t always arrive in tanks. Sometimes it wears a suit and uses suspicion as a sword. But more importantly, he reminded us that cowardice wears a quieter face - the face of those who know something is wrong but say nothing.

This moment brings to mind the searing words from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, spoken by Cassius:

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,

But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

Cassius wasn't talking about astrology. He was challenging the idea of fate. He was saying:

Don’t blame the heavens.

If we live as underlings, it’s because we’ve chosen not to rise.

Rick’s Commentary

Too often, people resign themselves to injustice, poor leadership, or toxic culture with a shrug: What can I do? Or worse: That’s just the way things are.

It’s easier to believe we are powerless than to risk the consequences of speaking up. But change - real change - has never come from those who waited for permission.

Whether you’re a student, a journalist, a veterinarian, or a citizen, there will come a time when your principles are tested. You’ll be asked, implicitly or explicitly, to stay quiet for the sake of harmony, career, or self-interest. That is your moment. Not of fate. Of choice.

Do you speak out when something unethical happens in your workplace?

Do you question authority when policies serve power instead of people?

Do you stand alone if that’s what the truth demands?

Yes, this is a litigious time. Yes, there are risks to challenging powerful people and entrenched systems. But the greater risk is what happens if you do not make the challenge.

Responsibility isn’t a burden placed on the brave few. It’s a duty we all share. Cassius knew it. Murrow lived it. And so must we.

The fault is not in our stars.

It’s in our silence.

It’s in our complicity.

And it’s in the stories we choose not to tell.

But so, too, is the power to change it.

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