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.
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.
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.
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 b... (read more)