For decades, U.S. workers have stared into the abyss of what could go wrong by standing up for what they think is right — a grand canyon that could mean not just losing a paycheck but losing the ability to see a doctor or to someday pay for their kids’ college education — and then usually turned back away from the abyss. That’s why the showdown at Deadspin, the strikes at GM. Mack Truck or by Chicago teachers, and even a renaissance of whistle-blowers in Washington, all feel in some way part of a dramatic sea change in how work gets done in this country.