I don't know if this is a "counter" per se, but....

Some of the work I do is in the field of nuclear weapons. Mind you, I'm not designing warheads or anything but lets just say that I've been in the presence of nuclear weapons in my professional capacity. Still, my activities in that particular industry are minimal at best and I always considered myself just a cog on a small wheel in a massive machine and whether I did the work or not wouldn't really make one bit of difference as somebody else would certainly do the work if I didn't.

But the powers that be were doing some things that I thought were stupid. What they were doing is irrelevant, but I made a few comments that I thought were off the record. Next thing I knew I was being told to put up or shut up. I took it as a challenge, I proved my point with a physical demonstration, and I thought nothing more of it.

A few years later I learn that my little demonstration has rippled through the lake. The disturbance was small, but it was noticed and policy changes are being debated as a result.

It's been very sobering. Am I a cog on a small wheel in a huge machine? Absolutely. But even a single cog can have a real influence on a part of the machine waaay over thar. It's been absolutely sobering. Before I thought, "If not me, then someone else." and thought no more about it. Today I'm faced with, "YOU came up with that idea when nobody else did." In other words, if not me...then nobody.

And when the topic at hand is nuclear weapons, that's a very sobering thought. Fortunately, I'm still OK with the work I've done, but not everyone would be. As such, before you become a drop in the flood, make sure that you're cool with the idea of a flood in the first place. For the flipside of the "drop" argument is the butterfly effect. You flap your wings once and gawd only knows what the effects will be.