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An ethical question...

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
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  • T TheGreatAndPowerfulOz

    then you pretty much shouldn't work because your tax dollars go to support the gov't killing machine.

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    GuyWithDogs
    wrote on last edited by
    #65

    When I lived in Canada, I worked with a guy who had figured out how much of his taxes went to support the Defense Department (aka the war machine). He would then make a monetary gift to the Province of Prince Edward Island. The amount he gave was calculated to generate a tax refund equivalent to the money that would have been his contribution to the Defense Department. PEI didn't have any industries doing war-related stuff. So he figured he was then neutral on contributing to the war effort. Same guy quit when the product we developed got purchased by a foreign military aircraft company. It was used in a lot of industries, but once the first sale went into a military application, he was done. I had to respect him for holding true to his stance, I guess...

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    • J jmussetter

      ToddHileHoffer wrote:

      I just don't want to work for a company that profits by making arms that kill people.

      Correction... "Arms" don't kill anyone, they are a just a tool, like a car, or computer. "People" kill people. It is this sentiment that "Guns are bad because they kill" that is causing the the loss of our 2nd amendment rights.

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      ToddHileHoffer
      wrote on last edited by
      #66

      I said that wrong. I would work for a gun manufacturer with no problem. I just don't want to help make a hydrogen bomb.

      I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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      • M martin_hughes

        Or rather a question about your ethics. Do you have a particularly strong moral stance which dictates which industries, no matter what the reward, you will and won't work in? For example, in my time I've worked in (amongst other things) tobacco and gaming - two industries which a lot of people find highly objectional - which I had no problem with morally and was ultimately very comfortable with. However, I would not want to be involved with a company that manufactures or supplies arms and armaments or a company that specialises in the production of films of dubious artistic merit. There's my, slightly morally ambiguous, line. To broaden the scope a little, are there any tasks that your current employer could set that would see you quit? Example: if you were asked to develop a secret program to spy on your user's activities (effectively spy-ware whose results would be for the sole consumption of your employer) would you be happy to do it, or would you feel compelled to find employment elsewhere?

        print "http://www.codeproject.com".toURL().text Ain't that Groovy?

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        yassir hannoun
        wrote on last edited by
        #67

        No adult stuff no gumbling and no spywares ! :D

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        • T ToddHileHoffer

          I just want to clarify. I don't have a problem with our military. I gladly pay my taxes even though the money is used to buy weapons. I love America and I am damn proud of our military. I just don't want to work for a company that profits by making arms that kill people. I would just rather someone else do that. Also, even though corporations are mostly evil. I'd rather be in a country run by corporations than live in some Fascist state. Business is business but corporations could make decisions with a conscience and sometimes do what is right even if it is not always the most profitable. Honestly, I would much prefer a completely free market to what we have now. It is just sickening to see my government giving away out tax dollars to big banks because they screwed up.

          I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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          wmioch
          wrote on last edited by
          #68

          HA! Corporations were introduced to absolve individual responsibility, essentially creating an entity with no conscience. That's why they were created!

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          • M martin_hughes

            Or rather a question about your ethics. Do you have a particularly strong moral stance which dictates which industries, no matter what the reward, you will and won't work in? For example, in my time I've worked in (amongst other things) tobacco and gaming - two industries which a lot of people find highly objectional - which I had no problem with morally and was ultimately very comfortable with. However, I would not want to be involved with a company that manufactures or supplies arms and armaments or a company that specialises in the production of films of dubious artistic merit. There's my, slightly morally ambiguous, line. To broaden the scope a little, are there any tasks that your current employer could set that would see you quit? Example: if you were asked to develop a secret program to spy on your user's activities (effectively spy-ware whose results would be for the sole consumption of your employer) would you be happy to do it, or would you feel compelled to find employment elsewhere?

            print "http://www.codeproject.com".toURL().text Ain't that Groovy?

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            M Offline
            Mike Devenney
            wrote on last edited by
            #69

            martin_hughes wrote:

            Do you have a particularly strong moral stance which dictates which industries, no matter what the reward, you will and won't work in?

            I've worked in pharmaceuticals, sub-prime mortgages and currently corporate trust. In each industry I've found that the users, the work and the coding are all basically the same, but when I worked in pharmaceuticals I went to sleep at night knowing that I *might* have done something in the previous 12-14 hours that *might* have helped save a life. I can't say that anymore. No strong moral stance, just a nagging feeling that I could be doing more "good" with my efforts.

            Mike Devenney

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            • M martin_hughes

              Or rather a question about your ethics. Do you have a particularly strong moral stance which dictates which industries, no matter what the reward, you will and won't work in? For example, in my time I've worked in (amongst other things) tobacco and gaming - two industries which a lot of people find highly objectional - which I had no problem with morally and was ultimately very comfortable with. However, I would not want to be involved with a company that manufactures or supplies arms and armaments or a company that specialises in the production of films of dubious artistic merit. There's my, slightly morally ambiguous, line. To broaden the scope a little, are there any tasks that your current employer could set that would see you quit? Example: if you were asked to develop a secret program to spy on your user's activities (effectively spy-ware whose results would be for the sole consumption of your employer) would you be happy to do it, or would you feel compelled to find employment elsewhere?

              print "http://www.codeproject.com".toURL().text Ain't that Groovy?

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              M Offline
              Mark_Wallace
              wrote on last edited by
              #70

              I went from petrochemicals to the finance sector, so I'm the scum of the Earth.

              I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!

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              • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                Hey, I like you, man. Finally a voice of reason and reality. People's words say that America is evil, but their feet say that there's no place on Earth they would rather be.

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                Kent K
                wrote on last edited by
                #71

                Well said. . .

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                • M martin_hughes

                  Or rather a question about your ethics. Do you have a particularly strong moral stance which dictates which industries, no matter what the reward, you will and won't work in? For example, in my time I've worked in (amongst other things) tobacco and gaming - two industries which a lot of people find highly objectional - which I had no problem with morally and was ultimately very comfortable with. However, I would not want to be involved with a company that manufactures or supplies arms and armaments or a company that specialises in the production of films of dubious artistic merit. There's my, slightly morally ambiguous, line. To broaden the scope a little, are there any tasks that your current employer could set that would see you quit? Example: if you were asked to develop a secret program to spy on your user's activities (effectively spy-ware whose results would be for the sole consumption of your employer) would you be happy to do it, or would you feel compelled to find employment elsewhere?

                  print "http://www.codeproject.com".toURL().text Ain't that Groovy?

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                  K Offline
                  KurtPW
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #72

                  I realize I am coming to this late but it’s a fascinating topic. I have to agree with the poster who said they wouldn’t work for a company that makes weapons. And, having said that, I must confess that I do work for a company that makes weapons. To me the saving grace is that I work in a division that supports public health. I justify it like so: another poster said there will always be weapons, and I think (sadly) that may be true. That doesn’t mean I need to help make them. I can work for this company because I do not directly deal in any technology that can kill. Quite the opposite, in fact: my division works at curing disease. But I’m not naïve; this is a business and my contribution to the healthcare bottom line trickles over to the military bottom line as well. We all deal with varying levels of contradiction like this, and that’s the nature of life. I do not morally censure anyone who makes weapons but it’s not for me. One poster suggested that paying taxes was fuelling that military machine, and that’s accurate. But it also fuels healthcare, roads and schools. You get the good with the bad. Namaste

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                  • T ToddHileHoffer

                    I said that wrong. I would work for a gun manufacturer with no problem. I just don't want to help make a hydrogen bomb.

                    I didn't get any requirements for the signature

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                    E Offline
                    Eytukan
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #73

                    ToddHileHoffer wrote:

                    I just don't want to help make a hydrogen bomb.

                    Well said. I cannot agree with jmussetter. Guns are tools like cars? Just talk about the purpose. Cars - Travel. Guns-Threaten,Kill. There's no point in projecting Guns as a tool.

                    ToddHileHoffer wrote:

                    I would work for a gun manufacturer with no problem

                    I would bomb the factory. :rolleyes:

                    Starting to think people post kid pics in their profiles because that was the last time they were cute - Jeremy.

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                    • T ToddHileHoffer

                      I said that wrong. I would work for a gun manufacturer with no problem. I just don't want to help make a hydrogen bomb.

                      I didn't get any requirements for the signature

                      E Offline
                      E Offline
                      Eytukan
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #74

                      Oops just checking the date. ROFL! Histroy. Sorry for the dig! :)

                      Starting to think people post kid pics in their profiles because that was the last time they were cute - Jeremy.

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