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> If you're an engineer and your boss gives you an order that will cause the company to engage in unlawful behavior you should probably (1) refuse the order, (2

> If you're an engineer and your boss gives you an order that will cause the company to engage in unlawful behavior you should probably (1) refuse the order, (2) find another job as soon as you can and (3) if you feel the situation is serious enough that the cost to your career is outweighed by the benefits to society consider to become a whistle-blower. Professional engineers should definitely be obligated to uphold the public interest above all else, including the interest of their employers, and this includes the government. Of course, in real life, it takes great courage to actually stand up to your employer and risk suffering the potential personal and professional consequences, which is why I hold so much respect for Snowden and the actions he took. In Canada, graduating engineering students need to attend a ritual to receive their Iron Rings, and in it, they must make the engineering equivalent of the Hippocratic Oath that aims to cement this notion in their minds. [1] In my opinion, something like this should be part of mandatory education. The lack of regard for professional ethics is what causes these decisions to be made higher up in the chain of command in the first place. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_of_the_Calling_of_an_Engineer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_of_the_Calling_of_an_En...

hwstar 11y ago
With everyone dependent on a recurring income for food and shelter, you'll always see conflicts of interest develop between the public good, the employee, and the employer. The only way for this to change is to level the playing field between the employee and the employer. Basic income is one way to do this as the employee could walk if the employer becomes ethically challenged and decides to implement something which breaks the law. Not everyone has kilobucks of "F.U." money in the bank, in fact, most Americans have no savings at all which is part of the thing driving this. The whole economy in America has no margin of safety. The employee lives paycheck-to-paycheck, the small business owner is constantly worrying about making payroll, the large corporations are draining away the opportunities by offshoring, and the banks and Private Equity are conjuring up ways to rip the small business owner and common folk off. This will continue to happen, just at other companies. All things I discussed above need to be fixed before this type of problem goes away.

hwstar 11y ago

With everyone dependent on a recurring income for food and shelter, you'll always see conflicts of interest develop between the public good, the employee, and the employer. The only way for this to change is to level the playing field between the employee and the employer. Basic income is one way to do this as the employee could walk if the employer becomes ethically challenged and decides to implement something which breaks the law. Not everyone has kilobucks of "F.U." money in the bank, in fact, most Americans have no savings at all which is part of the thing driving this. The whole economy in America has no margin of safety. The employee lives paycheck-to-paycheck, the small business owner is constantly worrying about making payroll, the large corporations are draining away the opportunities by offshoring, and the banks and Private Equity are conjuring up ways to rip the small business owner and common folk off. This will continue to happen, just at other companies. All things I discussed above need to be fixed before this type of problem goes away.