> I would lose my employment Perhaps. If they did fire you for refusing to follow unethical (or illegal) orders, there might be judicial remedies. As we can se

> I would lose my employment Perhaps. If they did fire you for refusing to follow unethical (or illegal) orders, there might be judicial remedies. As we can see with this article and the HN threads for this story, reporting the problem to the public may open up other options and may deter future unethical behavior > not pay my mortgage, not feed my kids That's why unions and other parts of a social safety net are for. Do you want management to continue utilizing this power they have over you? Or are you willing to join with your peers and push back? If enough people across the software industry show their power by joining in a direct action (e.g. a strike) to tell management that unethical orders are not acceptable, future managers will have to reconsider if the gains from an unethical plan outweigh the risk of triggering another strike. Also, while your mortgage[1] may be a problem, feeding your kids after suddenly losing your job is what government welfare problems are for. Yes, it can be humiliating to use - I know from personal experience - but it should only be a temporary situation until you can find another job. > End up in a divorce. Really? For standing up against unethical behavior? Is a few months of penny-pinching sufficient reason for a divorce? > Ruin my entire life. The only way your life would be ruined is if you let it be ruined. Yes, losing your job sucks but it could be a lot worse. By following the unethical orders, you are conditioning management to believe they can get away with more unethical orders in the future. The longer this is allowed to continue, the harder it will be to correct. We already see this effect in how widespread and normalized unethical behavior has become across the industry. So yes, you might be forced into a bad situation if you fight back against unethical orders. It may require a significant sacrifice. Do you want to pay that cost now, or do you want to wait for the difficulty and cost to go up as management gains even more power? [1] If you don't have the savings to cover a couple months while you look for another job, then you probably shouldn't have bought that house.