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That's great that you've got a set of principles that you live by, and are able to stick to them. However, your principles are not everyone's principles, and w

by eric_b 9y ago

That's great that you've got a set of principles that you live by, and are able to stick to them. However, your principles are not everyone's principles, and what you consider moral and ethical is not universal. Grellas had a great comment on working for the military industrial complex a few days ago, that I think is worth a read: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16759324 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16759324

cocacola1 9y ago
There's some things that are considered immoral or unethical that are fairly universal, especially in developed countries. We're against slavery, rape, murder, etc. Sure, there are perpetrators, but don't wave them off and say "Oh, they just thought differently, give them a break!" We punish them, which is all that can be hoped for. Some things exist in a gray area (for now) so while some people might argue that its righteous or necessary to do something, there's no problem with an opposition to such an ideal shoving it back.
andyjohnson0 9y ago
Lots of words in the linked comment, but it still amounts to making machines that mechanise the process of killing people.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- dsacco 9y ago
  "Lots of words"?! You just reduced the linked comment - a nuanced, neutrally presented argument that there are significant practical and philosophical difficulties inherent to refusing to develop technology for military application - to "lots of words", followed by what is effectively a rhetorical sneer. You don't have to agree with every comment asserting an opposing view, but at least give them a modicum of respect if they put in as much intellectual effort as that one. Why even bother commenting if you're just going to issue a middle-brow dismissal without a substantive critique?
tzakrajs 9y ago
Read the comments in reply to that unnecessarily verbose comment. The follow-up comments destroy the original comment quickly.
- olleromam91 9y ago
  So what is your alternative solution? If it ends up with "someone else can have better weapons than me"...I think you may want to reconsider.
  - tzakrajs 9y ago
    The alternative is the military can insource these jobs and change their policies so they can hire the people they need to do defense work instead of coopting organizations that do other sensitive work for the public.

by eric_b 9y ago

cocacola1 9y ago

There's some things that are considered immoral or unethical that are fairly universal, especially in developed countries. We're against slavery, rape, murder, etc. Sure, there are perpetrators, but don't wave them off and say "Oh, they just thought differently, give them a break!" We punish them, which is all that can be hoped for. Some things exist in a gray area (for now) so while some people might argue that its righteous or necessary to do something, there's no problem with an opposition to such an ideal shoving it back.

andyjohnson0 9y ago

Lots of words in the linked comment, but it still amounts to making machines that mechanise the process of killing people.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
dsacco 9y ago
"Lots of words"?! You just reduced the linked comment - a nuanced, neutrally presented argument that there are significant practical and philosophical difficulties inherent to refusing to develop technology for military application - to "lots of words", followed by what is effectively a rhetorical sneer. You don't have to agree with every comment asserting an opposing view, but at least give them a modicum of respect if they put in as much intellectual effort as that one. Why even bother commenting if you're just going to issue a middle-brow dismissal without a substantive critique?

tzakrajs 9y ago

Read the comments in reply to that unnecessarily verbose comment. The follow-up comments destroy the original comment quickly.

olleromam91 9y ago
So what is your alternative solution? If it ends up with "someone else can have better weapons than me"...I think you may want to reconsider.
- tzakrajs 9y ago
  The alternative is the military can insource these jobs and change their policies so they can hire the people they need to do defense work instead of coopting organizations that do other sensitive work for the public.