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Is quitting such companies out of good faith really a good idea? I am not sure. They will find someone else to do the job you had with "lower" morality standard

Is quitting such companies out of good faith really a good idea? I am not sure. They will find someone else to do the job you had with "lower" morality standards and the wheel goes on. Is it better to stay, unionize and make a difference from within by standing up against the morally corrupt policies? Maybe.

jeorg 6y ago
There’s a finite number of tech workers in the known universe, so that isn’t necessarily true.
sprafa 6y ago
Thats the Nuremberg defence “we were just following orders” and “we didn’t make the decisions”. Hannah Arendt nailed it when she saw Eichmann “evil is when good men do nothing”.
- seesawtron 6y ago
  As Chomsky always says "Unionize!". You can't unionize and rebel against the companies' policies when you quit. Quitting is the easier choice. Staying in the company AND refusing to do what's against your moral code of conduct. That might end up having you fired eventually but might shake things up.
  - searchableguy 6y ago
    What does HN think of police unions now?
    - GloriousKoji 6y ago
      I think that tech/dock/office/factory workers unionizing won't result in an increase of civilian deaths.
    - laughingbovine 6y ago
      Public sector unions and private sector unions are apples and oranges.
- nitwit005 6y ago
  Even if everyone with ethics refuses to work on something, you can still hire the people who lack ethics. There seems to be quite a lot of them. A broad refusal to work on something that requires local labor might work, but you can hire software people anywhere.
  - metachor 6y ago
    "Well they'll just hire someone else to do it if I quit. Might as well keep doing it myself."
    - nitwit005 6y ago
      Fortunately, not what I said at all.
- metachor 6y ago
  Spot on. To quote Marshall Rosenberg quoting Hannah Arendt: In her book Eichmann in Jerusalem, which documents the war crimes trial of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, Hannah Arendt quotes Eichmann saying that he and his fellow officers had their own name for the responsibility-denying language they used. They called it Amtssprache, loosely translated into English as “office talk” or “bureaucratese.” For example, if asked why they took a certain action, the response would be, “I had to.” If asked why they “had to,” the answer would be, “Superiors’ orders.” “Company policy.” “It was the law.” From Nonviolent Communication, page 19 on “Denial of Responsibility”. Sad to see there's a lot of office talk being used in this thread.

jeorg 6y ago

There’s a finite number of tech workers in the known universe, so that isn’t necessarily true.

sprafa 6y ago

Thats the Nuremberg defence “we were just following orders” and “we didn’t make the decisions”. Hannah Arendt nailed it when she saw Eichmann “evil is when good men do nothing”.

seesawtron 6y ago
As Chomsky always says "Unionize!". You can't unionize and rebel against the companies' policies when you quit. Quitting is the easier choice. Staying in the company AND refusing to do what's against your moral code of conduct. That might end up having you fired eventually but might shake things up.
- searchableguy 6y ago
  What does HN think of police unions now?
  - GloriousKoji 6y ago
    I think that tech/dock/office/factory workers unionizing won't result in an increase of civilian deaths.
  - laughingbovine 6y ago
    Public sector unions and private sector unions are apples and oranges.
nitwit005 6y ago
Even if everyone with ethics refuses to work on something, you can still hire the people who lack ethics. There seems to be quite a lot of them. A broad refusal to work on something that requires local labor might work, but you can hire software people anywhere.
- metachor 6y ago
  "Well they'll just hire someone else to do it if I quit. Might as well keep doing it myself."
  - nitwit005 6y ago
    Fortunately, not what I said at all.
metachor 6y ago
Spot on. To quote Marshall Rosenberg quoting Hannah Arendt: In her book Eichmann in Jerusalem, which documents the war crimes trial of Nazi officer Adolf Eichmann, Hannah Arendt quotes Eichmann saying that he and his fellow officers had their own name for the responsibility-denying language they used. They called it Amtssprache, loosely translated into English as “office talk” or “bureaucratese.” For example, if asked why they took a certain action, the response would be, “I had to.” If asked why they “had to,” the answer would be, “Superiors’ orders.” “Company policy.” “It was the law.” From Nonviolent Communication, page 19 on “Denial of Responsibility”. Sad to see there's a lot of office talk being used in this thread.