I was taking annual mandated training at work the other day. Like, you know, watch the video, try not to snooze when you fall asleep, and then answer a very basic question or two at then end. One of the videos was about ethics. I work for a government contractor and ethics is a big deal.
But it was boring and I started noodling on my phone. I looked up my employer’s Wikipedia page. And wouldn’t you know it, they mentioned that my employer was responsible for running a disinformation campaign in the Philippines during the pandemic, at the request of the American government, trying to convince people that the vaccine was bad for them because it was from China. There are very likely to be people who refused the vaccine and died because of the lies of my employer, and I was learning this literally while an ethics video played on my computer screen.
This came to light only because my employer had, according to a government report, “sloppy tradecraft” and failed to sufficiently cover their tracks.
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Still are.
And in February, the contractor that worked on the anti-vax campaign – General Dynamics IT – won a $493 million contract. Its mission: to continue providing clandestine influence services for the military.
OG Reuters Piece (read it at the time): https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/
If you’re working for a division of General Dynamics (which I dunno, but they’ve been reported to be behind that campaign), I’m kinda surprised that this is the red line.
Like, your employer also makes miniguns and tanks and shit.
Welcome to the military industrial complex bud. That blood isnt just on your employer’s hands, it’s on yours too. There’s a reason anybody with a soul who gets into defense contracting eventually turns to either alcoholism or activism.
Edit: re-read this and it came off a bit hostile, which wasn’t my intention. For reference I’m somebody who has burned through millions of dollars of air force r&d budget in my career, had some realizations about what the MIC actually is and what it actually does, had a complete mental breakdown doing nothing but pot and therapy for a year, and now I’m trying to convince immigration lawyers in my area to hire me as a paralegal on my handful of hard science degrees and my experience making radar fail. If you think it might be helpful to chat with somebody a few years further along on realizing that they did evil for their employer and coping with that/trying to make a change, my dms are open
Well, holy pizza, that is not a “might” have. They’ve got blood on their hands
Is that worth a paycheck?
I don’t know. I’m still processing.
I think it’s likely that every large firm, and lots of smaller ones, are at least partially responsible for something horrible. The only differences are whether we know about it or not, and if that horrible thing is the only/main reason the firm exists. There’s a good chance that your past and future employers did/knowingly enabled something ethically indefensible. That doesn’t make YOU a bad person.
Most of that is indirect, exploitation, greed. That’s very different than actively committing evil. And before anyone claims false marketing is false marketing, no it’s not. False marketing to rip someone odd is a scan. False marketing to encourage deaths should be a major crime
You could be a mole.
I doubt he’s a mole. They don’t get social security numbers for one thing.
No no, I think you misunderstood. They are 6.022 x 10^23 discrete identical things, not a small burrowing mammal. Common mistake.
That number is too large to be a social security number.
Au contraire, they are a sauce containing fruits, nuts, chili peppers, and spices like black pepper, cinnamon, or cumin.
My dermatologist warned me to keep an eye on those. If they turn black you’re supposed to freeze them or something.
Take your time. But welcome to a new club. You’ve been an advocate of good your whole life, an advocate of not killing people. Maybe you knew about nestle baby formula and boycotted them. But now the truth is turning you into an activist. And this can take any form you want, from attending peaceful protests to luigi. Start with small, consistent actions, be mindful, and talk to others about how you can make a difference.
Also, you dont have to protest quit right now, that’s a decision for later and when you have something else lined up. Someone will do what your job is, you quitting doesn’t make the company implode. Maybe you can take them down from the inside :)
Unfortunately, we live under capitalism and that requires a job. Even moreso if you have a family that you need to provide for… so even a shitty job, if it pays well enough, is enough to get you stuck. It isn’t always easy to find another job with similar pay, especially when you have a demanding full-time job.
I’m not saying there’s never a totality of circumstances where one must take this job. But to just wave it off like you’re doing is just an excuse to never consider ethics.
I literally had an argument on here the other day with someone who refuses to believe there is bad science because capitalism is the one causing them to do unethical things. Your response sums up the actual truth of the matter very succinctly. Just because you have an excuse for something doesn’t make it unethical.
I didn’t mean to sound like I was waving it off, the bigger point I was trying to make was that just finding another job can be very difficult. I’m currently stuck in a job that I hate and I’ve been trying for over a year to find something else. One job was a substantial pay cut and I got through several rounds of interviews before being let go and the other was a substantial pay increase and, again, I went through many rounds of interviews and really thought I was about to get an offer when they called and told me they went with someone else. Now I just feel defeated and trying to learn to accept that this is where I am for the time being. Even when you consider the ethics of a situation, sometimes there isn’t really any good options.
Keep the job. Do a bad job. Drag them down from within.
Schedule lots of useless meetings. Accidentally put incorrect numbers and dates on documents. Promote terrible workers. Complain about the good ones.
TIL my boss is a resistance fighter hiding in plain sight.
Middle management are the unwitting sleeper cells of corporate capitalism.
This is not how you improve the world. This is how you rationalize not lifting a finger to help.
Huh… Someone should tell the CIA, because this tactic is in their manual on how to bring down governments.
At least it’s a “might have” lmao I work in the chemicals industry and I have never worked anywhere where there weren’t documented cases of people getting killed on the job site or the company doing extremely shady shit in third world countries.
Yeah, the DuPonts have some serious skeletons
Ah. Where I work, I do systems integration for b2b in Russia in one niche part. Nothing of that is connected to MIC or whatever, but definitely affects the economy.
