not to belittle or anything . . .

[Alan Jackson]

On Tue, 28 Dec 2004 11:07:42 +0800
Chong Yu Meng <chongym at cymulacrum.net> wrote:

> This is a very interesting moral dilemma you brought up, Kurt. I'm going
> to play Devil's advocate here and propose this (hypothetical) scenario:
> 
> Person A is a barely competent pre-sales engineer with a lot of
> financial liabilities (say an expensive car and a house -- which in
> Singapore is *extremely* expensive, not sure about the USA). He knows
> that there is a high possibility that he will not be able to find a job
> with equivalent pay. Following his "moral compass" would mean giving up
> his lifestyle and a lot of the comforts he has grown used to. Does he
> give it all up for an abstract concept like ethics ? Staying in an
> unethical company would be a small sin compared to the hardships he will
> subject his family to.
> 
> Of course, in cases like this, the gravy train will inevitably, and
> sometimes very quickly, come to a screeching halt. But what's the harm
> in sitting out the ride as long as it lasts?
> 

Moral compass truthfully refers to actions, not intentions. His moral
compass says that short-term personal profit is more important than any 
other principle, by construction. I'm sure that lawyers working for the
mafia use similar justification. 8-)

There were jobs I turned down due to moral qualms, and I have friends who
left good paying jobs at Enron for similar reasons.

-- 
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| Alan K. Jackson            | To see a World in a Grain of Sand      |
| alan at ajackson.org          | And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,         |
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