Reading these articles provided some interesting insight for me, as I am currently grappling with similar questions with regards to a potential work opportunity. I personally have the view of “keeping my distance” from projects that I don’t agree with ethically/morally, which makes sense given the nature of the workplace (it has a lot of contracts with the DoD and other national defense relations, but there is work separate from that as well). While I was aware that turning a blind eye was always an option, I was pleasantly surprised with the discussion on the justification of doing so. In particular, the justification that providing for your family and loved ones could be a “more compelling duty” struck home for me. Perhaps it can be justified to “tone down” some values in favor of others. This can be further justified if the person intends to work only a few years, and then move to another place that better aligns with them. As the article has shown, there certainly isn’t a clean solution to keeping your personal ethics/morals in a sea of ethically/morally gray workplaces.
As for the question, “Would you accept a job at Facebook?”, I am inclined to say “no” at first. However, I would probably take a closer look at the position’s logistics: pay, benefits, location, etc. in order to make my decision. I am primarily concerned with my family and I’s long-term concerns (health, retirement, etc.), so financial aspects of the position would play a large role. I would counter those with the daily considerations of the job: how is the workplace? How are my co-workers and supervisors? Can I gauge the average workday, and how likely am I to work overtime? If I can’t bear with the daily aspects of the job, then I likely wouldn’t work there for long. With all those considerations, along with any other positions I might be looking at, my answer would be closer to: “Yes, but only if other opportunities have worse tradeoffs. Even then, I am not sure if I would stay for the long-term.”
