Would I accept a job at Facebook?

To answer this question simply, yes I would—especially if it was the only offer I had and I needed a job urgently. Working at an unethical company is far from ideal but sometimes, it can’t be helped, depending on your circumstances. Would Facebook be my top choice company? Definitely not. Would I still apply? Yes, I would if I needed a job. If I had another job offer from a less ethically complicated company, would I accept that over an offer from Facebook? Most likely, depending on what the opportunity cost is. 

In the reading, the author mentions that not explicitly accepting the fact that one works at an unethical company is lying to yourself. I completely agree with this statement; it’s a form of self-delusion. Ironically, these people who choose to remain blind tend to be the ones who put themselves on a moral pedestal.  

In reality, it is extremely difficult, especially as an employee and a consumer, to be free from these moral contradictions because our economy is totally interlinked. Every company is objectionable, to a certain extent; they’re all on a spectrum. As the author mentions, “when you’re contemplating a job, the question isn’t whether something bad is happening there; it’s “how close does the stink get to my office?”. In addition, we must also ask ourselves: “how hard are we going to try to not put ourselves in that situation where we’re really close to the stink?” And for those who are close to the stink, should we judge them outright?*

*This is obviously dependent on how “bad” the stink is, of course.