Apr

24

Avoid Working for Your Moral Opposite

April 24, 2008 |

I once worked for Raytheon – a very big U.S. Defense contractor. They produce anything that goes boom or anything that helps find out where to blow things up. They also have a commercial branch but it exists only to keep them going in between big defense contracts. Yet, at that time many of my workmates expressed moral oppositions to war and destruction. I can only guess that they didn’t really meant what they where saying, as they where very happy with their paychecks – even when it was lower than the industry standard, and there where plenty of jobs for their careers available in the market. I left that company long ago. Not because of any conscience issues but because of pay.

Then again, many years later I did make a mistake of joining a company which was morally opposite to my beliefs: they advocated using government money to give highly subsidized extremely-high speed internet (Faster than Verizon FIOS) and high definition video (HDTV) to people who have not worked hard enough to earn it (and pay for it). Just the thought of it made me want to puke. Yet, I rationalized myself into taking the job thinking it was a great advancement and learning opportunity. I tried to convince myself that I was just doing technology, and technology had no morals by itself. The company is great, the people are even better. But it was not something I could feel proud of. Needless to say, I didn’t stay for long there. I was so wrong, so terribly wrong – just as wrong as the hippies who criticize their U.S. Defense employer.

You see, morals are interesting and not all of them are created equal. People have some moral values that are not so strong, and they have others that are at the core of themselves. When your employer opposes your not-so-strong moral values, you can probably learn to live with them – maybe that is what happened to my defense contractor friends who stayed long in a company that opposed what I think are their not-so-strong values. When your employer just goes straight for the opposite of your core self, you are not only selling your time and effort to the highest bidder: you are selling your soul – and that will probably hurt.

You know what your strongest values are. You can easily find them out when you hear or see someone doing something opposite to them. You feel uncomfortable in some way. Maybe your face gets red – not of shame, but of anger. Maybe your stomach fells different. Maybe you get depressed. Maybe you blurt out things you do not want to say. At a minimum it is difficult to agree with the actions you just saw or the words you just heard.

In a job situation this will eventually translate into poor job performance and poor relations with your peers and superiors. This situation doesn’t lead to higher salaries, promotions, or advancement.

Find a place where you can put your heart into the job you are doing. If you have to spend 8 or 10 or 12 hours a day doing something, you better have fun, enjoy it, feel good about what you are doing and have a chance to advance the career into a more profitable one.


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  1. Carnival of Ethics, Values, and Personal Finance - May Edition | Greener Pastures: Personal Finance on May 4, 2008 4:57 pm

    […] presents Avoid Working for Your Moral Opposite posted at Money And […]

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