Principled Objections Posted Wed, 16 May 2007

Once, I was telling an executive in a large technology company that mostly builds non-free technologies why I did not like most of their products and business decisions and about some of the things that I was doing to help their consumers work around them and avoid paying them in the future.

Excited, the manager suggested that I consider a job with them at least in part as an advocate for these ideas within their company. I mentioned that my criticism was primarily principled and fundamental to the way his company did business. He responded, "yes, but if you take a job with us, you get to have your principles and a BMW."

I don't think he understood my principles. Perhaps, he didn't understand principles at all.

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Responses to This Post

I think what many people find difficulty with, is the idea that it's possible to turn down money due to principles.  Our society is basically built on the idea of always chasing the biggest payoff, consequences be damned.
Posted by Henrik at Wed May 16 11:31:05 2007
Principles and punctuation are mutually exclusive? :p
Posted by Jonathan Carter at Wed May 16 11:47:50 2007
a'ight, what's the company name and how can I reach the named executive? ^^
Posted by Paulo Pires at Wed May 16 11:53:44 2007
I too have lost friends and business because I held  principles and integrity as being more important than BMWs and big payoffs. It does seem that many Corporate individuals mistake open ethics for no boundaries.
Posted by Nicholas Butler at Wed May 16 12:28:33 2007
That story sounds sooo familiar.  I'm job hunting in Seattle currently and no one seems to understand why I don't just work for the Gates Foundation or Microsoft giving... After all, those organizations help people, right?

grrr
Posted by Sarah Davies at Wed May 16 13:14:48 2007
Sounds like you've made "principles" into your own little snooty BMW.
Posted by Some guy at Wed May 16 14:28:20 2007
Taking the job would only compromise your principles if you expected that acting as an advocate for said principles to the company would have no effect.
Posted by Anonymous at Thu May 17 11:53:15 2007
Anonymous: Taking the job would compromise my principles if taking the position led to a net reduction in effectiveness. Calculating that is, admittedly, difficult.

Some guy: I don't understand why you feel upset or offended and feel the need to make snide comments. I wasn't trying to say that I was better than anyone -- only that people don't share my principles one's principle tend to have a very cavalier attitude toward them. It's true that a nice car and principled stand on software freedom might be mutually exclusive for some people and different people will choose one or the other -- but that was my point after all.
Posted by mako at Thu May 17 12:36:24 2007
Sarah: It can be a mixed bag. My father almost took a job with the Gates Foundation. They do many good things. But it is very hard, sometimes, to separate the money from where it comes from and who is ultimately in control of an organization.

Best of luck with the job hunt!
Posted by mako at Thu May 17 12:38:29 2007
I really don't have enough info about what this company does to pass judgment on the application of your principles or even what principles we're talking about. I am however concerned that getting paid for honest work is somehow viewed negatively. I'm sure there are people at that company just earning a living to house, feed and educate their kids.
Posted by Chuck Koscher at Thu May 17 15:23:59 2007
> I am however concerned that getting paid for honest work is somehow viewed negatively. I'm sure there are people at that company just earning a living to house, feed and educate their kids.

Does someone deciding that it's inconvenient to apply ethics to their situation mean that the situation should be free from ethical criticism, then?  What decides if work is "honest", other than ethics?

I think when you use "honest" like that, you're exactly calling out to a definition of "honest" that talks about ethics rather than pure honesty; there's nothing positive in behaving destructively while being honest about it.

- Chris.
Posted by Chris at Thu May 17 15:42:50 2007

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