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I was taking annual mandated training at work the other day. Like, you know, watch the video, try not to snooze when you fall asleep, and then answer a very basic question or two at then end. One of the videos was about ethics. I work for a government contractor and ethics is a big deal.

But it was boring and I started noodling on my phone. I looked up my employer's Wikipedia page. And wouldn't you know it, they mentioned that my employer was responsible for running a disinformation campaign in the Philippines during the pandemic, at the request of the American government, trying to convince people that the vaccine was bad for them because it was from China. There are very likely to be people who refused the vaccine and died because of the lies of my employer, and I was learning this literally while an ethics video played on my computer screen.

This came to light only because my employer had, according to a government report, "sloppy tradecraft" and failed to sufficiently cover their tracks.

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[-] dgdft@lemmy.world 21 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Still are.

And in February, the contractor that worked on the anti-vax campaign – General Dynamics IT – won a $493 million contract. Its mission: to continue providing clandestine influence services for the military.

OG Reuters Piece (read it at the time): https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-covid-propaganda/

[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 10 points 4 months ago
[-] workwork@lemmy.world 14 points 4 months ago

I don't know. I'm still processing.

[-] Nougat@fedia.io 5 points 4 months ago
[-] Tikiporch@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

I doubt he's a mole. They don't get social security numbers for one thing.

[-] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 5 points 4 months ago

No no, I think you misunderstood. They are 6.022 x 10^23 discrete identical things, not a small burrowing mammal. Common mistake.

[-] magnetosphere@fedia.io 3 points 4 months ago

I think it’s likely that every large firm, and lots of smaller ones, are at least partially responsible for something horrible. The only differences are whether we know about it or not, and if that horrible thing is the only/main reason the firm exists. There’s a good chance that your past and future employers did/knowingly enabled something ethically indefensible. That doesn’t make YOU a bad person.

[-] Bob_Robertson_IX@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 4 months ago

Unfortunately, we live under capitalism and that requires a job. Even moreso if you have a family that you need to provide for... so even a shitty job, if it pays well enough, is enough to get you stuck. It isn't always easy to find another job with similar pay, especially when you have a demanding full-time job.

[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 16 points 4 months ago

I'm not saying there's never a totality of circumstances where one must take this job. But to just wave it off like you're doing is just an excuse to never consider ethics.

[-] tyler@programming.dev 6 points 4 months ago

I literally had an argument on here the other day with someone who refuses to believe there is bad science because capitalism is the one causing them to do unethical things. Your response sums up the actual truth of the matter very succinctly. Just because you have an excuse for something doesn’t make it unethical.

[-] Boomkop3@reddthat.com 5 points 4 months ago

Well, holy pizza, that is not a "might" have. They've got blood on their hands

[-] Gustephan@lemmy.world 2 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Welcome to the military industrial complex bud. That blood isnt just on your employer's hands, it's on yours too. There's a reason anybody with a soul who gets into defense contracting eventually turns to either alcoholism or activism.

Edit: re-read this and it came off a bit hostile, which wasn't my intention. For reference I'm somebody who has burned through millions of dollars of air force r&d budget in my career, had some realizations about what the MIC actually is and what it actually does, had a complete mental breakdown doing nothing but pot and therapy for a year, and now I'm trying to convince immigration lawyers in my area to hire me as a paralegal on my handful of hard science degrees and my experience making radar fail. If you think it might be helpful to chat with somebody a few years further along on realizing that they did evil for their employer and coping with that/trying to make a change, my dms are open

[-] VeganCheesecake@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

If you're working for a division of General Dynamics (which I dunno, but they've been reported to be behind that campaign), I'm kinda surprised that this is the red line.

Like, your employer also makes miniguns and tanks and shit.

this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2025
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