Work related moral dilemma

[Guest guest]

Ah, Soyboy, as if life isn't complicated enough, you've got to come along

with this little jewel of a dilemma. I'm assuming that contributing toward

animal suffering violates your personal ethical code, and that refusal to

cooperate in the creation of this ad would cost you your job. O.K. Options

as my little mind sees them:

 

1. If sabotage and potential jail time and reimbursement do not violate your

ethics...

 

2. If your personal ethical obligation to respect yourself by working and

deriving income is weaker or less than your personal ethical obligation re

respecting other species, then lay down your keyboard. If it is stronger or

greater, then:

 

3. Do the ad and inform your employer why you object to it, and then do lots

of animal rights related work to assuage your conscience, in the course of

which you will be able to use the subliminal techniques you're apparently

learning about on the job.

 

4. Whatever you choose to do, send your ethical conflict to The Ethicist -

Randy Cohen - who writes a column responding to ethical questions in Sunday's

N.Y. Times Magazine. His email is (or at least used to be)

ethicist. Maybe explain the reasons for your position re animals

and then it might get published - free advertising!

 

Good luck,

 

L.R.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

> What would you do in this situation? I've been thinking of different

> possibilities and it doesn't seem like their are too many options in this

> case unless I want to risk losing my job. I can talk to management about

> running ads like these in the future, but my gut tells me that they're too

> bottom line focused.

>

I don't think there is much you can do, short of searching for another

place of employment. It sounds like management has their minds made up

and even though to us it might seem like they are sell-outs, not

everybody shares the same views we do. And you shouldn't feel guilty for

doing your job, it doesn't mean you have to agree with the ads. Again,

you're just doing your job. You know in your heart and soul that if you

were management, things would be very different. I have a similar

dilemma that I will have to deal with in June. We are having a wedding

at our home (me and my big mouth for offering) but we have the yard and

a beautiful gazebo. The bride-to-be's family are big meat eaters, so at

the reception they are bringing tons of beef and chicken over to

barbecue My daughter and I are repulsed but at the same time we have

to respect the bride-to-be's wishes. I had suggested salads, finger

foods, veggie sandwiches..but much to my dismay they have their minds

set. Doesn't mean I agree or I'm promoting meat eating in the least.

There are just some situations that can't be avoided. One of the things

I admire about us Vegans/Vegetarians is that we don't judge but rather

go about trying to change the world for the better in gentle, subtle

ways. Unlike the meat eating industries who flex their muscles and grunt

with imagined superiority that they rule! We know better )..my 2¢

 

Take care, Landa

[Guest guest]

That brings up a great idea - keep track of how much time you spend on

this project, multiply by your hourly rate, and send a check to the animal

welfare charity of your choice. Thus you won't have profited from this

situation.

 

 

On Tue, 26 Feb 2002 louisroman wrote:

 

> 3. Do the ad and inform your employer why you object to it, and then do lots

> of animal rights related work to assuage your conscience, in the course of

> which you will be able to use the subliminal techniques you're apparently

> learning about on the job.

[Guest guest]

Thanks for all of the replies. I could go on for pages and pages in response

to them, but I'll keep it brief. It seems like those of us who work in the

mainstream world are eventually faced with situations like this, and the

challenge is doing the job while maintaining integrity and not compromising

our values and principles.

 

I won't feel guilty for placing these banners on the website, but it does

force me to look at the choices I make in order to enjoy certain

conveniences or to simply keep a roof over my head. We have other

advertisers whose practices and products I object to, however this is the

first time I'm directly involved in getting their message out. It's almost

as though I've been looking the other way and now it's right in my face no

matter which way I turn. This is where it becomes more than " just a job. "

And maybe in the end it IS just a job and there are others to be had.

 

The company I work for would never accept tobacco advertising because they

know it adversely affects the health of their readers. (Plus they'd probably

get slammed by many groups and individuals.) Maybe it comes down to

ignorance more than anything else. They don't know that beef is unhealthy

(for cows and humans!) so there probably was never even a thought about not

accepting this ad. Most of them are meat eaters themselves. So at least, it

seems I can attempt to present some facts to them and raise awareness of

this issue. At most...I like the suggestions that have been presented. The

big test will be how well I sleep tonight.

 

Did I say this was going to be brief?