Jobs Vs Conscious

[Basstrap]

I work with an oil plant now.

Syncrude, canada; maybe one of the largest oil producers in north america, if not the largest producer.

Oil is like dirt to them. They cover all the roads in the mine and plant with oil just to keep the dust down

Basically everyone here is against Kyoto, I remember hearing people say how bad it is.
But of course, there are only selfish reasons not to let Kyoto go through. God forbid you take a paycut for the sake of the environment.

So this is where I - Liberal canadian - work


anyone else ever work a job that grated on your conscious?

 

[nbcrusader]

Every attorney should be bothered by their profession to some degree.

 

[zoney!]

Great thread Bassy!

I too lean liberal.

I am a manager of a location and have very right leaning employees. Daily, I have to explain to them why I have manage the budget as I do, which in turn, may hurt their own pay checks. I hate having to explain to them that their "right leanings" support big companies and not individual employees and that the reason I have to control the budget is because that is what the financial heads ask of me, and that the financial folks answer to our ultimate bosses...the shareholders. ITs funny how everything changes when its their own pocketbook brought into the conversation.

Anyway...I HATE the corporate focus of the "shareholder" rather than the customer or employee. HATE HATE HATE!

At the same time....I need to live in this world...and I do alright where I am at. And this is only the beginning of the battle - it will only get worse, I believe.

*throws his arms up

 

[beli]

Yeah, me

Im an adminstrator in a safety and health/risk management environment. I used to process 2/3 of the applications for genetic manipulation work to be done in the State.

Then they gave that job to someone else.

And now I order radioactive substances and organise the disposal of the used 'stuff'



Yep, Im looking for another job.

 

[BVS]

I think every job I've ever had has made me walk the thin line of conscience. I've worked retail where I knew that some items were just ripping off the public, I've worked the resaurant industry where I knew corners were cut that I wasn't comfortable with, I've worked the architecture industry where I was often forced to lose all architectural integrity either by the client or the other factors, and now I'm working an industry where I know there's a big proportion of companies out there are taking advantage of the public...my company isn't one of them therefore I suffer economically compared to everyone else in my industry. I think every occupation will have these issues, anyone who claims their occupation doesn't I think is lying to themselves somewhat. All artists sell out somehow, everyone working for "non-profit" organizations have to realize there are lines that were crossed, and every minister realizes that human fault has taken place in their church. I'd be interesting in seeing if someone ever held an occupation where they didn't have this. Obviously some are worse than others, but I doubt anyone's is free of it.

 

[Angela Harlem]

I spent about 6 months in NSW's last government funded institution for people with severe intellectual disabilities, until the place finally closed its doors. Daily, I had to give with various other medications, the contraceptive pill to all the girls who'd ever started menstruating.

 

[pax]

I have to disagree with nbc. There are some very noble, ethical lawyers out there doing thankless work for little pay.

Shakespeare is oft quoted as the author of the line, "First thing to do, let's kill all the lawyers"--but very few people ever mention that the line was sarcastic, meant to be the introduction to a speech on how one might form a lawless, brutal society.

 

[Anthony]

I'm not a lawyer, I'm a law student, but I still feel that lawyers get a bad rep, which is a shame, because at the end of the day all they are doing is serving established interests for a price - and at the end of the day everyone serves established interests for a price. Its no more demonic than washing toilets.

I am very sensitive about the way some social circles do tend to go for the moral jugular, because, at the end of the day, you do have to work because you do have to survive. To use your example Basstrap, I find that morality would have a stronger role to play if you, for instance, did quit your job because of moral dilemmas. Lets say that you had a family (I do not know if you do), where would be the moral argument concerning their right to eat and live? Basstrap working for a company that hates the Kyoto protocol is not something that should present moral dilemmas to such an extent. People say it is up to individuals to change society, I say that it is the governemtn's place. That Basstrap chooses to work for a company to earn a living is not only morally justifiable but commendable, that people who have the power to support the Kyoto Protocol, like Bush, but don't... is another matter.

Ant.

 

[najeena]

My peace minded, liberal husband is about to interview for a job at Boeing, building planes that detect sonar from submarines. He's lived and worked on subs, worked on the Pershing Missile system, and built military craft at shipyards in the last twenty years. All of these things don't change the good man he is, or the need for a decent job at this time when they are so hard to come by.

 

[anitram]

I don't think I really have that problem in my job. I work on cancer research at the moment, and the only thing that I could do without is sacrificing mice, but I'm not exactly losing sleep over it either.

 

[beli]

Oh I know how you feel about the mice. I get all the guys in the office to bring in toilet roll inserts to make homes for the mice.

And I make the guys take the staples out of their documents before they shred them as I give the shreddings to the animal houses too, for the mice to nest in.

Anything to make their stay a little more comfy.

 

[anitram]

Some of them are really cute. And I hate going to the cage, picking out 2, leaving behind 3 or 4, because I always feel like I'm determining their fate, and then I'm guilt ridden over it. Sniff.

 

[beli]