Ethical Question about job

[HERVEPA]

I've been out of work for 4 months. I'm a mainframe (old, big, mostly out of use computers).

I saw an ad for a job that's a perfect fit, but don't know whether to apply, as it's Lockheed Martin, which does aerospace (read military) work. I wouldn't be doing that specifically, but still doesn't sit right with me. My whole career (I'm 55) I've avoided jobs related to the military.

But I'm getting a little desparate now. Unemployment runs out soon.

Anyone have any words of wisdom?

[BlueStateBlue]

1. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do

If you take the job, it doesn't mean you can't continue to look for another.

Who knows, maybe working there will give you fresh insight into important issues. You may also be able to enlighten people you meet on the job.

Times are tough. Circumstances alter cases.

[serryjw]

2. We can ONLY fight the war when we are not fighting to survive!

Trust me....take the job and try your best to keep your convictions in a tough environment

[LoZoccolo]

3. What's wrong with the military?

It's how you use it that counts.

[koopie57]

4. I would apply for it

and if it feels really wrong you can refuse it. But if I were you I would certainly apply.

[AP]

7. Yes, at least waste their time interviewing you.

Make the decision later.

[FormerOstrich]

5. I'm a programmer, too.

I have struggled with that same question on a couple of occasions. I was under-employed during 2002 and 2003. I just finished a contract and un-employed again.

I have nearly lost my house. While I was able to make some progress the past few months it is hard as hell to dig out of a hole (people smell blood in the water and really stick it to you). Thus, if I don't find more work soon I am in for a very very difficult time.

I have applied at a couple of the defense contractors. While I wouldn't like it and would continue to find an alternative I think I'd have to take the job if offered.

Fortunately or unfortunately (I'm not really sure which) the positions I did pursue required an existing military clearance of which I do not have.

The way I view it is I can't contribute or advance any cause if I'm living under the viaduct. Therefore, regardless of the work it is in my best interest to go for it.

I wish you the best of luck!

[Sparkly]

6. Go for it

Somebody will have the job, anyway. (And couldn't you get a kick out of putting a few bucks of Lockheed's money toward causes you believe in? Just think -- somebody else might get that job and spend the money at Wal-Mart and donations to the RNC!!)

Seriously -- my opinion is you should take care of yourself and do what you need to do, since NOT taking a job when you need one will only hurt you, it won't hurt Lockheed.

[Red_Viking]

8. Sometimes you just have to survive

When you have a plethora of choices, you can afford to be more discriminating. For now, take the job if you can get it. Hold your nose, get a paycheck, and maybe use them to gain some new skills to expand your choices in the future.

My materialistic, conspicuous consumerist older sister has worked for Lockheed for 25 years. They put her through college and pay her a six-figure salary. Her only concern is buying stuff with a well-known label and talking about the stuff she buys. So, working there suits her just fine. She lost her conscience a long time ago. And yes, she's a * supporter, although she has a gay daughter. Go figure.

Good luck; let us know how it goes!

RV

[dflprincess]

9. Take the job

I'm 51 and have been out of work for 3 months. I'd take it - though I would have the same qualms you're having. On the other hand, my former employer was a large health care company I had ethical problems with that. As I told a friend not long before I was laid off, a defense contractor is more honorable than a health insurer because at least they don't pretend they're helping people.

And remember, there's nothing to keep you from looking for another job while you're at this one.

[DianeG5385]

10. apply

You need to get your resume out to as many as possible. Assuming they are actually hiring Americans and not H1b visas...I don't blame the H1b's they are looking for work too it's just that they have become so pewrvasive that us natives are not able to support our families. More power to them. I just hope they do it in India not at our expense.

[intheflow]

11. I feel your pain, HERVEPA. I really do.

BUT - The Military-Industrial Complex paid for my BA in Peace Studies. It was the only job I could find that had 100% tuition reimbursement for undergraduate degrees so that I could get an M.Div. and work for peace and justice as a minister.

The MIC is one of the top employers in America, and one of the last jobs that have really good pay and benefits. You have to do what you have to get by. You could always look at your paycheck as a tax rebate, since the majority of your taxes support the MIC. And nothing says you can't keep looking for another job when you're working there (not that they have to know it).

No one in America is without blame somewhere, from our shopping choices to our food choices to paying our taxes, it's all connected in an intricate societal web of military-industrial-banking-environmental/labor/female exploitation.

So I say take the job. The irony will be that your pay will go to support liberal causes like peace, the warmongers will be making a peacenik prosper. And in the meantime, you and your family don't have to worry about being tossed out in the street.

[Cuban_Liberal]

12. Suck it up, and take the job.

Your first duty is to yourself and your family. Good luck!

:hi:

[HERVEPA]

13. Thank you all for your opinions.

I will probably go for the job. If I get it, I will likely give even more to good causes than I have previously. And I do talk politics at work, so I probably wouldn't have the job long anyhow. :)

[The Doctor.]

14. What the hell are you waiting for?

You would become the martyr that the administration will respect?

No.

Walk in like you own the place and get that job.

(Besides - it's Boeing that got the really big contracts and you'll be competing with them>)

[Warpy]

15. Take the job

jobs are hard enough to come by, especially for those of us over 50, that any job that comes along should be grabbed. Don't worry too much about the ethics. You won't be doing the "thinking the unthinkable" part of the job. You will be in a position to monkeywrench if you think they're starting to run amok.

Sometimes being in the belly of the beast isn't all bad. When I worked for a large Washington DC bank in the early 70s, I was given verbal orders to search through accounts and write a report on all major transactions. It smelled fishy, so I suddenly became incompetent. It turned out all the people were on Nixon's enemies list. Silly, me, I just couldn't find a thing.

Good luck and keep the faith.

[Stinky The Clown]

16. You should absolutely take the job

Someone is going to take it. That someone might just as well be you. If you need a moral foundation for this, consider it your survival. Once you survive, you can rejoin the fight.

[OneBlueSky]

17. life is all about compromise . . .

you gotta do what you gotta do . . . if you're not eating, you won't be any good to us as we take back our country, now will you? . . . :)

take the job . . . whatever volunteer or political work you do will more than balance out the karma . . . good luck! . . .

[bhikkhu]

18. Having been poor, there is no nobility in poverty

not in this land, at least. I would take the job and hope for the best. I understand there are plenty of highly principled people in the defense industry, or at least politically neutral profit motivated individuals.

With that said, if I were in your position I would probably end up a sguare peg boat-rocker one way or another and wind up fired. Try to last a year anyway, so unemployment is available again.