Pardon Plea by Adolf Eichmann, Nazi War Criminal, Is Made Public

I submitted this because, ever since reading Arendt's Eichmann in Jerusalem, I've always thought about not only the tasks that I do, but who I do them for. Eichmann was a very talented engineer, but he used his talents to support one of the most brutal regimes in modern history.

I think it's particularly relevant for programmers today. Many of us are tempted by pay or prestige or excitement to do morally dubious tasks. And even though it feels safe to do things like collect data for the NSA or help build weapons for the US military, that history is filled with examples of people who "just did their job," but later learned a very harsh lesson that they should have considered more carefully who they were doing it for.