It's a great question, and the true answer isn't necessarily the default the (somewhat) rhetorical question assumes. Personally, an honest life is more important to me than money. OTOH, that's easy to say living on/with a software engineer's salary and job prospects.

Extracted from a (french) song and roughly translated :

In life, son, you have two choices : you work or make money

For my own sake.

> Of course it is "more useful" to perpetrate than to suffer injustice, but for the sake of the thinking dialogue with myself this utilitarian standpoint has to be given up."

> Natürlich ist es "nützlicher", Unrecht zu tun als Unrecht zu leiden; um des denkenden Dialogs mit mir selbst willen muss gerade dieser Nützlichkeitsstandpunkt aufgegeben werden.

-- Hannah Arendt, "Wahrheit und Politik"

It's a very important question. IMO we should be most mindful of our work and moneymaking since we spend most of our waking life doing these things.

When we are dishonest in our moneymaking, we are probably creating unnecessary suffering for others. That's enough reason for some.

IMO it also feels easier to love and be loved (e.g. by friends, family, your children, etc.) if you are honest in your dealings with others.

Honestly though. I feel like I'm seeing so much grifting these days, from stuff like this, to people charging for faux-lifestyle courses, to (ahem) crypto speculators, plus a bunch of stuff from public figures and politicians. I'm sure a lot of it is not new, but it does make you wonder what the point is.

Its not that easy question to answer anymore. The same can be said for working at or for Google or Facebook etc

For the amount of good Google has done for human beings and Internet, there is equal amount of morally questionable ways they make money. 'Honest work' is such a fluid concept now that the grey area seems okay.

This is an important question everyone should ask themselves. Should you be honest or sacrifice it for money? Do you want to sleep well every night? Do you have a moral compass or is it broken already? Should you sell your ethics? You probably have more space to decide than those who struggle surviving the day. You can choose.

Wise words indeed.

For one thing, you might not want to risk being in jail.