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Comment by xR63cRyqrL | Hacker News Reader

Turns out you got to pay bills even if you are on a moral high horse. Besides if one has to have a clear conscience to match everyone's standard here, one should stop working at FAANG, stop using FAANG products, maybe stop using big oil products, stop using big pharma products, is it ok to pay taxes to a govt if you don't agree with something they did or should one pick up and move too? what else did I miss?

HN is so much of a echo chamber lately for some topics, there was a recent discussion about FB head of integrity leaving the company and the top comment and thread was a personal attack on the FB CEO's integrity without even understanding what an integrity team/dept does in these companies. I could just as well have been reading youtube comments. I see threads with some topics now and I can pretty much be sure to not expect to learn anything new or get a good discourse. Just people thinking they are better than others.

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Give me a break, a job with Facebook isn't the only one that pays the bills.

Well you list the company name and enough ethical failings can be found for that also

I'm certain the small startup I work for hasn't failed too badly ethically. But I don't own a home in SF so... failure?

They may not have failed ethically yet.

It’s virtually impossible for a company the size of Facebook to be free of controversies.

But then I'd just find another job (when it was clear that something was rotten). There's an argument here about the ethics of having helped build something that ultimately became terrible, however I don't think inability to predict the future equals complicity.

You are doing a whataboutism just like many others. Among FAANG, Facebook is distinctly more problematic. If you don't see that, you are just unaware of the scandals upon scandals from the last 5 years.

True but I am tired of seeing a free pass for the leaders, legislators, board, share holders etc. but bring out moral pitch forks for engineers who perhaps have the least amount of decision making powers in a company as massive as FB/FAANG. I am willing to bet that even the ones here that are in disbelief about how one can work in such a company, I bet uses their products and/or is invested directly or indirectly with these companies and don't complain when their portfolio makes bank.

> least amount of decision making powers in a company as massive as FB/FAANG

They have the power to choose not to work there.

So one can use FB products to stay in touch with their family or engage with the customers of their business but one should be ashamed to work there.

Is one held to this standard if they are a facebook engineer? What about a FB bus driver? house keeping staff? kitchen or security staff, content moderators? contractors? Just trying to gauge the paycheck $ value at which the conscience should awaken.

It's like asking the frycook to quit his job because the CxOs lead the company to make very tasty but unhealthy food, it's so good it's almost addictive. Surely the frycook has a conscience, no? Soon all the frycooks in the world will refuse to work there and we would have solved the problem!

> So one can use FB products to stay in touch with their family or engage with the customers of their business but one should be ashamed to work there.

No, I don't think anyone should use any facebook tools either. It's perfectly doable.

The company needs to die.

Being more or less problematic shouldn’t be an issue.

If you have moral issues with a company, you should have it with all companies, regardless if one is more or less problematic. Otherwise, it’s just hypocrisy.

>Turns out you got to pay bills

I'm sorry but if working for a FAANG is the only way for you to pay your bills you need to learn how to budget... How absurd.

FAANG aren't the only jobs that can pay bills but they certainly are one of them and as good as any.

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