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Comment by popcorncowboy | Hacker News Reader

> I don't foster any negative feelings towards developers per se. A job's a job

Nah. This line of reasoning excuses any activity one might be involved with because "it's just my job". Doesn't work like that. The idea that you carry zero moral (or ethical or even legal) culpability because you're drawing a paycheck and being "told" what to do is what every person working for the companies that are deeply damaging our society tells themselves. Because the alternative (the reality) is really hard to deal with.

GP is right to be concerned.

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If a job doesn't hire you because of the industry you worked in rather than lacking skills, then they're doing you a favor. Purity tests are bad and most successful businesses can't afford to apply them. And if they did they would be selecting for a toxic personality. You may pass your own purity test, but you're likely to find some employee that has a qualm about some choice of yours. Avoid places like that

It doesn’t need to be a “purity test”. It’s sufficient that if there are multiple candidates with seemingly roughly equal skills, the one not having worked in crypto gets the job because they seem slightly more likely to be a good cultural fit.

>Nah. This line of reasoning excuses any activity one might be involved with because "it's just my job".

This comes off as financially entitled, like there aren't pressures around rent and life expenses that take precedence in decisions around employment. Either you've taken a vow of not caring about money, or you already have enough (and assets) not to care, or you're naive about a uniquely lucky time we lived in where employment was plentiful - which is about to end.

Ironically it might end first in the crypto space being discussed.

Spoken like an apologist. There has always been incentive to cross ethical, moral and legal lines "for the money", and this has been so since time immemorial. We are not living in some special moment in history, neither does crypto hold a monopoly on shady actors.

None of your either-ors apply.

There are pressures, making it a choice of the actor. That actor will have consequences regardless of what choice they make. I disagree that 'i needed money' is a valid excuse to do things you morally disagree with. I also disagree that 'i needed money' is an excuse for others to do things that they believe is immoral.

Personally I don't like crypto so maybe that's where my opinion is coming from. But it sure feels like everywhere in life we are presented with a choice to do what is right and what is easy. Both have consequences.

Software engineering jobs are extremely cushy. You are not working in an Amazon warehouse to make the ends meet.

They are when you're 30 years old in a boom market. The fact that people act like unemployment is impossible suggests no one was an adult during 2001-3. That means you know neither age discrimination nor recession.

Ah, the idealism of youth.

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