Chain of command is a weird argument. If you don’t believe in war, then don’t work for a defense contractor. Engineers are a super-powerful enabling force.

In my most recent startup we had many hard days, but I would often say “hey, at least we aren’t designing tactical nukes, we’re helping people get jobs”

Engineers can and should take responsibility for what they work on.

Yes, evil power hungry CEO-types (I’m an eng turned CEO) will work hard and possibly succeed anyway, but that doesn’t mean engineers are absolved of responsibility.