[4337] in Depressing_Thoughts
Re: selling my soul
daklain@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (daklain@ATHENA.MIT.EDU)
Thu Feb 24 17:52:37 1994
I did not mean to direct my last message to you (abbe) specifically.
Your message was followed by a number of others which supported the idea
that working for the military is a bad thing.
Nor is my intention to start an argument in this meeting.
I see that my last message was perhaps more acerbic than was warranted.
Let me say then that there are many ways to express sympathy with your
situation.
It is certainly a terrible thing to be forced to act against one's
conscience. Other than keeping silent, or saying "I'm
sorry to hear that you are unhappy", I see two approaches. One is
to say, "Yes, isn't it terrible that you have to work for this
unpleasant institution, isn't there some way you can get out of doing
this?" Another approach is to say "Wait, maybe this institution isn't
as bad as you are thinking now, maybe you can work there with a good
conscience after all."
You can interpret my previous remarks as an attack on your views, or you
can interpret them as an attempt to support the morality of your
intended summer occupation (or internship --- I forget which it is).
Allow me to respectfully suggest that moral principles are not always
infallible, and that to examine carefully their underpinnings and
consequences may sometimes (though not always) do better for the ailing
conscience than to try to ignore one's own principles (can this really be
done, day after working day?) or to condemn oneself for defying them.
Guilt and shame are terrible feelings, and I do hope you find a way to
resolve this dilemma to your own satisfaction. I won't say anymore
about this now, other than to wish you in turn a good day, and also
to wish you the best of luck in finding work that makes you happy.
