When I tell people I\u2019ve got a job at Raytheon lined up for after I graduate, they usually say things like, \u201cThat\u2019s really cool,\u201d or \u201cYou\u2019re really cool for working at Raytheon,\u201d or \u201cThe fact that you\u2019re going to work at Raytheon is one of the coolest things I know about anyone.\u201d But sometimes, they don\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes they say things like, \u201cDon\u2019t you have any ethical qualms about working for a company that manufactures weapons that have repeatedly been used in Saudi airstrikes to kill Yemeni civilians?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, no. I don\u2019t have any moral qualms. And that\u2019s because my career choices are actually completely morally acceptable. Don\u2019t believe me? Not only are you a clueless idiot, but by the time you\u2019re finished with this list of six moral systems that say I\u2019m a good person, you\u2019ll know just how clueless and idiotic you are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to moral nihilism, everything is basically whatever. Is anything good? Is anything bad? No. No. It\u2019s whatever. And that means it\u2019s not good for me to help facilitate the sales of guided air-to-surface missiles to the Israeli Defense Force, but it\u2019s not bad either. It\u2019s just whatever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Blood utilitarianism is like utilitarianism, only instead of being about maximizing happiness and well-being, it\u2019s about maximizing death and suffering. If we follow blood utilitarianism, it\u2019s actually really good for me to function as a cog in a giant machine of death. Now, you might be thinking, But it\u2019s bad when there\u2019s suffering, it\u2019s bad when there\u2019s death<\/em>, but to that I say: blood utilitarianism says it\u2019s fine. Therefore, it\u2019s fine, and I\u2019m a good person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I read Hobbes a few years ago, so I can\u2019t give you any quotes from him or anything. But, suffice it to say, he was a really smart guy and everybody thinks so, and I remember him saying something about how you can kind of do whatever you want unless somebody stops you, including working at Raytheon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are some people who don\u2019t like it when the capitalist class of the United States uses arms manufacturing as a way of extending its influence into every corner of the globe, perpetrating war crimes while furthering their dependence on the global hegemon. Other people think it\u2019s good. And I think it\u2019s way more fun to listen to those people than the other ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Social Darwinism is awesome. A child in Yemen may not like it when I help procure the bombs used to murder half their family during a wedding party, but there\u2019s nothing stopping that child from getting a job with a different defense contractor and making bombs that will murder half of my<\/em> family. That\u2019s the beauty of the free market, pal. You see, Yemeni child, get on my level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the end of the day, no moral philosophy is as convincing as my paycheck from Raytheon. Because according to my paycheck from Raytheon, I get $82,000 a year, and you get to pound sand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I tell people I\u2019ve got a job at Raytheon lined up for after I graduate, they usually say things like, \u201cThat\u2019s really cool,\u201d or \u201cYou\u2019re really cool for working at Raytheon,\u201d or \u201cThe fact that you\u2019re going to work at Raytheon is one of the coolest things I know about anyone.\u201d But sometimes, they don\u2019t. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2090,"featured_media":7420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[30],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7419"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2090"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7419"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7419\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7421,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7419\/revisions\/7421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chicagoshadydealer.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}