Henry David Thoreau once said: “A man had better starve at once than lose his innocence in the process of getting his bread.”
Just doing a job cannot justify doing something unethical, immoral, or dishonest. The guards in the German concentration camps, after becoming friends with the prisoners, would often justify walking them to the gas chambers with, “I’m just doing my job.”
Unfortunately, I still see people who are selling cars they know are defective, products they can’t deliver, Florida resort land that 
is nothing but swamp, dental work that isn’t really needed, financial figures that are not quite accurate, and “business opportunities” that don’t really work. What is it that you can justify doing just because it’s part of your job? Just because you have the ability to do something well is not enough reason to continue doing it – if it violates your values and common sense.
If your work doesn’t blend your abilities, your personality traits, and your values, you’re setting yourself up for deceit in other areas of your life. And for the invasion of ulcers, migraines, and other physical evidences of a less than authentic life. In the movie Cool Hand Luke, a guard says, “I’m just doing my job. You gotta appreciate that.” And Paul Newman responds: “Nah, Calling it your job don’t make it right, boss.” I agree.
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Don’t justify doing something you don’t believe in just because it’s part of your job now. Be the same person at work you would want to be at home or at your church. Don’t lose your innocence in the process of getting bread.
Greetings Dan,
You are so right. Knowing ourselves and what we stand for will allow us to steer away from things we should not do in the name of our JOBs. That foreknowledge allows us to respond in away consistent with our make up when the pressure is really on, when a person without a strong sense of self may make a regrettable decision. Innocence lost is difficult if not impossible to regain.
Thanks, Hope the cruise is fantastic!
“Justice at Dachau” is an interesting book to read on this subject of prison guards. The dachau trials were ordinary people instead of the reich trials at Nuremberg. They used that defense and prosecutior named William Denson succesfully prosecuted many of them as he asserted it was a “common design” that was present. The Concentration camops were built to kill the people in them whether by gas starvation or overwork. Stanley Milgram did a study on Authority where he tried to see h0w far he could pish peopel. On the positive side though there were those people working in Concentration camps who refused to particiopate in any of the atrocities. Of course they were removed and assigned ele=sewhere any many cases.
Cops get to use this defense it seems all over our society why?
People throwing people out in the streets use this too and get away with it why?
The answer they give or I hear is if they didn’t they lose their job and someone else would anyways.
I did this to someone at the check out stand for something I disagreed with and that was the response so not just spewing off.
I also did this in defense of me being able to smoke at some event that was outside and got similar responses.
While the Fascist of us would defend them not letting me smoke liberty is at stake regardless if you agree with the why or not.
OR the i smoke too and its hard but I have to follow the rules crap as well gets me. Not just a pro smoking comment either but a our liberty is/has been at stake and this is why.
Far too many people willing to obey and or enforce laws/rules rather than stand up and say it’s not right or we need to make some kind of stand.
And before someone comments on that I’m making a smoking comparison to kicking people out comparisons yes I am for they have the same consequences. Tyranny of the masses and or tyranny of the bankers and or landlords.
Point is cops get to use this excuse but at Nuremberg it was rejected that just following orders or doing ones job for fear of losing their job wasn’t an excuse.
We don’t though to the last response that is. Gun sellers follow what should be unconstitutional laws because if they don’t they can lose their license and or go to jail. and one more of our liberties is lost because they didn’t make the hard choice and not do it. People end up homeless because the cop or sheriff has to kick them out. For fear of their job and or someone else would do it anyhow. Jailers have violated someones right to not do as they say and went along with the watch man lead or something. I seen a video where three or four of them tied this one guy down on a stretcher thing in jail and basically tortured the man to death literally because he died of choking from this incident.
All of them mainly sat there and done nothing or participated in and my guess is fear of losing their jobs.
No! were not steering away from this! Were heading strait into the Ice burg of Totalitarianism but through law and order rather than strait out a dictatorship.