Does Your Employer Require You To Accumulate Negative Khama?

[rockyysdt]

I'm often concerned about aspects of my job which I know to be immoral.

I'm regularly required to perform tasks which I know to be immoral or not in the public interest.

Surely this must lead to a build up of negative Kahma.

It's either that or find myself unemployed.

It appears most positions involve negative Kahma and following our conscience could lead to mass unemployment.

Examples I've witnessed are:

Postman is forced to regularly distribute Junk Food advertising known to cause obesity in the community.

Sure they're not forcing people to eat junk food everyday but we all know large numbers succumb to powerful marketing.

Check Out employee required to sell cigarettes and tobacco.

Profiting from others addiction is not a good thing. Public Servant required to keep information secret even though doing so might impact on the lives of others.

Casino Croupier facilitating gamblers.

At least 33% of gamblers are hopelessly addicted and their habit has severe consequences on the lives of their families.

Does your employment generate negative Kahma?

Would you consider quitting your job because of it?

Edited August 6, 2008 by rockyysdt

[camerata]

My employment doesn't give me any problems, but I've made a point of staying away from the marketing operation because it often requires telling lies.

There is a number of things to consider here. First, as lay Buddhists we accept that our practice is a compromise and that we can't follow the Eightfold Path perfectly. Second, we have to have a job to live, and most jobs generate negative karma in some way. Third, the Buddha advocated the Middle Way rather than taking extreme positions.

For me, a postman delivering ads is not doing anything wrong. The problem is with those who create and market the junk food. The postman's part in it is too indirect. Otherwise, we'd have to avoid every job in every telecom and media company. I think that is too extreme.

Just keeping government stuff secret isn't a problem - there are good reasons it has to be secret. But there are times when governments withhold information that could have saved lives. I've worked for several governments and never had to do anything unethical, though.

Actively selling tobacco or alcohol... I wouldn't do it because of the craving it generates. I wouldn't be involved in gambling either, for the same reason and because the Buddha included it in Wrong Livelihood.

I would avoid most marketing because it generally involves telling lies and making people feel inferior. But marketing useful/healthy products without lies might be OK.

If you are stuck in a job that generates negative karma, you can always do something about it. Remember the Russell Crowe character in the movie Insider? He worked for a tobacco company trying to make cigarettes less toxic. If your company markets bad stuff, you can always join a consumer group and fight against it. One thing I have done in the past is (anonymously) try to tell the truth about the industry I worked in - its good practices and bad practices. There's always something you can do.