Microsoft bans "democracy" for Chinese users.

It's not their fault. In fact, it's nobody's fault. U.S. law demands that the shareholders (owners) interests come first. The board of directors, and certainly the chairman of the board (whose name I will not mention here) has to recognize that, don't they? (Or, at least it is a defensible postiion.) It's not their fault. The Upper management? They are just doing their jobs, as are the middle management, and on down. It's not their fault. The people that push the buttons and write the code are simply doing their jobs, as well. It's not their fault. So we should confront the owners (shareholders). After all, the responsibility rests with the owners, right? Oops. They're mostly small investors who invested their money in hopes of getting a small return. There is nothing evil in that, is there? Don't look now, but the snake just ate its tail.

This reminds me of a set of lines I just recently heard from the new "Doctor Who" series:

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Upper Management Worker (guilty, in part, of subjugating the whole of the human race): That's not fair! We were only doing our jobs!

The Doctor: With that sentence you have lost the right to even talk to me.

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The moral? Be wary of "just doing your job". You can be made to do things that you would not normally do. (And if that thing is small enough, you might not even really notice.) Be suspicious of words like "professionalism". They can be used to subjugate you.

Just try to do the right thing. It's a good philosophy, I think. And it's all we can do.



P.S. For more info on the perils of "Doing One's Job", Google around for "Stanley Milgram". (How's that for skirting the edge of Godwin's Law? ;-)

P.P.S Yes, my advice is a hell of a lot easier to give than to follow. :-(