I've subscribed to Kagi since 2023, and this response really gives me pause. Any support for totalitarian regimes like Russia or North Korea definitely forces me to reconsider being a customer.
So, I'm living in a Buddhist Monastery. This article basically details why.
In Buddhism, we talk sometimes talk about how apathy is the "near enemy" of equanimity. That is, equanimity is good and apathy is bad, but sometimes apathy looks like equanimity.
I was a software engineer for several years, and what was hardest for me was this exact "who cares" attitude. I wanted to do good work, but that was not the culture.
Now I seek the extinguishment of suffering. No one here says "who cares" here about this work. It's deeply refreshing. I feel very lucky to be here.
If you want to meet English-speaking monks who are dedicated to following the monastic rules, consider going to monastery in the Ajahn Chah lineage. There are others that are perfectly good (like Ajahn Brahm), but this lineage is unique in that you can find monasteries in the lineage all over the world. https://forestsangha.org/community/monasteries . This doesn't have much to do with jhanas. Just wanted to say
I'm confused why the engineers can't just form a union and go on strike, demanding either better conditions, a seat at the table, or actual control like this article suggests. Unionizing and striking are protected activities in the United States and many countries while everything suggested in this article is frankly not.
I'm not a lawyer, but as other commenters mention, this would be both illegal and totally reversible because it would be a decision made due to coercion. In the same way a contract is not legally binding if someone holds a gun to your head and compels you to sign, the decision to give the coup leader control of the company wouldn't be legally binding either.
Ethics are, sadly, totally unquantifiable, so they must always be some level opinion. But if dog trainers are held to a higher standard regarding ethical training of dogs than ABA providers are held to regarding ethical treatment of Autistic children, I think we have a pretty persuasive argument right there that ABA is totally unethical.
It's also notable that Autistic academics like Devon Price, a fairly famous professor of social psychology, also believe ABA is unethical.
I'm Autistic too. Although I don't want to know the answer to this question, I love the fact that another Autistic person asked it and how they asked it. Thank you @tazu! You're awesome!!
