Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by MathCodeLove 1570 days ago
I often wonder at the thought process of these people. Not attacking OP directly, but it seems incredibly self-centered and narrow-minded to think "Wow I cant believe this person didn't drop everything and completely abandon all responsibilities because of event X happening right now. They must be so selfish."

If anything, I would think its the opposite. Its a virtue and sign of strength and selflessness to be able to push past ones personal feelings and to continue to do what needs doing.

1 comments

The only thing that needs doing during war is be safe and support others.

Other jobs, especially like software dev, is literally pointless and not important like at all. One corp will close - another one will open and the world won't even notice it.

Except people not in the war still need to eat and survive. Maybe it wouldn't matter on a global scale if some small software firm somewhere goes out of business, but it sure as hell matters to the business owner and their family, and the employees and their families.

How do you think western governments can afford to send aid, if not through tax dollars collected via the production of their citizens? If everyone decided to drop what they were doing out of some grossly mislead compassion then the aid currently being sent to the Ukraine in the form of monetary support and supplies would become fiscally impossible due to the lack of national production.

The problem with this kind of anti-industrial sentiment is that on it's surface it may sound morally righteous and perfectly reasonable but as soon as you begin to devote even a moments worth of critical thinking to the ideas you're spouting it's easy to see how totally they break down.

The very people you condemn for selfishness or greed are the same people who keep the world economy functioning in a crisis like this. They're the same people who make it so that there is still some semblance of a normal world for the Ukrainian people to return to once this war has passed.

It is temporary. And if small software firm goes out of business - employees and the owner can always find another job. On a grand scale of things it is no biggie. In the end everyone will have food on the table and shelter, and the economy will prosper either way.
It's not temporary if the sentiment expressed in your original comment is widely shared. Remember, you said:

> The only thing that needs doing during war is be safe and support others.

If a single firm goes out of business sure, no big deal on a grand scale. If ten thousand firms go out of business, then that is a big deal. The position you hold fundamentally contradicts itself. Either nothing else matters, and therefore the entire world should focus on nothing but the war - which would lead to global economic collapse. Or you're wrong and other things actually do matter, in which case businesses shouldn't drop everything and completely forego local production in order to attempt to support Ukraine or Ukrainians.

Ideally of course there'd be some middle ground in which a company would attempt to support its Ukrainian employees, but regardless the company still needs to function and profit if it wants to keep said Ukrainian employees employed. You can't achieve one without the other. You seem to desire both support from these organizations while simultaneously demanding they cease operating in any capacity which puts them in a position to provide support.

The economy will always bounce back. Recession happens anyway from time to time, thousands of companies go out of business, new appear. Natural cycle.

Also I never said businesses should drop everything and support anybody. All I said is employees don't need and most won't work in times like these, at least those who are directly affected. No one gives a damn about their job or if they are fired in situations like this. And definitely no one would shed a tear if the company they worked for will go out of business, just like the company doesn't care about the employee it will let go.

>If ten thousand firms go out of business, then that is a big deal.

That's why you need to focus on actually winning the war.