[palmotea]

> They made them a specific way, and will be stained with the consequences, because they were cowards who took the easy way out.

One thing I've gotten tired of as I've gotten older is self-righteous judgement like that, when directed at the rank-and-file.

Your assignment: carefully inspect your life, and enumerate all the things which you are "stained with the consequences, because [you] were [a] coward who took the easy way out." There are lots because you're a human living in the modern world. Then, before you join the peanut gallery to judge smoeone, remember that guy's like you.

Sure, judge leaders like Zuckerberg like that, the buck stops with him, and his lieutenants who support his vision, and associates with "fuck you" money. But regular folks who need a job who try to do the right thing within their scope but are overridden? Come on.

[lazide]

‘Just following orders’ is derided for a reason.

What do you think that actually looks like?

The same damn thing.

What do you think the scientists working at big tobacco said to themselves?

The same damn thing.

The system won’t work without the ‘little people’ doing all the day to day.

This is, quite literally, the ‘banality of evil’.

[palmotea]

> ‘Just following orders’ is derided for a reason.

For things like murdering people and genocide. When you're talking about controversial/gray areas, where there is no crime or clear consensus on punishable immorality, then no.

Expand that concept too far, too zealously, and you might as well shoot everyone because everyone's guilty. The world ain't black and white.

[lazide]

Facebook’s algorithms have quite literally caused that. Nearly a decade ago. And haven’t much improved.

And is clearly (with many, many studies on the topic over a decade plus) behind the rise of right wing nationalism and the fraying social contract.

Zuck is very, very aware of this - as leaked emails show. He knows, but continues anyway, and anyone at Meta at this point who also doesn’t know is being willfully ignorant.

This is the ‘cigarettes don’t cause cancer’ argument.