Since then I've become anti-ad and haven't had any for years. I am sorry for my embarrassing lapse in judgment. :)
It's interesting, not unexpected and not un-understandable, that your opinion started changing as the dollar value decreased. I greatly dislike what this says about the effect of money on the human psyche. It's as old as time, but this hack hasn't been patched and I don't think it can be: Humans will sell their souls for a price.
I forgive you for your lapse in judgement. You are human after all - not intended as an insult ;)
I "don't forgive you" for considering this a lapse in judgment, because you still have some things to learn. (I'm kidding of course. All of this framing is rather silly.)
beej was doing what was best for them at the time. There were no victims. beej sold a service to an enterprise until it didn't make sense anymore.
Moralizing something that happened 20 years ago is wild. It literally does not matter. beej didn't kill anyone, didn't ruin their self esteem, didn't steal. This is not "soul selling".
Money isn't evil. Working for money and selling for money are not evil. You're going to have to do a whole lot more to meet that threshold for most people.
We should stop casting stones at people unless they're really assholes. This is nothing.
> I am sorry for my embarrassing lapse in judgment. :)
But I do agree with the point you're making.
Like me becoming anti-my-girlfriend after she dumped me
And working in marketing--that is what eventually made me rabidly anti-advertising. :)
Edit: I don't eat at Pizza Hut any more either, having worked for them from 1990-91. I was cured!
If the benefit outweighs the drawbacks, you say yes, and when the benefits evaporate leaving only the drawbacks, it's a no.
The very open ended core question of the field of ethics is nothing more or less than "what is the best way to act".
Nobody says “I don’t like potatoes” because they want to look like a noble good guy.
Many people say, “I don’t like ads” because they want to look like a noble good guy.
For one, if you don't like potatoes, and you claim to do so, you're a liar, and lying is considered by many to be vicious.
On the other hand, if you genuinely do like potatoes, the moral thing would be to acknowledge this, rather than concealing this or claiming you're more of a rice stan, as again, honesty is considered by many to a virtue.