June 29, 2009
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GLBR PROJECT (PART 2)
Erotica is using a feather, pornography is using the whole chicken (Isabel Allende)
Date: 6/23/09
To:
Re: Question of where I work that would include such a GLBTA project: (Part B)
Since you asked where I work, I’ll answer. I often don’t present that at first until someone has a chance to know me better -especially those involved in the Peace and Justice Movement. I work for Raytheon.
Although you haven’t indicated a curiosity of how a person involved in Peace and Justice can work for a company like Raytheon, I would like to give my reasons up front.
First, to say that everyone in an organization like Raytheon is the “enemy” is like hearing Bush say that everyone in North Korea or Iraq is an enemy and deserves to be bombed. There can be and there are good people even in such an organization.
Also, if I thought it would make a difference to Raytheon if I left, I would leave immediately. But it would make no difference. Also, I am not working in anything that deals with bombs or missiles. I work in Finance and computer applications doing financial analysis. Also, there are many areas of Raytheon that do not deal with bombs or missiles – such as the radar systems for commercial airports, and even night vision windshields for automobiles.
Also, it becomes a slippery slope to say one should not work for such a company. Does that mean that one should not work for a computer company like Hewlett Packard because computers are used for warfare? It would also go that no one should work for the government since they are the ultimate ones responsible for the senseless wars. But I wouldn’t want to go to where no one in government was anti-war.
And lastly, I have been able to be a force for good because of my position within Raytheon. When we invaded Iraq with our “shock and awe” bombs, although I didn’t stand on a soap box, people knew where I stood. I was able to have people come up to me and say that they were glad that there was someone else that felt as they did about the invasion. Also, I was in a position to counter lunch-table conversations where the arguments for comparing Saddaam to Hitler could be countered rather than left unquestioned. And also through Raytheon, I have had many opportunities to do community work such as being a math mentor to junior high kids, doing volunteer work at homeless shelters, etc.
All of Raytheon, and everyone in Raytheon should not be considered the “enemy”.
Raytheon has a great GLBTA group that they support. This is a network of GLBT’s and the A stands for Allies – of which I’m one. They have won all kinds of awards for their GLBT support of their workers (such as having separate recruiting tables at job fairs targeting GLBTs to let them know that they would be comfortable in that environment, and also for their support of local GLBT events.) As an ally, I felt that this would be an opportunity to not only support the GLBT community, but also to promote my anti-violence values. My anti-war stance is only a subset of my values of anti-violence. Or perhaps I should say that anti-violence, to me, is a meta-level above anti-war.
This is, I think, a great way that an individual can do something proactively to affect their first degree of separation contacts rather than just railing against those who are six degrees separated. I would rather do something locally than just talk globally.
I hope you agree.
