This is a story about covering your ass...

If I was to mention the name of the project I'm working on and the name of my client, I would be picked up by paranoid people doing web searches. It's already happened to one of my colleagues. Naturally, I don't want to draw attention to the ups and downs that I've documented here, as I need the contract more than anybody realises.

The sensible thing to do would maybe be to take this site down, for fear of losing my income. However, nobody really does the sensible thing in their adult life. It looks to me like adults do reckless stuff and then live in fear, trying to protect their selfish crappy little lives. It looks to me like nobody does the sensible thing.

The sensible thing to do is not to have kids, not to perpetuate the misery and suffering, not to prop up capitalism and ecological destruction, warfare. The sensible thing to do is not to legitimise imperial aggression, by demanding that politicians protect our way of life. The sensible thing to do is to say "enough" and put down your tools and go on strike, in protest over the collision course with disaster that we are all collectively taking.

I'm not sure how my views are going to change, as I start to get a little bit more comfortable. By the end of the week, the wolf won't be at the door anymore. I'm going to have a lot of pressure and stress hanging around for 6 months, at least, and it'll take another 6 months before I have some kind of safety cushion. The litmus test is what I do once I have some kind of warchest again.

When I wrote about HSBC and the Customer Due Diligence project, I hadn't dug myself out of the hole, but I had been completely exhausted by the demands that had been placed on me. I've been an IT professional for 20 years, so I know how projects go, and I know how to blend into the corporate background and not make waves. I know how to kiss ass, I know that people don't want loose cannons and they want an easy life. However, it was an important project and I had something to contribute. I also couldn't live with my conscience if I didn't act during another banking stitch-up, having been near to ground zero during the credit crunch.

Now I have an early contract termination and probably a lack of decent reference to explain away, as something that I worry about. I'm pleased that I acted with integrity and ethics, but it's definitely me that suffered most of all. I martyred myself for no benefit to anybody, probably.

Why make yourself a martyr? Why make life harder for yourself than it needs to be? Why rock the boat? Well, it's simple: somebody has to be first.

I was told to wind my neck in, keep a low profile, not stick my head above the parapet. Of course I knew it was good advice - on a personal level - but I knew exactly what I was doing. Somebody has to be brave. Somebody has to take a stand, and push back. Somebody's got to raise their voice.

I hate the collective madness. There's no safety in numbers, when your whole flock goes running off the edge of the cliff.

Tags: #career #banking #capitalism #hsbc