Contributions 

    The sorts of things excellent software engineers contribute to the good life are new perspectives. As office tools, edutainment, and visual arts bring people to a new life. Office tools, like internet engineering and microsoft office, are good for making modern life connected, convenient, and organized. Allowing people to achieve their own goals effectively. Software tools have empowered organizations and individuals with opportunity, communication, and freedom. True Edutainment, including this class, often task people to think creatively, experiment, or in new perspectives. Games have been teaching, enlightening, and growing people for only half a century, but imagine all the learning the games demand for success. If the Game is beautiful I would call that visual art. Visual arts like photoshop, movies, and VR, create for people infinite worlds that are truly limitless. The software can be beautiful and moving that creates marvel, goodness, and that mysterious meaning in us all. 

    The kinds of character traits, qualities, behaviors and habits I think mark the kinds of people who tend to contribute most in these ways are the not serious ones, not experts, or well paid, but those who share. In all the different fields that need software engineers, in all the infinite things you can do with code, all come at a sharing price. Freeware has always been with the computer science community and Bill Gates himself defended it in the beginning. Thus the government programs don’t run as effective as some free market programs, but no program is like a free one. The coders-on-the-sides are the true pioneers of software engineering, for leisure creates real novelty. The linux engineers, small game designers, the guy who automated a routine in his life; will turn around and share with the public. The mind who is self motivated to either practically, and/or playfully, engineer code and willing to share it to the world, is the mind that will change the world. 

     The various stakeholders in this scenario, the company, those who are going to be monitored, and both mine and the opposing government. The various stakeholders they have each at stake in my programming is their reputation, privacy, safety, and their conscience. The company that is being contracted out must uphold more than customer service, but also take into account what kind of reputation they have. The contractor that sells out to oligarchs ambitions becomes a paid war dog. Not just bad PR, but a tool for the cruel everywhere is bad for their morale and for their conscience. The citizens, the biggest stakeholders, lose their privacy, safety, and freedom. Those citizens do not get a private dibate, or even question, as my software will determine what is allowed. I become the author of the watchdog that will decide who goes without due process to a slave camp. These citizens are now at the mercy of my software, and it their government. The oppressive government has already lost what other stakeholder are at stake for losing, my software has robbed them of the organic cycle of decedent societies. The very diction in my software will escalate the current tensions, and that climax is built by that much larger. If I comply, the military leaders of this nation will be in for the exact crimes they are inflicting. My government is being undermined by the company. Atrocity of one nation, is supported by the apathetic citizens of many good nations and will weigh on all of our conscience. My nation's authority in their criticism is made weak.

     The ethical obligation in this situation is not just to comply, but to notify the stakeholders. Excellent software engineer would do in this situation is because of the consequences affect the stakeholders. It is good customer service to keep good communication with the customer during the development process. That is also ethical because the customer is paying for it and will be using the software for their own ends. This ethical logic is important because there are other stakeholders who will be directly affected by my software, and therefore, also deserve the knowledge. Being a whistle blower to the media maybe the easiest way to do so, but I would much rather talk to each stakeholder so the story doesn't run away in public opinion. I know that my company will be self-interested in the idea of backing out of this sale, I should speak up about those specific consequences. I would devote some time to this before I would go leaking to specifics organizations, for the same logic. The same logic for what I have at stake for this. I know my government is invested in this project because of what they have to lose, so I would let them know about it. Those who will be monitored even more so, need the warning from somebody other than the government what is coming down the pipeline. a citizen could be chatting online and end-up in a labor camp the same day my software gets out. Surprisingly, the client is the last one who would care to hear these consequences. If they did, they would have taken advice from the rest of planet earth about their oppressive nature, why would they lesson to me? If none of these actions lead to change, then I must not participate. This could most certainly mean the end of my job, and maybe my career as an employee in that specific field. These consequences are small in comparison to further down the road. 

    Of the three contributions software engineer make to vital public good was new perspectives. Specifically; office tools, edutainment, and visual arts bring people to a new life. Much like the good, the true, and the beautiful. Although the case study exercise help me see what is at stake. The vital public goods that software engineers help to secure are freedom in privacy. Office tools, edutainment, and visual arts, don’t simply give perspective, I see now that the software is more about freedom. The software engineer has the ability to empower specific people, in the case study, it was empowering the military regime over the people. The engineer needs to ensure that the public freedom is not infringed upon. Software is useful, but not always transparent and restricts the well-being of the innocent. This reminds me of how Instagram now is flagging down specific content with a good motive. Instagram is restricting someone for other’s empowerment or simply protecting them. Safety and protection is a job for every engineer, in software it looks like in the form of privacy. Securing privacy is securing trust; and trust is vital for the public good. No trust, no civil society. Losing freedom and privacy is a consequence of apathetic engineering and quite avoidable.