VW 'Dieselgate' software developed at Audi in 1999: report
I&#x27;ve noticed changes in my personality since this scandal happened.<p>Before it, I strongly believed that it&#x27;s possible to be just as successful and competitive without breaking any rules.<p>I didn&#x27;t go to exams which I didn&#x27;t study for and refused to cheat when everyone else was doing it. 
I had opportunities to earn a lot of money by doing shady things, but I&#x27;ve always refused, because I didn&#x27;t want to compromise on my moral values.<p>But diesel gate made me stop and think.<p>If Germany&#x27;s largest company does it - then who else does it ?<p>Add to that the wiki&#x2F;snowden leaks and now the panama papers (to name just a few) and I&#x27;m totally confused:<p>It seems that the rich and successful are all corrupt cheaters.<p>Why do I have to part with 30%-40% of my earned income so that some corrupt politicians can spend them on wars and distribute them to their cronies ?<p>Why do I have to play by the rules when the only advantage of doing so is a &quot;clear conscience&quot; which nobody gives two cents about ... maybe just my 5-year old daughter.. but she also believes in Santa Claus.<p>So this scandal has really put me at a moral crossroads - will I go on being a &quot;sucker&quot; or play by the &quot;big boys&#x27; rules&quot; and be taken &#x27;seriously&#x27; - take advantage of the weak, find ways to avoid taxes, steal, cheat, etc ?<p>What&#x27;s even more disturbing is that this scandal was provoked by maybe a handful of executives at VW, but now tens of thousands of engineers and workers are going to pay the price - in the form of layoffs, reduced bonuses and so on.<p>Once again, very unfair, since most of those people, I&#x27;m sure, are good professionals.<p>So yeah, scandals like this generate more than financial losses or pollution. They generate loss of faith and disappointment and encourage others to step over the line to the &quot;dark side&quot; and become corrupt themselves.