"Bullshit jobs regularly induce feelings of hopelessness, depression, and self-loathing. They are forms of spiritual violence directed at the essence of what it means to be a human being."
A fascinating, painstaking, and thought-provoking effort, "Bullshit Jobs" explores the political, religious, and controlling components that drive the creation of unnecessary roles. David Graeber expands on a previous essay, leaning hard on real-world examples from largely anonymous workers who share their tales with him.
"Hell is a collection of individuals who are spending the bulk of their time working on a task they don't like and are not especially good at."
The political role in creating bullshit jobs -- and how we view employment generally -- is extremely compelling.
"Hence, the otherwise inexplicable alliance in the Republican Party between the free market libertarians and the 'values voters' of the Christian Right. What this comes down to in practice has usually been the political equivalent of a strategy of good-cop-bad-cop: first unleash the chaos of the market to destabilize lives and all existing verities alike; then, offer yourself up as the last bastion of the authority of church and fatherhood against the barbarians they have themselves unleashed."
Hitting closer to home, the discussion of relentless team-building and activities designed to boost morale was a bit on the nose. Drink if you've been involved in a department-wide day set aside to "build culture" and "elicit camaraderie."
" ... There are workers whose entire careers are based on dressing up in costumes or otherwise designing silly games to create rapport in office environments where everyone would probably be happier just being left alone."
"The mindfulness seminars were even worse. They attempted to reproduce the unfathomable beauty and stupefying sadness of the human experience into the raw physicality of breathing, eating, and shitting. Breathe mindfully. Eat mindfully. Shit mindfully, and you can be successful in business."
"It's as if they first forbid you to acknowledge you are engaging in empty ritual, then force you to attend seminars where hired gurus tell you, 'In the final analysis, isn't everything we do just empty ritual?'"
The author is upfront about his identity as an anarchist, and goes to great lengths to avoid proposing solutions or policy change. However, his conclusion makes a compelling case for Universal Basic Income as a way to level the playing field and address power-domination dynamics that enter into play in the work world.
"It is as if we have collectively acquiesced to our own enslavement."
Nearly a hundred years ago, John Maynard Keynes predicted that the 15-hour work week would be a reality by the year 2000. On top of that, automation would make a number of roles redundant and transition talent to other areas.
So how come neither of those things have happened at scale?
"The conclusions reached by this body of research -- and what follows appears to hold true, with only minor variations, for both blue- and white-collar workers virtually anywhere in the world -- might be summarized as follows:
1. Most people's sense of dignity and self-worth is caught up in working for a living.
2. Most people hate their jobs."
"Automation did, in fact, lead to mass unemployment. We have simply stopped the gap by adding dummy jobs that are effectively made up."
"Bullshit Jobs" rises about its title -- which may make it easy to dismiss for casual observers -- to create an unflinching look at the corporate landscape and the variables at play that have made bullshit jobs a default of the modern economy.
" ... In our society, there seems to be a general rule that, the more obviously one's work benefits other people, the less one is likely to be paid for it."
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