Bullshit job
 Bullshit job  | |
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| Start | 2013 |
| David Graeber wrote a highly influential book on the topic. | |
Bullshit jobs are a concept named by David Graeber in his 2013 book of that title.
“Boss: How come you’re not working?
Worker: There’s nothing to do.
Boss: Well, you’re supposed to pretend like you’re working.
Worker: Hey, I got a better idea. Why don’t you pretend like I’m working? You get paid more than me.”
Bill Hicks [1]
Contents
Taxonomy
David Graeber describes 5 types of bullshit job:
- Flunkies
- Goons
- Box Tickers
- Duct Tapers
- Taskmasters
Evolution
1970s
“From roughly 1945 to 1975, there was what is sometimes referred to as a “Keynesian bargain” between workers, employers, and government — and part of the tacit understanding was that increases in worker productivity would indeed be matched by increases in worker compensation. ...this was exactly what happened. In the 1970s, the two began to part ways, with compensation remaining largely flat, and productivity taking off like a rocket”
David Graeber [1]
21st century
“One might imagine that leaving millions of well-educated young men and women without any real work responsibilities but with access to the internet — which is, potentially, at least, a repository of almost all human knowledge and cultural achievement — might spark some sort of Renaissance. Nothing remotely along these lines has taken place. Instead, the situation has sparked an efflorescence of social media (Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter): basically, of forms of electronic media that lend themselves to being produced and consumed while pretending to do something else. I am convinced this is the primary reason for the rise of social media, especially when one considers it in the light not just of the rise of bullshit jobs but also of the increasing bullshitization of real jobs.”
David Graeber [1]
2020s
The fact that — by Graeber's estimation — the majority of the work done is bullshit was a great help to the demands of COVID fearmongers who demanded the public abide by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Financialization
“No doubt bullshit jobs have long been with us; but recent years have seen an enormous proliferation of such pointless forms of employment, accompanied by an ever-increasing bullshitization of real jobs — and despite a popular misconception that all this is somehow tied to the rise of the service sector, this proliferation appears to have everything to do with the growing importance of finance.”
David Graeber [1]
Bullshit Jobs
Bullshit Jobs was published in 2013.
Related Quotation
| Page | Quote | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yuval Harari | “The coming technological bonanza will probably make it feasible to feed and support these useless masses even without any effort from their side.What will they do all day? One answer might be drugs and computer games. Unnecessary people might spend increasing amounts of time within 3D-virtual-reality worlds, that would provide them with far more excitement and emotional engagement than the drab reality outside. yet such a development would deal a mortal blow to the liberal belief in the sacredness of human life and of human experiences. What's so sacred about useless bums who pass their time devouring artificial experiences in La-La Land?” | Yuval Harari | 2015 |
