| Cancel culture is... 09:42 - Sep 13 with 1632 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
Trying to post a link to the book 'Bullsh1t jobs'....Anyway, which category do you fall into if any?
In Bullsht Jobs, American anthropologist David Graeber posits that the productivity benefits of automation have not led to a 15-hour workweek, as predicted by economist John Maynard Keynes in 1930, but instead to "bullsht jobs": "a form of paid employment that is so completely pointless, unnecessary, or pernicious that even the employee cannot justify its existence even though, as part of the conditions of employment, the employee feels obliged to pretend that this is not the case."[1] While these jobs can offer good compensation and ample free time, Graeber holds that the pointlessness of the work grates at their humanity, profound psychological violence etc.[1]
The author contends that more than half of societal work is pointless, both large parts of some jobs and, as he describes, five types of entirely pointless jobs:
Flunkies, who serve to make their superiors feel important, e.g., receptionists, administrative assistants, door attendants, makers of websites whose sites neglect ease of use and speed for looks
Goons, who act to harm or deceive others on behalf of their employer, e.g., lobbyists, corporate lawyers, telemarketers, public relations specialists, community managers;
Duct tapers, who temporarily fix problems that could be fixed permanently, e.g., programmers repairing bloated code, airline desk staff who calm passengers whose bags do not arrive
Box tickers, who create the appearance that something useful is being done when it is not, e.g., survey administrators, in-house magazine journalists, corporate compliance officers, quality service managers
Taskmasters, who manage–or create extra work for–those who do not need it, e.g., middle management, leadership professionals.[2][1] |  |
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| Cancel culture is... on 09:54 - Sep 13 with 1332 views | Steve_M |
I was a bit disappointed with that book, some of the themes are important but, ultimately, Graeber used a highly subjective definition of which which jobs were worth doing and which were pointless.
Certainly much corporate process is a job creation scheme for those who work in those areas, to the frustration of everyone else trying to do actual work. Is the same true of admin assistants - who in a sensible setup do simpler tasks to let the higher paid concentrate on their main job roles - or compliance officers who (should) act as the first line of defence against corporate wrongdoing?
He also seemed to think that shops could be automated and therefore most people working in them were doing pointless jobs. Automated transactions work for small numbers of items, not for a larger shop and the work is ideal for part-time or student employment because it can be done in shorter blocks of time than a full time employment. That was a strange case to pick in my view. |  |
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| Cancel culture is... on 09:55 - Sep 13 with 1327 views | bluelagos |
I see flunkies has a special mention for Phil and Gav :-) |  |
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| Cancel culture is... on 10:02 - Sep 13 with 1299 views | J2BLUE |
I need to read this book...although I am now in a decent, well paid job that even by my standards I don't consider pointless. I'm still not used to that... |  |
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| Cancel culture is... on 10:03 - Sep 13 with 1296 views | leitrimblue |
He's an Anthropologist, Surely anthropology/archaeology are the definition of bullsh1t jobs? |  | | |
| Cancel culture is... on 10:22 - Sep 13 with 1259 views | giant_stow |
Does he mention where anthropologists sit on the bs jobs spectrum?
I can see where he's coming from, but some of those examples are very one-eyed. |  |
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| Cancel culture is... on 10:23 - Sep 13 with 1254 views | giant_stow |
| Cancel culture is... on 10:03 - Sep 13 by leitrimblue |
He's an Anthropologist, Surely anthropology/archaeology are the definition of bullsh1t jobs? |
Sorry for doubling up and agreed! | |
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| Cancel culture is... on 10:25 - Sep 13 with 1247 views | DanTheMan |
| Cancel culture is... on 10:22 - Sep 13 by giant_stow |
Does he mention where anthropologists sit on the bs jobs spectrum?
I can see where he's coming from, but some of those examples are very one-eyed. |
I did have a laugh at the programming ones. |  |
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| Cancel culture is... on 10:27 - Sep 13 with 1240 views | leitrimblue |
| Cancel culture is... on 10:23 - Sep 13 by giant_stow |
Sorry for doubling up and agreed! |
I was speaking from experience 😠| | | |
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| Cancel culture is... on 11:18 - Sep 13 with 1169 views | giant_stow |
| Cancel culture is... on 10:27 - Sep 13 by leitrimblue |
I was speaking from experience 😠|
Oh my, how embarrassing! Did I mention how I've always looked up to Anthropologists? | |
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| Cancel culture is... on 11:33 - Sep 13 with 1138 views | leitrimblue |
| Cancel culture is... on 11:18 - Sep 13 by giant_stow |
Oh my, how embarrassing! Did I mention how I've always looked up to Anthropologists? |
I hear archaeologists are even more admirable | | | |
| Cancel culture is... on 12:31 - Sep 13 with 1084 views | WeWereZombies |
Sounds interesting but I think another reason many still work bonkers hours in jobs they hate and that do not appear to add much value to life in general is house price inflation. If a bold government stepped in and regulated estate agents and property developers with maximum severity then the fifteen hour working week would be possible. And, let's face it we need it - Covid-19 has shown us we live much too close together and rationally spaced out housing (with adequate and correctly maintained gardens that include a large vegetable patch) would improve our resistance to disease. Furthermore, if people travelled just two days a week instead of five or six then the impact on carbon and sulphur emissions would be very favourable. |  |
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| Cancel culture is... on 12:51 - Sep 13 with 1053 views | WD19 |
I am a poor and disengaged 'Taskmaster'.....which is probably inadvertently good because I can no longer be bothered to create pointless work for others!? |  | | |
| Cancel culture is... on 13:09 - Sep 13 with 1011 views | Plums |
| Cancel culture is... on 10:03 - Sep 13 by leitrimblue |
He's an Anthropologist, Surely anthropology/archaeology are the definition of bullsh1t jobs? |
That’s an interesting take on archaeology. Is there nothing to learn from the past? How very sad. |  |
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| Cancel culture is... on 13:23 - Sep 13 with 988 views | leitrimblue |
| Cancel culture is... on 13:09 - Sep 13 by Plums |
That’s an interesting take on archaeology. Is there nothing to learn from the past? How very sad. |
Was just taking the pee Delia. Archaeologists are actually the most virtuous an dynamic of all the bullsh1t professions and gave the world Alice Roberts | | | |
| Cancel culture is... on 13:58 - Sep 13 with 942 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| Cancel culture is... on 09:54 - Sep 13 by Steve_M |
I was a bit disappointed with that book, some of the themes are important but, ultimately, Graeber used a highly subjective definition of which which jobs were worth doing and which were pointless.
Certainly much corporate process is a job creation scheme for those who work in those areas, to the frustration of everyone else trying to do actual work. Is the same true of admin assistants - who in a sensible setup do simpler tasks to let the higher paid concentrate on their main job roles - or compliance officers who (should) act as the first line of defence against corporate wrongdoing?
He also seemed to think that shops could be automated and therefore most people working in them were doing pointless jobs. Automated transactions work for small numbers of items, not for a larger shop and the work is ideal for part-time or student employment because it can be done in shorter blocks of time than a full time employment. That was a strange case to pick in my view. |
I can't claim to have read it. It was just referenced in this...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/sep/12/occupy-wall-street-10-years-on | |
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| Cancel culture is... on 14:00 - Sep 13 with 939 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| Cancel culture is... on 12:31 - Sep 13 by WeWereZombies |
Sounds interesting but I think another reason many still work bonkers hours in jobs they hate and that do not appear to add much value to life in general is house price inflation. If a bold government stepped in and regulated estate agents and property developers with maximum severity then the fifteen hour working week would be possible. And, let's face it we need it - Covid-19 has shown us we live much too close together and rationally spaced out housing (with adequate and correctly maintained gardens that include a large vegetable patch) would improve our resistance to disease. Furthermore, if people travelled just two days a week instead of five or six then the impact on carbon and sulphur emissions would be very favourable. |
Ties in neatly with this..
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/sep/13/kevin-mccloud-would-never-s
He finds it “iniquitous and hugely corrosive” that land values in the UK are so high because companies hoard land and drip-feed it into the market. “What’s really needed is a complete radical state-controlled distribution of land and a removal of land profit from the equation. That sounds nuts and Stalinistic, but it’s exactly what happens in Germany,” he says. “Since the war, our planning system unwittingly has worked in cahoots with capitalism to create an unsustainable development economy.” | |
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| Cancel culture is... on 15:08 - Sep 13 with 874 views | Steve_M |
I still think it's worth reading, I just found a it a bit too subjective in the definitions used. Plenty of jobs certainly are bullsh1t jobs, jus that my view of what some of them are is different.
I'll have a read of that article this evening, curious as to what Occupy did achieve given the retrenchment to angry populism coupled with increased inequality in both the US and UK. | |
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| Cancel culture is... on 16:03 - Sep 13 with 836 views | HARRY10 |
The point about automation is the ability of people to consume what they ahd originally been producing.
Twenty blokes on a farm in Suffolk are now replaced by a couple of contractors - though the farm now actually produces more.
Which beggars the question of who is now benefitting from the vastly reduced labour costs ?
Address that and you will start to understand where we are now.............. |  | | |
| Cancel culture is... on 18:15 - Sep 13 with 798 views | factual_blue |
| Cancel culture is... on 13:23 - Sep 13 by leitrimblue |
Was just taking the pee Delia. Archaeologists are actually the most virtuous an dynamic of all the bullsh1t professions and gave the world Alice Roberts |
Roberts studied medicine at the University of Wales College of Medicine (now part of Cardiff University) and graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB BCh) degree, having gained an intercalated Bachelor of Science degree in Anatomy.
Her PhD is in paleopathology.
So, nothing to do with digging holes in a field.
This is an archaeologist.
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| Cancel culture is... on 18:20 - Sep 13 with 787 views | leitrimblue |
| Cancel culture is... on 18:15 - Sep 13 by factual_blue |
Roberts studied medicine at the University of Wales College of Medicine (now part of Cardiff University) and graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB BCh) degree, having gained an intercalated Bachelor of Science degree in Anatomy.
Her PhD is in paleopathology.
So, nothing to do with digging holes in a field.
This is an archaeologist.
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Arrgh, that would explain her complete lack of understanding of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition ðŸ˜. I can't see photo and I'm gutted about it | | | |
| Cancel culture is... on 18:20 - Sep 13 with 787 views | WeWereZombies |
| Cancel culture is... on 18:15 - Sep 13 by factual_blue |
Roberts studied medicine at the University of Wales College of Medicine (now part of Cardiff University) and graduated in 1997 with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MB BCh) degree, having gained an intercalated Bachelor of Science degree in Anatomy.
Her PhD is in paleopathology.
So, nothing to do with digging holes in a field.
This is an archaeologist.
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I guess one of your bones with archaeologists is their likelihood to find skeletons in your closet... | |
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| Cancel culture is... on 18:25 - Sep 13 with 784 views | factual_blue |
| Cancel culture is... on 18:20 - Sep 13 by leitrimblue |
Arrgh, that would explain her complete lack of understanding of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition ðŸ˜. I can't see photo and I'm gutted about it |
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| Cancel culture is... on 18:28 - Sep 13 with 776 views | leitrimblue |
That's a flintnapper that use to work on an archaeology program | | | |
| Cancel culture is... on 20:05 - Sep 13 with 732 views | ArnoldMoorhen |
Ooh, I love Taskmaster. Convince me not to downvote that. You have 20 minutes, starting now. | | | |
| Cancel culture is... on 20:22 - Sep 13 with 696 views | BanksterDebtSlave |
| Cancel culture is... on 15:08 - Sep 13 by Steve_M |
I still think it's worth reading, I just found a it a bit too subjective in the definitions used. Plenty of jobs certainly are bullsh1t jobs, jus that my view of what some of them are is different.
I'll have a read of that article this evening, curious as to what Occupy did achieve given the retrenchment to angry populism coupled with increased inequality in both the US and UK. |
I think the answer is, very little. | |
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