“Bullshit Jobs” – Part 2

OK, it’s tomorrow, and yesterday I said I would do something, now.  That’s unusual for me.  I have lived my life, as far as possible, avoiding the making of  such promises.  Especially since I became unencumbered by most of those commitments a decade or so ago.  Commitment which most of us tend to pick up or attach to ourselves, as we progress through life.  We have tended to, again, especially do that in modern times.  An epoch where such draws on our time and money have become so burdensome that most of us seem incapable of extricating ourselves from what could be perceived as a constraining spider web, reinforced by our open or subtle (perhaps even unrecognised) ties to some form of larger web in the economics of our family and social circles, including those of our local or national governance.  Trapped, we are, in shackles of our own making.  Or at least of our own acceptance.  Is that not so?  And, why is it so?

It appears then that I am fulfilling yesterday’s forward commitment by sharing this today.
The statement was made that “It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working”, the author of those words referring to that as “bullshit jobs” and my point was that we are responsible for acquiescing to that situation.  I guess that is now a global thing but it certainly pertains to the Western world.  I raised the question “why should it be that way?”

Well, first of all allow me to introduce you to this article which was what prompted me to write these two posts.  I feel there is, actually ‘are’, a lot of good insights within that article that may be of benefit if embedded in people’s thinking.  There are so many things that we do today, quite robotically, without giving them much thought.  There are people and organisations, in many cases global organisations and people with global reach or spheres of influence who rely on our passive and thoughtless acquiescence to those things.  We worry about such obvious control over our lives, which means that we do recognise on some level (at least many of us are beginning to do that) that there is at least an element of subversive control being exercised over us.  The fact that we worry about these things is evidenced by the growing prevalence of mental disorders, at unprecedented levels in the first two decades of this century.  It is also evidenced by the growing social unrest in a great many of our urban centres – which is I fear where the strongest forms of control are being exercised. That being a considerable part of my reasoning for kissing urban life goodbye – also about a decade ago.

OK, here is the article, which I do hope you will read – “Why Capitalism Creates Pointless Jobs” – penned by David Graeber on the Evonomics blog (‘Evonomics’ I believe being a mish-mash name having something to do with evolution and economics).  I urge you to not let that connection put you off from reading, but I equally urge you to not get bogged down in such background matters.  Economics, along with other high profile modern endeavours, is just one of those areas fitting squarely under the umbrella of ‘bullshit jobs’.  Just bear that in mind as you read.

I intended taking this along a whole different line but I think I have said enough, so will leave it at that.  Enjoy.