Why so much bullshit ?

Do you think your work makes a significant contribution to society ?

David Graeber has studied in depth the question of the meaning of work. He originally published his insights in a blog article. This article was a phenomenal success around the world, which allowed him to collect data to write a superb book on the issue.

A phenomenon of considerable magnitude

37% of the British population and 40% of the Dutch population believe that their work makes no contribution to society. I have personally held several bullshit jobs - jobs that make no sense - and many people around me have experienced or are experiencing the same situation. Graeber has listed and categorised all types of bullshit jobs. Here is his list :

• flunkies , whose sole purpose is to make a presence (receptionist, soldier, courtesan...);
• goons , who have to distort the truth, manipulate people, extort (marketing, tax administration, consulting...) ;
• duct tapers , who are paid to make up for the mistakes of others who don't want to do it themselves (developers, lawyers, assistants...)
• box tickers , the sole purpose of which is to certify that a job is done, even if it is not done (audit, consulting, ); and
• taskmasters, who assign tasks to their teams but basically know that in their absence the teams would do perfectly well (manager, project manager, planners...)

What we have to understand here is that it's not the profession per se that defines a dumb job, it's specific positions. Some receptionists are extremely useful to their companies, for example. Others actually have very little to do, and they find no meaning in their jobs. The obs has produced a very nice series of portraits of stupid jobs.

Paradoxically, the most useful jobs (teachers, garbage collectors, truck drivers...) are less well-regarded socially, except for the medical sector.

The Big Taboo

These jobs did not exist, or very little, before our Liberal era. Graeber estimates that they began to appear in the '70s. It would be due to the combination of the Big Taboo and increased productivity.

We all know the Big Taboo: because we identify ourselves globally with our work, and because our boss expects us to be productive at work, it is extremely difficult to tell those around us or our boss that we feel that our work is useless. I have experienced this frustration personally. When I told people around me that I was doing a thesis in computer science, I could read approval on the faces of most people. And it was very frustrating for me, because in reality my work made me unhappy. If I didn't go to the office, no one noticed because I was alone. I was programming a computer that was watching YouTube and I had to turn it into articles that would be read by 3 people on Earth and that nobody could decently consider as a useful contribution to society.

But it was extremely difficult to really recognize that my job was pointless. On my side, I was very free (no children, credit...) and so when I understood the thing I resigned. But few employees can say to their boss "I'm not doing anything at work" without fear of receiving superfluous tasks or a fight, or even a dismissal... And yet, the uselessness of a job is sometimes alarming :
Graeber reports that a manager asked his receptionist to sort paper clips by color because he was irritated by the idea that she was doing nothing.

Thank you, boss ! ("Merci patron!")

Holding a job that makes no sense or even hurts full-time can be unbearable. And not everyone is lucky enough to be able to quit their job. This phenomenon is present in both the public and private sectors. The global increase in productivity is causing the global disappearance of work on Earth.

In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that global progress would lead to the 15h weekly hours of work. Why is this not the case? Perhaps among other things because we spend the other 20 answering e-mails, attending meetings, seminars... A survey has thus shown that the British estimate that they are really productive at work about three hours a day.

A real tragedy

No one on their deathbed regrets spending too much time with their family, travelling around the world, writing a book... On the other hand, one of the most common regrets among the dying is to have worked too much.

Corporate work is becoming a Kafkaesque universe in which individuals write reports that are thrown straight into the garbage but cannot complain about it or they lose their jobs, in which individuals are asked to reach useless metrics, in which employees are asked to follow unnecessary procedures...

The problem is that the situation will probably get worse over time.
On the one hand, our jobs are disappearing* thanks to automation, and fortunately. On the other, we're screaming in panic when unemployment rises. There is obviously still a lot of fulfilling work to be done, but probably not enough for everyone, especially if we don't reduce the overall weekly workload.

So the next time someone tells you that you should appreciate work because all work is useful, there's only one thing to say: okay, boomer.

*About this, the excellent CGP Grey video : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S557XQU