Social Justice League Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 https://getpocket.com/explore/item/you-re-not-just-imagining-it-your-job-is-absolute-bs?utm_source=pocket-newtab-global-en-GB "You’re Not Just Imagining It. Your Job Is Absolute BS" Anthropologist David Graeber’s accuses the global economy of churning out meaningless jobs that are killing the human spirit. f you voted for Bernie Sanders, have sea-punk green hair, and wear a pin declaring “Capitalism Is the Crisis,” you may already be familiar with David Graeber’s writings on the takeover of our lives by bulls--- jobs. Graeber, an anthropology professor at the London School of Economics, was a mover and shaker in the Occupy Wall Street movement and is well known for his approachable critiques of neoliberal free market ideology. His 2018 book, ******** Jobs: A Theory (Simon & Schuster; $27), sprang from a shorter essay he published in 2013 in a feminist-activist magazine called Strike, which quickly struck a nerve. (One that kept thrumming: on a Monday morning in 2015, an anonymous group plastered the London Underground with quotations from the writings.) “Huge swathes of people spend their days performing jobs they secretly believe do not really need to be performed,” Graeber writes. The rise of automation has meant that fewer humans are needed in manufacturing and farming, but instead of this freeing up our time, we’ve seen those jobs replaced by “the ballooning of … the administrative sector up to and including the creation of whole new industries like financial services or telemarketing, or the unprecedented expansion of sectors like corporate law, academic and health administration, human resources and public relations.” Click the link at the top read the whole acticle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Agree we have got rather good at making work for ourselves, when at the same time technology has been taking unnecessary work away from us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrink Proof Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Even naming pointless, useless jobs has been automated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Locke Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 These jobs exist because of Statist bureaucracy, adding as much regulatory bloat as they can without collapsing the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richmondtw Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 I work in the AI industry. The recent situation has prompted a deluge in enquiries from businesses whose owners are looking at way to cut costs. Admin jobs which are low skilled will be all but disappeared within 20 years. Anyone who is not skilled in a sphere for which there is demand will be unemployed or very very poorly paid. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msi Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Funny, but not that new. British Industry had huge layers of mid level management. Car manufacturers caught onto this and created an equally byzantine range of trim levels for company car ranges so everyone could find a place on the corporate tree. Whitehall was even worse - not the soundbite of 'bloated government', but waves of little Sir Humphreys swanning around doing their time before reaching their title and honours (not too dissimilar to the company car trim levels) 'ooh well done Tristan on getting your OBE...hope you feel as proud when i got my MBE narf narf' It took a special, almost autocratic level of control to cut through the bull and get teams that could do something. Great fun because you saw results, but you often received the discrimination card as the people left out started to complain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 41 minutes ago, Shrink Proof said: Even naming pointless, useless jobs has been automated. Love it. I agree with all this. I'm sure this is a symptom of the over management of the economy and zombie firms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spaniard Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. - Thoreau Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbuk3 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Those BS jobs have been around for decades, just ask Reggie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigantic Purple Slug Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 Yep. Your job is BS. My job, however, is the most important thing in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForGreatLager... Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 (edited) https://youtu.be/Kma2sPrIYCg Edited July 10, 2020 by ForGreatLager... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gp_ Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 I have read and enjoyed it. The examples he gives are very good, and I think he is right about many things. His interpretation of the causes is sometimes a bit ideological, but that does not stop the book being worth reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Si1 said: Love it. I agree with all this. I'm sure this is a symptom of the over management of the economy and zombie firms just wait for the judicial system to get automated!!! that will be fun.No more lawyers...just an AI judge and jury, ALL defendents known by case number alone(no prejudice!),and defendants hooked up to lie detectors and sensors galore,with statements monitored by voice pattern recognition to detect fabrication of testimonies etc. that will save the country billions in legal admin costs,and there will be no allegations of bias -unless of course you happen to be the programmer that knows a few trigger words and gestures as backdoors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 ..on a plus..this approach could already be applied to council planning committees,eliminating the need for endless feasibility studies and consultations about consultations! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Timbuk3 said: Those BS jobs have been around for decades, just ask Reggie. Funnily enough now reminds me of the 1970s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForGreatLager... Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 2 minutes ago, oracle said: just wait for the judicial system to get automated!!! that will be fun.No more lawyers...just an AI judge and jury, ALL defendents known by case number alone(no prejudice!),and defendants hooked up to lie detectors and sensors galore,with statements monitored by voice pattern recognition to detect fabrication of testimonies etc. that will save the country billions in legal admin costs,and there will be no allegations of bias -unless of course you happen to be the programmer that knows a few trigger words and gestures as backdoors? You’ve been reading too much Anthony Burgess ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longgone Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Timbuk3 said: Those BS jobs have been around for decades, just ask Reggie. sunshine deserts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longgone Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 3 hours ago, Shrink Proof said: Even naming pointless, useless jobs has been automated. Forward Paradigm Consultant ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayward Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 2 hours ago, The Spaniard said: The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. - Thoreau Thought that was Pink Floyd! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregBowman Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 (edited) Of course the irony is, his job is a B******t job - that doesn't generate anything other than discussion Edited July 10, 2020 by GregBowman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 2 minutes ago, GregBowman said: Of course the irony is, his job is a B******t job - that doesn't generate anything other than discussion At least any royalties on his book are honest. But yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 We need everyone to have a worthwhile job that pays the bills, debt and rent, leaves some to spend and save.... What we don't want is paying others to do a job we can quite easily do for ourselves often far better.....like for example caring for our own kids under the age of five, making healthy meals with fresh ingredients, staying fit and healthy in outdoor places, plenty of fresh air and sunlight.....kids don't need money they need your love, time and investment....something money can't buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spaniard Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 46 minutes ago, Si1 said: Funnily enough now reminds me of the 1970s Except that we are all now on Candid Camera, whether we like it or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikhail Liebenstein Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 10 hours ago, richmondtw said: I work in the AI industry. The recent situation has prompted a deluge in enquiries from businesses whose owners are looking at way to cut costs. Admin jobs which are low skilled will be all but disappeared within 20 years. Anyone who is not skilled in a sphere for which there is demand will be unemployed or very very poorly paid. . Same here. I work with a mix of data science and more advanced technology like deep learning. In general the big value add from this heavily hand cranked development work is high efficiency in the processes to which it is subsequently applied; in this case mostly image processing and classification. The best example in this space are tasks like mammography screening, where AI based systems can outperform doctors. However, the above doesn't destroy jobs, it just creates new ones. Perhaps more dangerous to jobs is more routine automation such as RPA and IoT. Robotic Process Automation will destroy many mundane office jobs, whilst Internet of Things technology will kill of tasks like inspecting electricity meters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Goggles Posted July 10, 2020 Share Posted July 10, 2020 12 hours ago, Locke said: These jobs exist because of Statist bureaucracy, adding as much regulatory bloat as they can without collapsing the system. No, quite the opposite actually. In his book, Graeber comments on the irony that most of these BS jobs are in the private sector and have been created by capitalism, not the state. A good example Is a door opener at a posh hotel. There is no one to open the door for you at a Premier Inn, and most people are perfectly capable of opening a door. We’ve even invented automatic doors for those that can’t, and they don’t require AI. But expensive hotels have some poor ******* standing there opening doors for people all day because it commands a luxury premium. It’s perfectly good capitalism, but it’s still a BS job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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