Serious book despite title
Bullshit Jobs By David
Graeber, PenguinRandomhouse, $55, hardback
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Despite the title, this is a serious, analytical work. It started off as an essay, and went viral. Inevitably, this book followed. The question the book answers is this — why, when decades ago respected economists predicted that technological advances would enable us to work less, are we now busier than ever.
We are busier, he claims, partly because of a flood of jobs the title encompasses. A bullshit job is one which, if it disappeared tomorrow, would make no difference at all to the world, the economy, the area, or the employer. In fact it might even improve things. We all know the type of job — filing irrelevant documents, pouring the tea or coffee, checking that which does not need checking.
Yet, at a time which wants and rewards capitalist efficiency, why are both public and private sector employers n paying wages to workers they do not need? The author argues that the reason is political. A population kept in paid employment, however meaningless, is less likely to revolt.
I find this unconvincing. It may well be true of governments or public sectors, but I cannot imagine efficient, or ruthless, private companies, obsessed with the bottom line, and shareholder value, employing people whose contribution is meaningless or totally unnecessary.
Nevertheless, this is an interesting book, filled as it is with history of work and economic lessons and theories and experiments.
— Graeme Barrow