世上40%工作根本沒意義！各行各業內幕大爆料！你的工作是狗屁嗎？工作的意義與價值為何？資本主義創造狗屁工作？書來面對EP21《狗屁工作》 David Graeber | 說書【人類學/社會學】

Summary

The book 'Shit Jobs' by anthropologist David Graeber explores why capitalism creates so much meaningless work despite being the most efficient economic system. He defines five types of 'shit jobs' that make people feel worthless and questions why productive jobs like nursing are low-paid while meaningless administrative work earns more. Tracing the history of work ethics, he argues the ideology valuing consumption over production and capital over labor has led to this paradox. He proposes universal basic income to unlink livelihood from meaningless work, allowing people to pursue meaningful work or leisure.

Takeaways

• 😞 Definition and examples of 'shit jobs' that are meaningless and provide no value
• 😡 Harm caused by proliferation of useless jobs wasting human potential
• 🤔 Paradox that capitalism promises efficiency yet creates meaningless work
• 😣 People feel worthless doing jobs that have no impact or value
• 😩 Shit jobs negate the core human need to feel productive/impactful
• 🙄 Bosses invent meaningless tasks to keep workers busy for show
• 😠 Rise of useless administrative bloat across institutions
• 👎 Financialization shifts rewards from production to management
• 🙃 People cope by slacking off and making irreverent memes
• 💡 Basic income proposed to cut wasteful jobs and empower people

Q & A

What are the 5 types of 'shit jobs' described in the transcript?

The 5 types of 'shit jobs' are: 1) Flunky - useless jobs to make companies look busier, 2) Goon - jobs that harm others like aggressive salespeople, 3) Box ticker - bureaucratic jobs focused on statistics not outcomes, 4) Duct taper - jobs that fix problems caused by others, 5) Man trap - customer service jobs where you can't actually help.

Why does capitalism create so much meaningless work according to the author?

The author argues that meaningless jobs help maintain power dynamics and prevent the working class from having too much autonomy or leisure time to question the system. Meaningless jobs also maintain employment levels.

How does the author define a 'shit job'?

The author defines a 'shit job' as one which even the workers themselves think has a negative value to society and does not need to exist. The worker feels the job is pointless and the world would not change if they disappeared.

What is the link between shit jobs and political stability?

Shit jobs help maintain full employment, which contributes to political stability. Leaders are reluctant to eliminate unnecessary jobs, even if productivity would increase, because mass unemployment could lead to unrest.

How did the rise of consumerism change views on labor?

Consumerism shifted views to see workers as primarily consumers rather than producers. Work was no longer valued for allowing self-definition through production, but rather for enabling consumption.

What does the author propose as a potential solution to shit jobs?

The author proposes a universal basic income (UBI) which would detach livelihood from meaningless work. People would have the freedom to reject shit jobs and spend time in more fulfilling ways.

How did bureaucracies expand the number of bullshit jobs?

More administrative and managerial roles were created to concentrate power/control away from frontline workers. This added levels of bureaucracy which got in the way of real work.

What does the author mean by 'self presence' in relation to work?

The feeling that your actions can impact the world in a meaningful way, which confirms your existence and self-worth. Shit jobs deprive you of this self presence.

How have views on work as punishment or salvation shifted over time?

Work was seen as punishment in early biblical views. Later Puritan views saw it as punishment but also salvation. Consumerism then focused solely on work enabling consumption.

What evidence does the author provide that many jobs are unnecessary?

Examples like 60,000 bank staff with 80% automatable roles, prison labor strikes not affecting operations, bankers destroying more value than they create.