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.

Outlines

00:00

😕 What is shit work and why does capitalism create it?

The paragraph defines shit work as meaningless jobs that don't contribute value to society but exist just to keep people busy. It states capitalism paradoxically creates a lot of these jobs despite being efficient. The author explores this phenomenon using the book 'Bullshit Jobs' which received widespread resonance.

05:01

😠 Shit jobs negate the meaning and value of work

The paragraph argues people have an innate need to feel their work impacts the world and contributes value. Shit jobs deprive this meaning, making people feel worthless. This causes psychological harm as having autonomy and purpose is key for well-being.

10:02

😈 Ruling class deliberately manufactures shit jobs to disempower workers

The ruling capitalist class deliberately manufactures meaningless shit jobs to keep the working class busy, disempowered, and unable to organize or think critically. This maintains the status quo and their power. Examples are given of how shit jobs pervade modern workplaces.

15:05

🤑 Shit jobs help concentrate wealth and power

The rise of elite white collar shit jobs since the 1980s has enabled concentration of power and wealth in managerial classes rather than workers. Unnecessary bureaucracy and hierarchy hurts productivity but entrenches capital interests.

20:06

🤔 Rethinking value of work and economic ideology behind low pay

The author argues we must rethink value of work, as social value is often inverse to pay. We must also examine historical economic ideologies that justify low pay for valuable work. A universal basic income is suggested to decouple livelihood from shit jobs.

Keywords

💡shit work

The term 'shit work' refers to meaningless, unnecessary, or unfulfilling jobs that provide little value to society. The video explores why capitalism creates so many of these 'shit jobs' despite being an efficient economic system. Examples of shit jobs from the script include telemarketers, corporate lawyers helping companies evade taxes, and university administrators focused on performance metrics rather than education.

💡capitalism

The video examines the paradox that capitalism, despite being the most efficient economic system, generates huge numbers of meaningless 'shit jobs' that lack purpose. The script suggests reasons why capitalism incentivizes the creation of useless administrative and financial roles over more valuable services like nursing.

💡productivity

The video notes that technological progress should have reduced work hours and increased leisure, yet pointless administrative work has expanded instead. Employees pretend to look busy despite completing tasks quickly, as productivity gains benefit employers rather than allowing workers more free time.

💡work ethic

The script traces how modern attitudes like "do what you love" unjustly rationalize unpaid and undervalued labor. It advocates rethinking assumptions that tie compensation solely to market demand rather than social contribution.

💡basic income

The video concludes by proposing universal basic income as a potential solution to decouple livelihood from meaningless work. With a basic income, people would have the freedom to do work they find meaningful rather than soul-crushing jobs.

💡financialization

The rise of the financial sector and its administrative work is identified as a key driver of overall 'bullshitization' of jobs in recent decades. The video critiques finance for extracting value from the economy while distributing revenues to employees performing functionally useless roles.

💡alienation

The feeling among shit job holders of being disconnected from any broader purpose produces a kind of existential 'self-alienation.' Without meaningful impact through their work, the video argues people struggle to define their identity or feel that their existence matters.

💡power

By overwhelming employees with pointless bureaucracy, the script suggests that unnecessary work preserves power structures within organizations. Useless administration stops workers from having time to question hierarchies or conceive structural alternatives.

💡resistance

Facing the soul-crushing nature of shit jobs, employees find small ways to reclaim meaning and autonomy through creative goofing off. But the video sees individual workplace resistance as limited without addressing systematic incentives.

💡automation

Though automation could eliminate large swathes of repetitive administrative work, the video argues employers avoid this due to the managerial control provided by overseeeing employees busy with bullshit tasks and office politics.

Highlights

The author categorizes meaningless work into 5 types: flunky, goon, duct taper, box ticker, and taskmaster.

People complain about meaningless work not just because it lacks monetary reward, but because it negates the meaning of work itself.

Meaningful independent action allows people to feel a sense of presence and impact on the world.

Depriving people, especially children, of autonomy often causes rage, refusal to participate, and a feeling of meaninglessness.

The capitalist system promises efficiency but creates large amounts of meaningless administrative work.

Useless work continues not for economic reasons, but to deprive the working class of leisure time that could be used to question the system.

High employment, even in meaningless jobs, contributes to political stability.

The financial industry exemplifies the creation of meaningless work to maintain hierarchical power structures.

We must reevaluate work based on its value to society, not just market demand.

Nurses and other critical jobs are underpaid while oversupplied fields like law pay more regardless of value.

Theologians and capitalists shaped attitudes justifying low pay for meaningful work as a higher calling.

Consumerism shifted the work ethic from production to consumption, but meaningless jobs still undermine workers' self-worth.

Eliminating meaningless jobs could fund universal basic income experiments.

Basic income would detach livelihood from meaningless work and give time for meaningful unpaid work.

We could conduct a social experiment with basic income and evaluate results rather than speculate.

Transcripts

Do you think your work is meaningful?

Or is your job just a shit?

British polling organization Yougov Statistics found

that nearly 40 percent of people believe that their work did not contribute to the world

why the most efficient known as capitalism will create so much meaningless work?

Today to face the book "shit job"

is to explore this paradoxical phenomenon

is the author of the book anthropologist David Graber

is also one of the founders of Wall Street occupation movement,

he wrote in a 2013 article "On the shit work phenomenon"

results shit received enthusiastic response from around the world work experience

so the book can be said that all walks of life inside scoop broke the news

then let us introduce

what work is shit work?

What harm did these jobs cause to mankind?

What is the value and essence of work?

First define what is a shit job

to this industry who are most negative meaning of existence for the job

think the job has not disappeared but that

poor people are employed

they still have to say that the job has reason to exist

the authors work into five types

of shit called hack

such as counter staff answer the phone

most of the time the work was idling

company was hired just for this

facade because it looks like there's a pattern

company? ? ?

Or have a broker to put on a "make money too busy to answer the phone personally," the illusion

would be for someone to sell when the stock telemarketers

to allow customers to think that this company must have a very successful

hack will complain about these "work just to get boss look like a large coffee

"is simply unnecessary subordinate

managers like many companies will complain that

their job is to supervise do not need to be supervised

inventor of various statistical indicators to let subordinates busier

but not subordinate but these indicators can own good work

or university began "Dean", "policy leaders"

for a bunch of top universities quantitative methods to evaluate performance results

invention towards university professors to spend a bunch of time to write papers,

but less and less self-assessment time can seriously teach, do research

that is specifically manufactured shit for others to do the task

is simply a master of shit shit production is

the third work of thugs called the

most typical is the telemarketers

who are complaining about their work not only on the world no help

there are also the problems caused

corporate counsel

complained that he was just helping unscrupulous big business litigation, tax evasion

or advertising industry

after braking effects make cleaning products, whitening products look more powerful the lives of others

but they think it is unconscionable

trick people to spend, contribute to unnecessary consumer culture

shit fourth work called "tick people"

like gold in order to apply to the fee

report meeting of the company will find a special team made a bunch of beautiful PPT

but we all heart those are Guiche know belly out

or is responsible for the design of large enterprise

specialized magazines published stories tout his company's

content is to make it work in charge of the fifth

looked cool shit work called "man trap" the most typical of

these is the customer service staff

people do not have executive powers

so customers called to complain, they can not really solve the problem

it was intended to set up customer service staff in the end what?

When in fact, responsible for client punching bag was scolded

if your job is not this shit work of five

do not get too excited

US jobs report found that enterprises

decreased from 2015 to 2016,

mainly office workers working hours from 46% to 39%

spent on Email, meetings, administrative matters of time add up to more than the real working time

is generally office workers have begun work "of shit" (bullshitization)

according to this trend continues

10 years later no one could in everyone working in an office

in a meeting, reply to emails

authors pointed out that

most of the shit work is work white-collar workers

is high income, but the work does not make sense

and the blue-collar work just the opposite

contribution to society, but the income is not high

lead often become people can not levy a "lack of feces"

so capitalism created a very strange world

who want high-paying, we must do it does not make sense "shit work"

wants to contribute to the world's people, we must do What's wrong with the

low-paying "shit shortage" in this work system?

Economists often say that

the pursuit of economic goals is to minimize costs, maximize the benefits

behind this fact, there is a human tendency to

preset think everyone will be able to choose

the least expensive energy resources to satisfy their own desires act

according to this view of human nature

if the government great benefits poor people will want to work

because human nature is lazy and does not want to do things to get paid

but if it is the case

how to explain why more money and less work to do shit will make people uncomfortable?

This means that in addition to the monetary reward

people must also sense the desire of some work

such as sociologists discovered that

if Labor can inherit a large estate riches

still has 80% of people will choose to continue the work of

economists also found that

prison inmates free prison food to eat but also to do things but you can not

if they are not allowed to do the daily cleaning work

they feel is a punishment

so even without considering the financial rewards, people will still eager to work

German psychologist Karl Groos found the

baby find their own actions can

be very, very happy

because it will make people in the parade there is a feeling has

led people to feel a thing happened, "I" in the moment

when people have an impact on the world

felt really exist so "self presence "is not derived from the brain but from the opposite

action

can not have any impact on the world of non-existent people

and that is why kids like to play games

because it can gain" the parade and then develop a "fun yourself." self sense

"psychologists also found that

if you deprive children of autonomy they will rage

in the game, refused to participate, and finally feel meaningless

if too often feel traumatic experience such" futile "in

the future may even cause mental health problems

so the reason why people dissatisfied shit work

precisely because it negates the meaning of work:

people through meaningful independent action to feel the presence

of the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky

in his "House of the dead Notes" Lane records had the same experience

he says he discovered the most terrible servitude but do not torture

when a prisoner in Siberia Riyadh meaningless because labor

servitude can get a sense of accomplishment through work

but if it is like to do meaningless labor

a pile of soil dug from here there, and then come back

to dig people as emotional abuse

that is why people will do the shit work

complained, "I feel completely worthless."

"even if I disappear, the world would not be any change

"because these jobs simply can not make people feel there is

a spirit of violence have become a cause psychological harm to people

losing their jobs in addition to the significance of

shit work also revealed another problem of capitalism

with capitalism had time to calculate work for efficiency

but shit work you may only take an hour to complete, but

the boss will ask you to rest seven hours still to go find things to do

this is tantamount to suggesting that labor

do not say things too efficient

or I'll assign you more work and it will not raise

the results to develop a "workplace culture"

employees pretend to work in the office but is in fact sliding face book, IG

boss know you're fooling around but everyone eye, close one eye

obviously can be quickly resolved but became inefficient work

behind this actually implies a work ethic

think the boss pay you buy is your time

working hours so lazy that if

a thief salary

but many cultures there is no such concept

because time is invisible, how could Buy it?

For example anthropologist Evans Pritchard Nur who study in Africa

found that they do not have the vocabulary of the time the

way they describe the time to say:

two villages away like so long to cook a pot of rice

so they are not in time to measure

actions weights and measures

are actions to measure time is not working, so the work itself is the work of

weights and measures is over, we can not

go home because capitalism as time off work and not to have to stay firm in the

authors believe that it is because of fart enough rise of the work

so that people have a lot of free time so fragmented will be issued a document on social media

during working hours, manufacturing Terrier chart memes this is

in fact the main cause of the rise of social media

is too boring to go to work because we need to break up the monotony of export

but they must be sitting in the office

so I had to do creative resistance shit

with bits and pieces of time

as the antidote to work

only need to work 15 hours one week the results of Kay

in United States and Europe in 1930 economist Keynes predicted that technological progress will make the 21st century

Ince's prophecy did not come true

because capitalism has created more work shit to the people

that came to the question:

Why promise the most efficient capitalism

has created a world full of shit work?

The author believes this is because people do not make sense to call work

on very favorable ruling class

like George Orwell in "Down and Out in Paris and London," mentions

the continuation of useless work is to make the public because they

no leisure time there will be a leisure pose a risk

as well let them too busy to think!

Like when the shit work has not appeared in the 1960s

Labor had a lot of spare time can get together

and drugs, play music, discuss the results of the development of

public issues out of the hippie culture with massive social protest

so the ruling class can not learn a lesson

let the working classes have free time

to work best with them which is why overwhelmed

plantation slave in the 19th century the United States

even in the off-season will be required to do things

because they know that

nigger slaves if there is free time will escape or conspiracy

in addition to the time factor rebel

shit work of the high employment rate also contributes to political stability

for example, Obama

will obviously recognize private competitive labor costs with unnecessary when talking about health care issues

but said if the change will result if the public so millions of people unemployed

in order to maintain employment with GDP

should continue to let the Americans in private health insurance companies to do the shit work

because health care accounts for one-sixth since health care represents one-sixth of our economy, of our economy,

I believe in I believe it makes more sense to build on what works and fix what doesn't,

rather than try to build an entirely new system from scratch.

former Soviet Union in order to achieve full employment for everyone results of the

work to create a lot of redundancies

buy a loaf of bread to go through three clerk

outcome of the capitalist now doing the same thing

only difference is that the

socialist Soviet Union was to create millions of redundant workers and

blue-collar capitalism is created millions of white-collar redundancies

Finally, there is a significant contributing factor in the rise of the shit work

in 1950-1980's Western industrial countries if there is a tacit understanding

to improve productivity, to help workers raise

this called "Keynesian agreement" (Keynesian bargain)

so in these three decades with the average salary simultaneously enhancing productivity

but after the 1980s,

productivity gains brought about by profit but did not take that money

to help pay labor which went up?

The answer is to hire white-collar administrative, managerial class

so that employers can set up a level of hierarchy in the organization inside

the transfer of power from the hands to the management of labor

in the 1980s it began to appear a variety of management

such as finance, consultants, clerical, accounting

and shit work often hinders the real

work, for example, become "Executive managing Director,"

Hollywood's film and television industry in 1982, Coca-Cola bought Columbia Pictures

film production level, "the implementation of development assistant manager,"

these people are learning Business group of

origin is not the movies do not understand the movie people

and they will not let you play right away

otherwise, "creative director" on the right

but is busy towing the longer

allow "creative director" collar salary by more

the result of a script may have to wait several years to gain the favor

which is why after 1980's movies are so bad

in the academic mode of operation is the same situation

as with the University of the medieval tradition of a former

university professor to make their own governance because they are front-line workers

but

the proportion of university executives, administrative staff increased significantly

after the 1980s with a variety of performance appraisal

results to torment a university professor

real time to do things but fewer but why is this shift in the 1980s from the start?

The author believes at this point in time because

the capitalist model turned "financial capitalism"

and create the financial industry is the shit work of

many bankers with financial author claimed

that his job is simply the biggest financial

fraud in the history of disputes such as the UK 'repayment protection insurance "PPI

obviously does not meet the claims of bank customers

are not eligible when they sell insurance to

the dispute commission accounting firms, law firms handling

these firms turned out to be wrong because it

deliberately allows employees to extend the contract, earn more money

or there is a job to assess whether the investment banking transactions will be legitimate

but in fact illegal money laundering transaction already have been transferred to the paradise of the Cayman Islands

so that the evaluation results are 100% certain but if it

endorsed the report but will make people I suspect

so banks have to hire people to do the shit work report

false data so that looks really caught some of the problems

there is a more exaggerated case is a multinational bank's risk management division

he found work bank has 60,000 staff

In fact, eighty percent can write programs to run automatically

reported to a supervisor but he has not been adopted

because if completely automated with a

computer, many employees will become unnecessary

so that banks no one can cast the competent authority

so in fact create shit work is banking and finance maintenance of power means

higher first through loans, debt plundered large sums of wealth from the people

and then redistributed to the bank subordinates so that subordinates loyal to them

this assignment seems like a medieval feudal system

the authors also call this

what it What can prevent the continued growth of shit work?

First, we have to

think of the greater value of the work to re-look at

the past, people often are used to measure the market value of the work

if a job market demand, the more valuable it is willing to pay high salaries to find someone to do shit

this view

of large companies work is also of great value

so the market is not a valid value criteria

authors point out that

we can use a thought experiment to measure the value of the work of the

imagination wake up one day, a man a job suddenly disappear, then how?

Such as health care workers, cleaners, drivers, supermarket employees, firefighters,

teachers, if these people disappear, the world will not work

if the director continues, musicians, artists,

these people disappear, then the world will become very boring

but if you disappear today the

hedge fund manager, marketing, public relations, lobbying groups, legal counsel

of the world should not be any difference

might also like

to get better in 2017 Uber founder Travis Kalanick

series of executives to resign

or leave the company can down or

continue to operate in 1970, Bank of Ireland, there have gone on strike

results of the banking sector is not affected people's daily lives

just write a check instead used as currency in circulation

compared to

New York cleaners strike, let alone 10 days new Yorkers can not live

with this thought experiment, we can work a revaluation value to

society, but the strange thing is the social value of a work is usually inversely proportional to the

British new economics Foundation study found that the economic value of

bankers earn a pound each, and they thrust ruined £ 7 of social value

but the average annual salary was as high as 5 million pounds

cleaners earn per pound, 10 pounds increased social value

but the annual salary is only 10,000 more contribute

£ 3,000 a person to do things, to get revenue talks about low

some people will argue that

this is because the bankers manpower training time longer pay a lot just so

Dr. Gao Danshi read five or six years to graduate

faculty salaries also Why so low?

Or there is another objection is that: it is because the supply does not match demand with

supply, but in fact now a severe shortage of nurses in the United States

but the nurse salary is still very low

but law school graduates have an oversupply of

lawyers, but the salary is very high

so we must reflect on current work Why to those

institutions that contribute to the real work and not

so low-paid work has contributed paying really sitting

in because of market supply and demand, manpower training,

decided to pay the employer deliberately maintain this unequal distribution model?

In addition to rethink the value of the work other than

the authors also believe that we must go back and look at the history of the work ethic of

the community because often there is a reason to rationalize low-paid work

is if you have a contribution to society, so that you meet

that you've got it in the present work pay

Why ask for more salary?

This concept developed to become a

"do what you love to do! Do not care about the reward!"

So began to appear not pay interns

to help people free translation web townspeople (subtitles group)

to help people make free software engineer ( open

source) Youtuber results

users get free articles published by the news media

as well as the creation of free movie

caused a very value system upside down do not make sense to work

shit can get high-paying job, but do what you love but can not take

this money What kind of world is it?

Look at the history of this attitude can be found in fact theological roots of

labor in the Bible is God's punishment for the fall of Adam and Eve

curse men to cultivate the earth, to pregnant women suffer

in ancient Greek slave labor itself is doing for

Asia Lisiduode even think that

the work will make you become a worse person

because it makes you do not have time to think

but to the citizens' political revolution

Puritan religious views changed the industrial 18th century Europeans work ethic

that people began to think that work is a punishment, but but also the salvation

such as British thinker Carlyle believes

man can reaching perfection in the work of

God's creation, made man's will

is to let people have the opportunity to complete the work by the cause of God

does not work is one of the greatest misfortune

because he could not Being a man's destiny to achieve

so people who work should not require earthly rewards

because "wages are not in any place, but hope in heaven,"

this concept work evolved to become today

"do work you love is the best reward

"to the emergence of the

19th century, after the economist David Ricardo with Marx's" labor theory of value

"labor is considered the creator of

the source of wealth is the value of labor

the idea spread to the United States to become the then common sense

so Lincoln

said:" labor prior to capital. capital is only the fruit of labor.

"but after the Civil war, the capitalist enterprises throughout the United States

producer-centered work ethic, so that the people as a robber capitalists

so the capitalist class in the 1890s invented a new set of ideological

claims : It is not labor, but the capital has created wealth

centralization of capital can make to improve productivity, lower commodity prices so that

all workers can consume, have a good life!

This doctrine, preached everywhere, who is American steel magnate

Andrew Carnegie

result of this ideology continues to this day

labor no longer producers but to consumers as the center is no longer

thinking about using my work to create a What I used

to define myself but to define their own consumption but

what is interesting is

that even though the ideology of consumerism is still very popular today,

but after the shit work appeared

people began to realize that the work does not make sense even

if the consumer can have salary Shopping

people would lose the ability to self-defined

because the work is the source of self-worth

mention a shit solution that works at the end of the book

is a universal basic income

mentioned basic income, we often ask the money come from?

The author believes

the elimination of shit work can save a lot of money to pay for basic income

such as "Department of employment and pension matters," the British government

to hire thousands of people to do the shit work

so that people applying for social welfare must be in line to receive the results

through a series of hurdles people unemployment benefits eligibility

fact that 60% of the people get the government to spend

money to hire people to do the work

just to ensure that the poor can not be too easy to get the money

to make the staff feel that this work is shit

but if you can repeal these government bureaucrats in the shit work

you can get the money they save the taxpayers take on the basic income grant

seemingly many government officials are unemployed

but actually they are freed from the shit work,

but you can also get a basic income to do it yourself love to do

if the implementation of a universal basic income that allows decoupling of work and livelihood

because people will not survive the pressure and forced to do the shit work

if you want to earn more money people can make their own opinions also like to work

do not want to work people will have more free time

this is all countries can try this "shit job" today introduced

a social experiment to see

if the experiment after one year of poor results that

come back again and change will not have any loss of hope

can make I would like to think of their work in the end is not shit

if you want a deeper understanding of the meaning and value of work

I highly recommend the book "shit job"

you are welcome to comment on your shit work experience

so they see your work in the end how fart