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diff --git a/content/entry/automation-bullshit-jobs-and-work.md b/content/entry/automation-bullshit-jobs-and-work.md index 01b51f6..67d13fe 100644 --- a/content/entry/automation-bullshit-jobs-and-work.md +++ b/content/entry/automation-bullshit-jobs-and-work.md @@ -2,9 +2,8 @@ title: "Automation, Bullshit Jobs, And Work" date: 2022-01-22T00:00:00 draft: false -makerefs: false --- -This entry was inspired by Bullshit Jobs[1], a theory put forth by famed anarchist anthropology professor David Graeber[2]. Ever since reading it, I have been itching to write about my own observations related to automation, bullshit jobs, and work. I'll start with a few personal anecdotes related to workplace bullshit. +This entry was inspired by [Bullshit Jobs](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs), a theory put forth by famed anarchist anthropology professor [David Graeber](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Graeber). Ever since reading it, I have been itching to write about my own observations related to automation, bullshit jobs, and work. I'll start with a few personal anecdotes related to workplace bullshit. # Prolonged Work My own work history isn't very extensive, but I've witnessed a lot of workplace bullshit. Unfortunately I'm going to have to be vague about those experiences since I'm not sure if I can legally share too many details, but I think you'll still find reading worthwhile. @@ -17,7 +16,7 @@ What surprised me more was when I brought this phenomenon up to others, they wer My only thought was "Surely there are better ways to organize society than this. Having a system that incentivizes time-wasting is just stupid." And I still believe that. Just imagine all the different ways human societies can plausibly be organized and we're supposed to believe that the optimal economy is one where people are incentivized to spend thousands of collective hours bullshitting at work? I don't buy it. -Why do people act like a better system is impossible? Do I just have a more active imagination than everybody else? I mean it doesn't take that much imagination to think of improvements. For example, what about UBI[3] where the government redistributes wealth from the hyper-rich to everybody else? +Why do people act like a better system is impossible? Do I just have a more active imagination than everybody else? I mean it doesn't take that much imagination to think of improvements. For example, what about [UBI](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_basic_income) where the government redistributes wealth from the hyper-rich to everybody else? If everyone could live comfortably without being forced to work, I think that might help eliminate some of the bullshit. How many people would stay for an extra four hours per day at work doing nothing if they could have a high standard of living without doing that? I'm guessing not many. @@ -51,9 +50,9 @@ It doesn't seem to add up that after rapid technological progress which automate According to Graeber, the reason we're not working less is basically because the ruling class has figured out that a happy, productive population with free time goes against their interests. They want people financially enslaved so they don't have time to pose a threat. -He also notes in his 2013 essay[4] that people's attitudes about work are extremely convenient to the ruling class. Those who shame the unemployed for not working hard doing pointless jobs they hate are unknowingly spreading a meme that keeps the ruling class in power. It ensures that the working class is too busy doing pointless box-ticking to incite the political inertia needed to change their circumstances. +He also notes in [his 2013 essay](https://web.archive.org/web/20220902061001/https://www.strike.coop/bullshit-jobs/) that people's attitudes about work are extremely convenient to the ruling class. Those who shame the unemployed for not working hard doing pointless jobs they hate are unknowingly spreading a meme that keeps the ruling class in power. It ensures that the working class is too busy doing pointless box-ticking to incite the political inertia needed to change their circumstances. -Another example of this is people who criticize protesters for not being at work. "Get a job!" they shout. If you go to enough protests, and I've been involved in a few, then you'll probably eventually hear that phrase. I'm reminded of a relevant paragraph about Fractal Wrongness[5] from RationalWiki (CC-BY-SA 3.0): +Another example of this is people who criticize protesters for not being at work. "Get a job!" they shout. If you go to enough protests, and I've been involved in a few, then you'll probably eventually hear that phrase. I'm reminded of a relevant paragraph about [Fractal Wrongness](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fractal_wrongness) from RationalWiki (CC-BY-SA 3.0): > "Debating a person who is fractally wrong leads to infinite regress, as every refutation you make of that person's opinions will lead to a rejoinder, full of half-truths, leaps of poor logic, and outright lies, which requires just as much refutation to debunk as the first one—kind of like a recursive Gish Gallop, where each point both surrounds and is surrounded by an equally wrong argument." - RationalWiki @@ -70,13 +69,13 @@ Self-righteous automasochists are envious and critical of those who have jobs th The elites and the rich still retain moral superiority because workers imagine that the wealthy worked their way up and deserve to be there. This is in direct contradiction with their experience of lazy incompetent bosses who keep getting promotion after promotion. -I think the appropriate response to this is we have to rethink what work is all about. Society mostly follows the old Puritan work ethic[6]. It says that your worth is determined by your work. It's the idea that hard work is noble in and of itself, regardless whether it actually provides value to society. +I think the appropriate response to this is we have to rethink what work is all about. Society mostly follows the old Puritan [work ethic](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic). It says that your worth is determined by your work. It's the idea that hard work is noble in and of itself, regardless whether it actually provides value to society. My biggest complaint against the Puritan work ethic is it misses the point of work. In one way or another, all valuable work boils down to caring for oneself and others. And by caring, I mean it in the broadest possible sense. Teachers educate which is a form of caring for future generations. Dentists care for other people's teeth. Laborers build roads for people to drive on. Even engaging in personal hobbies that require significant effort is a form of work, because it's a form of caring for oneself. For example, writing this journal is work. It's not a job and I don't get paid, but it does require significant time and effort. It's a form of self-care because it allows me to clarify my thoughts and it cares for others because I put out good ideas that don't get talked about enough. Motherhood is another example of legitimate work that isn't a job and doesn't pay. -What the Puritan work ethic says is you're worthless if you don't work (in the sense of a job) and it doesn't matter if you don't like the work. But working a bullshit, low wage, alienating[7] job you hate isn't caring for yourself and others. Contrary to what the Puritan work ethic says, your suffering is relevant because suffering too much or causing others to suffer (telemarketing) defeats the very purpose of work. +What the Puritan work ethic says is you're worthless if you don't work (in the sense of a job) and it doesn't matter if you don't like the work. But working a bullshit, low wage, [alienating](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx's_theory_of_alienation) job you hate isn't caring for yourself and others. Contrary to what the Puritan work ethic says, your suffering is relevant because suffering too much or causing others to suffer (telemarketing) defeats the very purpose of work. Ultimately the Puritan work ethic is an attempt to divorce the purpose of labor from labor. The idea that you shouldn't enjoy work or else it isn't really work is completely backwards. If work causes you to suffer excessively, then that subtracts from the purpose of the work. If you enjoy your work, that adds to its purpose. The idea that doing work you hate is more noble or honorable is therefore totally incoherent. Work gets its value from caring and reducing suffering, not causing it. @@ -93,11 +92,11 @@ And the mere fact that one can (in theory) change jobs does nothing to alleviate When people think their government is behaving undemocratically, they risk their lives on an insurrection. When the workplace they go to for eight hours a day five days a week is utterly undemocratic, that's just the way things are. -But what if we can have democratic workplaces[8]? If democracy should govern the state, then why shouldn't it also govern economic enterprises? +But what if we can have [democratic workplaces](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_democracy)? If democracy should govern the state, then why shouldn't it also govern economic enterprises? As it turns out, highly democratic workplaces do exist and they work. Democratically governed workplaces are shown to be more successful than simple command hierarchies. Workers have higher motivation and trust in each other. They have increased job satisfaction, better health, improved perceptions of society, and lower turnover. -I'm not just talking about unions where workers have more collective bargaining power. I'm talking about worker cooperatives[9], where workers own and self-manage the company. Workplace democracy is an idea which I think doesn't get talked about nearly enough, at least not here in Burgerland, but it would be a great way of promoting and possibly even exporting democracy. +I'm not just talking about unions where workers have more collective bargaining power. I'm talking about [worker cooperatives](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative), where workers own and self-manage the company. Workplace democracy is an idea which I think doesn't get talked about nearly enough, at least not here in Burgerland, but it would be a great way of promoting and possibly even exporting democracy. It really diminishes the benefits of living in a democracy when you're being dictated to for so much of your waking hours anyways. So I think we ought to explore all possibilities and really get creative to make it so workers enjoy the work they're doing and the work they're doing is necessary and beneficial to others. @@ -124,15 +123,3 @@ The idea that suffering gives work meaning is backwards. Ultimately all meaningf And finally, in order to make work more enjoyable for everyone, we should implement democracy in the workplace so workers have more freedom and we should never force employees to be fake just to please customers. Thanks again for reading and let me know your thoughts. :) - - -Link(s): -[1: Bullshit Jobs](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs) -[2: David Graeber](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Graeber) -[3: Universal Basic Income](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_basic_income) -[4: Bullshit Jobs](https://web.archive.org/web/20220902061001/https://www.strike.coop/bullshit-jobs/) -[5: Fractal Wrongness](https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Fractal_wrongness) -[6: Protestant Work Ethic](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic) -[7: Marx's Theory of Alienation](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marx's_theory_of_alienation) -[8: Workplace Democracy](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Workplace_democracy) -[9: Worker Cooperative](https://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_cooperative) |